Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Convention of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association, Vol 4 Held at the Auditorium March 17, 18, and 19, 1903 Classic Reprint

Excerpt from Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Convention of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association, Vol. 4: Held at the Auditorium Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, March 17, 18, and 19, 1903

In relation to Methods of Work, and to apparatus used in railroad construction, the wheelbarrow and cart are of great antiquity. The com mon scraper, drag scraper or scoop scraper is somewhat older than is commonly realized. The notice or proposal to contractors for' the Balti more Ohio Railroad in 1828 suggests that the materials excavated shall be transported by means of barrows, scrapers, carts or other suitable machines.

It appears, however, that the scraper was in common use on the Erie Canal, doubtless as early as 1817, the date of the first contract, [or the report on the work made in 1820 says: We have found that In removing common earth, where the depth does not exceed four or five feet, and the ground is dry, the plough and scraper can be used to greater profit than any other means of excavation with which we are acquainted. Appar ently scrapers at that early date were not new, but had already come into common use.

Documentary evidence does not seem available to fix any very early date for the use of the wagons hauled by two horses which have been the principal vehicles for transporting earth in many of 'our railroads. They were employed, however, as early as 1846, and it is not at all im probable that their use dates back to the beginning of railroads, Or even earlier.

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