its lightness; and the feature which specially distinguishes this
railway from others of the same class is not only its extreme strength,
but above all its solidity, which results from its bearing equally upon
the ground by means of the rail base and of the sleepers.

In special cases, M. Decauville provides also railroads with projecting
sleepers, whether of flat steel beaten out and rounded, or of channel
iron; but the sleeper and the rail are always inseparable, so as not to
lessen the strength, and also to facilitate the laying of the line. If
the ground is too soft, the railway is supported by bowl sleepers of
dished steel, Figs. 3 and 4, especially at the curves; but the necessity
for using these is but seldom experienced. The sleepers are riveted
cold. The rivets are of soft steel, and the pressure with which this
riveting is effected is so intense that the sleepers cannot be separated
from the rails, even after cutting off both heads of the rivets, unless
by heavy blows of the hammer, the rivets being driven so thoroughly into
the holes made in the rails and sleepers that they fill them up
completely.

The jointing of the rails is excessively simple. The rail to the right
hand is furnished with two fish-plates; that to the left with a small
steel plate riveted underneath the rail and projecting 1¼ in. beyond it.
It is only necessary to lay the lengths end to end with one another,
making the rail which is furnished with the small plate lie between the
two fish-plates, and the junction can at once be effected by fish-bolts.
A single fish-bolt, passing through the holes in the fish-plates, and
through an oval hole in the rail end, is sufficient for the purpose.

With this description of railway it does not matter whether the curves
are to the right or to the left. The pair of rails are curved to a