. Our iron roads: their history, construction and administration . we have lifted a mile of road in a day ; butwhat are you to do with a line over which a train passes everyquarter of an hour ? In all such cases, however, every precau-tion is adopted. While the men are engaged in this work theyare protected by the red flag, and attended by an official whoinforms them of the approach of a train, when, if any piece ofrail has been taken up, it is immediately laid down again, andtemporarily secured in its place for the train to pass over. Inlike manner the driver of the engine is warned before he
. Our iron roads: their history, construction and administration . we have lifted a mile of road in a day ; butwhat are you to do with a line over which a train passes everyquarter of an hour ? In all such cases, however, every precau-tion is adopted. While the men are engaged in this work theyare protected by the red flag, and attended by an official whoinforms them of the approach of a train, when, if any piece ofrail has been taken up, it is immediately laid down again, andtemporarily secured in its place for the train to pass over. Inlike manner the driver of the engine is warned before he startson his journey, and, if necessary, by fog-signals, of the proximityof the workmen, and he slackens speed before he reaches thespot. The men stand clear of the rails, and on the outside ofthe line, and the train passes on its way, probably without anyof the passengers being aware of what had been going on, or ofthe break that had happened in the line but a few minutesbefore. Among the minor enemies of the permanent way are the FEED TROUGHS FOR ENGINES. 247. mouse, the mole, and the toad—the foes, as Virgil told useighteen centuries ago, of the threshing floor ; and to preventthe burrowing up of the ballast, and the choking of drains, menare employed in some districts, who emblazon over their cot-tage doors the important title of Ratcatcher to the Londonand North Western Railway. One special addition has been made by the London andNorth Western Railway to the furniture of its permanent way,by means of which, at certain points, the engines are able to feedthemselves while at full speed. The plan is as follows : Anopen trough, about 440 feet long,is laid longitudinally betweenthe rails. Into this trough, whichis filled with water, a dip-pipeor scoop attached to the bottomof the tender of the runningtrain is lowered ; and, at a speedof fifty miles an hour, as muchas 1,070 gallons of water arescooped up in the course of afew minutes. The first of suchtroughs was laid down be
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectrailroa, bookyear1883
