Raikes, Robert. See Sunday-Schools.
Rail, any one of a group of shore-birds found in marshes. They have the habit of skulking, instead of taking to wing, when pursued, and, therefore, are more frequently heard than seen. They are extremely shy. They have slender bills and long powerful legs; are small or of medium size; the body is wedge-shaped, allowing the creatures to make their way through close, marshy undergrowth. Although the wings are short and rounded, the birds in their migrations cover great distances. They are united with the coots into one family, but the toes of the rails are completely divided, those of the coots are lobed. The Carolina rail or sora is the most common one in the United States. It is found in the whole of temperate North America, but is more abundant east during migration, as it breeds chiefly in the northern part of its range. It is about eight and one half inches long, with the upper parts olive-brown, streaked with black; the breast is slaty and the belly white. The Virginia rail also is common. The king-rail or freshwater mud-hen is the largest and finest of the American true rails, being about 17 inches long. It is common in some sections of the United States. The yellow and the black rails are less common. The common water-rail of Europe is found in marshy districts of the British Isles and many parts of Europe. Like the American rails, it nests in the grass.
RAIL
Rail′roads′. The origin of these mighty agents of commerce and civilization may be traced to a contrivance for carrying coal from the mines in Northumberland and Durham, England, to the places of shipment on the Tyne and Wear. It consisted of two parallel lines of wooden beams or trams fixed to the ground and furnished with flanges to prevent the wheels of vehicles from slipping aside. The date of the invention of these tramways is not certain, but it may be safely referred to the first half of the 17th century. The first step in improvement, which was covering the wooden beams with long strips of iron, was taken about 1700; and a second and more important improvement which followed some years afterwards was the substitution of cast-iron rails fixed on wooden sleepers laid crosswise. This kind of railway became pretty general in mining districts during the 18th century; but on account of the opening of canals and from other causes it was not considered practicable as a general means of travel and transportation. After the introduction of cast-iron rails, instead of a single wagon the plan of linking several smaller wagons was adopted. This was the germ of the modern railway train. The next improvement consisted in putting flanges on the wheels instead of the rails, which secured much greater facility of transit. But, as no more rapid or powerful means of locomotion had been invented than horse-power, many persons labored to devise some sort of steam apparatus for the purpose. The merit of inventing a self-acting steam carriage is due to Richard Trevethick, who in 1802 took out a patent for a steam locomotive which successfully drew wagons on rails. Trevethick's invention, however, was too imperfect to come into general use, and for a few years little or no improvement was made upon it, chiefly on account of the mistaken notion among engineers that the steam locomotive could not be made to draw a heavy load or acquire great speed unless it were provided with cogged wheels to work on a corresponding rack along the rails. That locomotives with smooth wheels running on smooth rails could draw heavy loads even up a moderate incline was established by Mr. Blackett, a coal proprietor on the Wylam Railway, in 1811; and nothing was now lacking but the means of obtaining speed.
Locomotive power was first employed by George Stephenson in 1814 on the Killingworth Railway, and with such success that it was afterward applied on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which was the first railway in which carriages for passengers were used; but for some time its trains could not be made to move much faster than a horse walking. Stephenson, after a number of experiments, overcame this difficulty by sending the waste steam up a chimney, so as to cause a powerful draught in the fire. A rapid generation of steam was the result, and from this device, in connection with the multitubular boiler, the locomotive of the present day, with its wonderful power and energy, has been derived. But it was some time before the public mind could be brought to consider the question of the general use of railways, and it was not until 1830 that the line from Liverpool to Manchester was formally opened.
The first railroad constructed in the United States was in 1826, and was for the purpose of carrying granite from the quarries near Quincy, Mass., to tidewater, a few miles distant, and next year the legislature of Maryland chartered the first
