200
Molesworth’s pocket-book
Kepobt of German Railway Union—continued.
Materials for construction of waggons:—Open waggons en-
tirely of iron, or iron with timber floors; covered waggons,
the body of timber, the under-frames of iron.
Ordinary oil paint preferred for waggons.
WORKSHOPS.
Series of narrow roofs side by side of ridge or saw type pre-
ferred, with slate, tile, or galvanized iron.
For flooring, wood preferred. For repairing sheds and
machine shops, flooring of blocks made from old sleepers;
clay floors objectionable on account of dust.
Lighting of shops by electricity experimental, but not
expected to supersede gas. ■
For heating tires reverberating furnaces preferred; ring-
ehaped furnaces successful.
Timber for waggons should be seasoned for several years.
Some desiccate and impregnate with chloride of zinc.
SERVICE OF WAY.
For watching permanent way, women are successfully
employed, but for signalling they should only assist.
Turn-tables and traversers not well adapted for marshalling
whole trains.
For preventing vehicles breaking loose at stations, putting
down breaks and coupling vehicles together is recommended.
SERVICE OF TRAINS.
Speed—36 miles per hour when there are no sharp
curves and no great number of points to pass through ;
this holds good with facing points properly locked with
signals.
For measuring power and speed of trains, no instruments
are completely successful.
In checking speed on important sections, electrical con-
tact instruments, for measuring the time between fixed
points, answer.
For increasing adhesion in frost or fog, sanding the rails
from »and-boxes on the engine is preferred.