Arthur Mellen Wellington's Railway Location

Tomado de: http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/railway/wellingt.htm

Artculo compuesto por: J. B. Calvert
A. M. Wellington was a railway civil engineer, perhaps the most celebrated of his time. His
fame rested on a book called "The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways," which
was published by John Wiley and Sons in 1887. By 1906, the sixth edition had appeared,
and "Wellington" was required reading. The book was subtitled "an analysis of the
conditions controlling the laying out of railways to effect the most judicious use of capital,"
which states its fundamental theme. The large volume contains very much else of interest in
the pursuit of this end. Whether read as history, for the facts contained, or for its still cogent
engineering analysis, the book is indeed a very good read.
Wellington is regarded as the father of the subject of engineering economy, which is the
analysis of the economic consequences of engineering decisions. The importance of this
study is evidenced by its inclusion in the Fundamentals of Engineering examination on the
path to the certification of an engineer. It rests mainly on the reduction of the consequences
to monetary amounts and the comparison of amounts at different times on the basis of
compound interest.
Wellington located the American-financed line from Vera Cruz to Mexico City via Jalapa.
This line climbed onto the Mexican plateau with a maximum grade of 2 per cent, compared
to the 4 per cent of the earlier Mexicano railway to the south via Orizaba, in roughly the
same distance. A description of this location is given in an Appendix. Also mentioned are
the High Line of the DSP&P from Denver to Leadville, and the UPD&G from Georgetown
to Silver Plume, where one can still ride today, among many other illustrated examples.
A fascinating curiosity is Wellington's enthusiasm for switchbacks in overcoming difficult
problems. He suggests that the Silver Plume line could better have been built a little to the
north, where the interstate now is, using switchbacks, but mentions the tourist attraction of
the loop and bridge. We are fortunate that the loop was built, since otherwise both the line
and Silver Plume would have been wiped out by the highway, instead of just Silver Plume.
Wellington proposed a series of switchbacks with the tail tracks raised so that cars would
come to a stop and automatically reverse, oscillating back and forth through spring switches
from top to bottom without the need for any other motive power than gravity. He had a
solution for the problem of brake failure, so the scheme was eminently practical, though
never used.
Wellington defined Engineering as the science "of doing for a dollar what any fool can do
with two, in a fashion." Whether he invented them or not, he established the use of percent
grade instead of feet per mile, degree of curvature instead of radius, and the cubic parabola
as a transition spiral, all of which became standard American practice. He made
measurements of train resistance, beginning when he was referee at the Burlington brake
trials in 1886, which were some of the first reliable measurements made in the United
States on this important subject. He analyzes curve resistance in detail, in which he was a
pioneer. There is a large section on the locomotive and its work. In spite of containing
much real engineering of this kind, the book is nonmathematical by design. Wellington

says that the mathematics is widely available in other works. The book is, therefore, of use
to the nonengineer, to the manager as well, and Wellington distinguishes the material
appropriate to the different classes of readers.
He thoroughly appreciated the outstanding importance of rail stiffness, and made it very
clear why the use of light rail was a false economy. He pointed out that one was not buying
steel, but "stiffness, strength, and durability," and that when rail was priced on the basis of
stiffness, the superiority of heavy rail was evident. This principle is as valid today as it was
when Wellington demonstrated it. He shows that narrow gauge had no economic
advantages, in fact much the reverse, and that standard gauge was practical with the same
grades and curvature. The fact was becoming apparent at the time, he notes.
The book is dedicated: "To the great men of a former generation, who orginated the
American railway system, this attempt to improve on their practice is admiringly inscribed,
in token of respect for their far-sighted sagacity and still unequaled skill." Among these
men, he mentions Latrobe (Baltimore and Ohio), Jervis (Mohawk and Hudson, and many
more, including the Rock Island), Thomson (Pennsylvania Railroad), and Whistler
(Western RR of Mass, and many more). Any student of railway engineering history who is
acquainted with the accomplishments of these men will second the praise. After these men,
the art of railway location practiced in the midwest did indeed fall to a low standard, of
which Wellington provides many examples.
Wellington also said that it was not just the question of how to do something, but of
whether to do it at all. He made it clear that the cost of any improvement must be measured
against the possible returns, and the important thing was to compare alternatives, not
simply to consider a single problem in isolation. These principles have become the basis of
engineering economics, it will be noted.
Most route engineering books consider curves and grades as major topics, in fact the central
topics of their presentation. Wellington, to bring out a very important point, calls them
"Minor Details of Alignment" to shock the traditional engineer. He then points out that he
calls them minor because there are the greater questions of route and ruling gradient to be
decided before they are considered, and no excellence in the details can ever overcome
poor choices in the greater matters. In modern terms, this is recognized as one of the
benefits of "top-down" design. The false economies of long tangents, or of expense to limit
rise and fall, or of building light bridges, are analyzed and clearly demonstrated.
The engineering student, practicing engineer, engineering historian, or railway enthusiast
will all find much of interest and value in Wellington, and will come to know what a real
engineer is like, and how he thinks. The age of this book does not detract from its
importance: it is a classic.