B & O railroad - wooden rails or stone rails

During the early days of railroad building, various materials were used to make the rails, including wood, stone or iron.

"A single track of wooden rails has been completed from Baltimore to Ellicott’s mills, the first seven miles of which rest on wooden sleepers, at a cost of $4,002 06 ¼  per mile, and the last six miles of the wooden rails rest on stone blocks, at a cost of 85,116, per mile. A second track of wooden rails and sleepers laid for the first six and a half miles of this division; and the remainder of the second track, consisting of stone sills, bedded in broken stone, and forming a continuous base for the iron rail, and costing $6,000 per mile, is on the eve of completion.

A double track of stone rail is under way, and fast progressing, on the second division; and the contractor for the first track of stone, on the third division, is actively engaged in preparing the stone to be laid, as soon as the graduation and masonry shall be completed to receive it.

‘The continuous stone rail is ‘believed to be the best known, and superior to the iron rail, in use in Europe. Its permanency has recommended it to this company, even at an enhanced expense, wherever the facility of obtaining the proper materials enabled it to construct it, without an unwarranted increase of cost. In this, as in every other instance, it has been the desire of this company to give the character of durability to its work, and it is believed, that in every instance,>it will be found that this has, as far as practicable, been attained.

From the statements here made, and the data for calculation, that they furnish, it is believed, that the average cost of the Baltimore and Ohio rail road, through to the Ohio river, will_not exceed the originally estimated cost of $20,000, per mile, including the additional expense, occasioned by adhering to the sixty-six feet level for seven miles, in the approach of the road to the city of Baltimore. Had the original idea of a wooden rail way been adhered to, as was proposed, when the above estimate of $20,000 per mile, was first made, in 1827, the average cost, per mile, would be even less, by about $4,000, than that sum; since, in the present estimated average cost of $20,000, there are included two tracks of stone rail, throughout the greater portion of the distance, at an increased cost of $2,000, per mile, for each track, above the known cost of wooden rails."

B.&O.R.R. Papers   By Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company

"Quoting Peter Cooper...

The Baltimore & Ohio had got some wooden rails laid, and thinking it might amount to something, I bought my swindling partners out, paying one of them ten thousand dollars. I thought it would pay, for the Baltimore & Ohio railroad had run its tracks down to Ellicott's Mills, thirteen miles, and had laid 'quake-head' rails, as they called them—strap rails, you know—and had put on horses."

The National Magazine: A Monthly Journal of American History

"Colonel Long’s description of the manner of constructing the track is especially interesting, and noteworthy on account of the attention given to drainage. The tops of fills and bases of cuts were alike made 26 ft. wide, with side slopes of 1½ :1 for fills, and 1:1 for cuts. Of the 26 ft., 20 were macadamized with broken stone of 2 and 2½ in. size, laid to a depth of 4 in. Trenches were dug through this pavement, 4 ft. apart, to receive the ties and at each end a pit was dug, 18 in. long, 12 in. wide, and 12 in. deep, which was filled with rubble to form a foundation for the tie. The ties, of locust or cedar, were 8 ft. long and 7 in. in smaller diameter, and were notched to receive the wooden rails, the outer edge of the notches being placed to a true spacing of 5 ft. The wooden rails were of 6 by 6-in. Southern heart pine, in lengths of from 15 to 40 ft., and were set in the notches with keys. The iron rails, on which the wheels were to run, were of wrought iron, 5/8 by 2¼  in. and 15 ft. long, "appropriately rounded on their upper sides and perforated with elliptical holes about 15 inches asunder." At the joints they were scarfed on an angle of 60° with the sides, and laid on a plate 3/16 in. thick. The nail holes were countersunk, allowing the nail head to be driven below the touch of the wheel, while the elliptical shape of the hole took care of expansion and contraction. For a width of 9 in. on the inner side of each wooden rail, coarse broken stone was laid, leaving a space of 2 1/2 ft. in the center which was filled with finer broken stone to form a path for the horses. An alternative construction of stone rails was contemplated, in which case the stone rails were to rest on continuous rubble walls built in trenches to a depth below frost. Wooden rails were adopted for first construction, because it was believed that the fills would not sufficiently compact to receive such permanent work as stone, for 4 or 5 years. From figures given, it is seen that the material for the track cost per foot as follows:

One-quarter of a tie, at $0.35 + $0.08 for notching and dressing….. $0.108

Wooden rails, 6 by 6 in., at $0.06 per running foot. ……………………….. 0.12

Nails, at $0.09 per lb………………………………………………………………………. 0.023

Iron rails, at $58 per ton delivered…………………………………………………. 0.272

                                                                                                                        $0.523

The cost of grading is given as ranging from 12 ½  to 50 cents per yd., averaging 28 cents, as already stated. Overhaul was found to double the cost at a quarter of a mile, and to treble it at a half mile. Blasting cost from 50 to 87 ½  cents per yd."

American Society of Civil Engineer.  1911

 [Quincy Mass, Mauch Chunk, PA 1827] "These roads had a track consisting of an iron strap on wooden rails, supported by stone blocks or wooden sills, and were ... The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, commenced in 1828 and completed from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills, Md., 15 miles"

New International Encyclopaedia.  1906

©2019 Patricia Bixler Reber
Forgotten history of Ellicott City & Howard County MD