359

RAM

Vv ' t h p 0st in Rural Economy, a sort of fence constructedy >g l lp j and rails. It is often made use of in protectingj^als. ^| e 'i' e nces from the cropping of cattle or other^ pu rr) Atl y sort of coarse timber does very well for this" lri "s 0 f , Se ’ s nch as outside planks, and the boughs or lop-&4ll> b i r plantations.

ta ’ a t "i ’ or Tram-Road, or Dram-Road, or Waggon-t - at eri a i a acx constructed of iron, stone, timber, or otherl0tl i for’ t if on ^ le surface of an inclined plane, or other situa-for ,, e P Ur pose of diminishing friction, and thus serv-e easy conveyance of heavy loads of any kind of,ai l'va Va

to ,, we je at first solely employed for transportin

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ep e thev U10derate distance from the pits, to the placesgy could be shipped, and were universally made of

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r e o r ees they were, however, carried to a farther

■ ' r s, scarc 'ty of wood, and the expense of their

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| u * ,, 't 1 i'ovi°“ eSte ^ t ^' e 'dca of employing iron for the purposeu Pon° i|' lese roads. At first, flat rods of bar-iron were1 call i ' e or 'ginal wooden rails, or, as they were tech--p ^as f ’ s ^ ee pers; and this, though an expensive pro-i « i e y We- Dd to a great improvement.

’ pj a verf 6 next cast ’ n t* 16 form of long narrow plates,touted, t i* cjd ^anc' 16 on one side, so that the sectionl c afri a „ le ^ orm of the letter L, and thus the wheels of| n® atl che g eS Were retained in the direction of the rails ;

\ th e i° n *? le wheels being dispensed with.

dj s te< l> beiu °og’tudinal timbers on which these plate-rails! tj^ded 8 t*able to rot and give way, were at last entirely: to 11 tvei^u rails were cast of sufficient depth to sus-Vb 6il ch f r ^ Passing over them, and of length sufficienti in Se cur e H i° ne cross sleeper to the next, to which they; th e ^'dth „ m eans of chairs ; these rails were reduced

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fbe flanche transferred back again to

„!l av inp- u’ ® a Ueable bars were introduced, those of cast-

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etg ~j. et long.

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,y_ ,p® n found objectionable on account of theirbe former were simply bars of iron, three or

Wl ^°Und and from one to two inches square, but they10 destr( • • - -

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and

ro y the wheels, on account of their

H ew a return to cast-iron appeared inevitable,' e Uted -^^hod of constructing the malleable railst0 V° n %ed n . 1820 ^ ^ r - Birkinshaw. This improve-rs s > ^hic^ m P as sing the bars when red-hot, betweenJo jP^Qg Save re( l u ^ re ^ form to the rails, and bya^^ 1 * 3 were ro ^ e< i in lengths of from 12eino- • op an y section required, the depth andit’hc' t ' t '8 8 . a lncrease( l in proportion to the distance from

d °Wn ! J re Placed in chairs of cast-iron, which are

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9 5 Per* . a fr(

i' 0Rl 2 feet

^ feet 6 inches to 3 f cet apart^a e commonly of larch, about 9 fe end a tt Ca^^th, and 6 inches deep, and at etthe^ ^

tI 8a ^Cm apart . of ^ feet 8* inches, are n parallel

, ^h 0 receive the ends of the rails, . at the

®r ; they are generally about i „ . ^

" Yide at the top and

w,® m 'ddle vertical rib. - f et apar t, and

t ''e broad guage are place kept

^*SSh 0Wa t0 longitudinal timbers, which

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f^lpT^ giavel or other suitabie ballasting. ior

pipe, a pipe fi«A °" ^ conveyingand other buildings, for the purpose o J

rota the roofs, &c., into a drain.

EAISEE, a board set on edge under the foreside of a step,a stair, &c. See Staiucasing.

RAISING-PIECES, or Reason-Pieces, in architecture,pieces that lie under the beams, and over the posts orpuncheons.

The term is chiefly employed in buildings constructed oftimber-frame, where the interstices are filled with clay,or brickwork, called panels. In brick or stone buildings,the board or plank placed on the top of the wall is denomi-nated the wall-plate ; but, in some parts of the country, thewall-plates are denominated platbands.

RAKING, a term applied to such members of a buildingas slope or lie inclined to the horizon.

RAKING-MOULDING, in joinery, a moulding whosearrises are inclined to the horizon in any given angle.

If the raking-moulding has to meet with a horizontalmoulding, at a given angle, on the plan ; and if the sectionof the horizontal moulding be given ; the following methodwill show how to find the section of the raking-moulding :

Figure 1.—Let the given moulding be a cima-recta ; takeany number of points in the curve, and through these pointsdraw straight lines parallel to the rake ; then the mouldingshown in the middle of the rake, being pricked off from thelevel lines at the bottom, will give the section to workthe raking-moulding.

If the moulding is required to be returned, as shown atthe upper part, the inclined lines are continued ; the properprojections are set at the top of the moulding, and verticallines are drawn through the points of section to meet therespective inclined lines ; then a curve, being drawn throughthe points of intersection, will give the horizontal returnmoulding at the top.

Figure 2.—An inclined cavetto, showing the section ofthe raking-moulding, and also the section of the return level-moulding of the top.

Angle-bars, for shop-fronts, are also ranked among theclass of raking-mouldings. In Figure 3, let b be the com-mon bar, of the same thickness with the angle-bar: take theraking projection, 1, 1, in c, and set the foot of the compassesin 1, at b, and cross the middle of the bar at the other 1;draw the lines 2, 2, 3, 3, &c. parallel to 1, 1, then prick thesection at 1 c, from the ordinates so drawn at b, and thus thesection of the angle-bar is obtained.

RAMMED-EARTH BUILDINGS,such as are raised withsome sort of earthy material, hardened by being rammed intomoulds or cases. This mode of building with earthy mate-rials is supposed by some to have been known at a very earlyperiod, and has been long practised with success in thesouthern parts of France , especially about Lyons, though butlittle understood in any other part of Europe until compa-ratively lately. See Pise.

RAMP, in hand-railing, a concavity on the upper side,formed over risers, or over a half or quarter space, by a sud-den rise of the steps above, which frequently occasions a kneeabove the ramp.

RAMPANT ARCH, one whose abutments spring froman inclined plane.

RAMPART, or Rampier, (from the Spanish , amparo,defence, or covering,') in fortification, a massy hank, or ele-vation of earth, about the body of a place, to cover it fromthe direct fire of the enemy, and of sufficient thickness toresist the efforts of the cannon for many days; and formedinto bastions, curtains, &c.

Upon the rampart the soldiers continually keep guard, andpieces of artillery are planted there for the defence of theplace. Hence, to shelter the guard from the enemy’s shot,the outside of the rampart is built higher than the inside, i. e