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To be read after Lesson 3

[3] THE BATTLE OF THE GAUGES

Part 1

In the early days, each railroad built its track at whatever gauge it pleased and then built its engines and cars to fit that gauge. The tracks at the Killingworth Colliery, for which George Stephenson built his first locomotive the Blocher, happened to be 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 meters) between rails, so Stephenson built his locomotive for this gauge. When he designed the Stockton and Darlington he made the locomotive the same width but added another half inch (1.3 centimeters) to the width of track. This odd measurement of 4 feet 81/2 inches (1.44 meters) in time came to be known as standard gauge. Other tracks in England ranged between 2 and 7 feet (0.6 and 2.1 meters). The famous English engineer Brunel considered that the (чем) broader the gauge, the (тем) easily would the trains run. Following his advice the Great Western Company had constructed the railway network with a gauge of 7 feet. That is why for many years there were 2 gauges in England: the 7 feet suggested by Brunel and 4 feet 8½ inches, offered by Stephenson. It was inconvenient because where there was a break of gauges, delay was caused and time was wasted. Angry people wrote to the newspapers and demanded to change the broad gauge. “The Battle of the Gauges” lasted more than 30 years. Only in 1892 in the House of Commons1 the broad gauge was described as a “national evil”, and it was decided to convert all the railways to the standard gauge.

Part 2

In the United States the early railroad tracks ranged from 3 to 6 feet (0.9 to 1.8 meters) in width. This variance became unacceptable with the demand for connecting lines and through service. Freight soon began to move longer distances and over the lines of more than one railroad. The differences in gauges forced the costly nuisance of unloading and reloading cars. Most of the lines in the area between New York City and Chicago were of nearly the same gauge—between 4 feet 8 inches and 4 feet 10 inches (1.47 meters). Thus, in the 1860s, arrangements were made to use cars specially equipped with broad-tread wheels that could be used on any of these widths. About the same time, the movement toward standardization of the 4 feet 81/2 inch, or Stephenson, gauge received great encouragement when the United States Congress adopted it for the new Pacific railroad. By the mid-1880s there was virtually a double standard of gauge in the United States. In the North and West the Stephenson gauge prevailed, while most of the South used a gauge of 5 feet (1.52 meters). Starting in 1886, the Southern lines narrowed their tracks to the now standard gauge of 4 feet 81/2 inches. This uniformity soon ensured an uninterrupted flow of commerce over the entire nation. Standard gauge is also used in Canada, Mexico, and Cuba, which was once linked with railroads on the mainland by freight-car ferry. No other continent has a comparable standardization, however.

Note: 1the House of Commons – Палата Общин

[4] DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN RAILROADS

Between 1850 and 1871 the United States government made grants to railroads to assist the extension of lines in the West and South, often ahead of settlement. About 8 percent of the country’s railroad mileage was built with the aid of these land grants. The grants were not outright gifts; in return, the railroads were required to haul government traffic at reduced rates. When Congress terminated this arrangement in 1946, it was estimated that the railroads had repaid the government about ten times the original value of the land grants.

By 1870, when the railroad movement in the United States was 40 years old, there were 53,000 miles (85,000 kilometers) of main lines, not including secondary tracks, sidings, passingtracks, or yards. Between 1870 and 1880 another 40,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) were added. The decade from 1880 to 1890 saw the most rapid expansion of American rail lines, with 70,000 miles (113,000 kilometers) added—an average of 19 miles (31 kilometers) of new railroad completed each day. Growth continued, with another 30,000 miles (48,000 kilometers) added in the 1890s and another

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47,000 miles (76,000 kilometers) in the next decade. By 1910 the network was largely complete and there was little further extension. In 1916 total railroad-line mileage in the United States reached its highest point at 254,000 miles (409,000 kilometers).

After 1920, with the rapid expansion of paved roads, much traffic was taken from the railroads by automobiles, buses, and trucks, though the overall demand for railroad service remained high. As a result, the railroad network began to shrink as lines that could no longer pay their way were abandoned. By the end of the 1980s, railroad-line miles in the United States had dropped to about 150,000 miles (241,000 kilometers). Some of the lines had been built to serve mines, forests, or other nonrenewable natural resources and were abandoned when the resources were exhausted. Other lines had been built to serve an anticipated need that never materialized. Still other lines disappeared because the industries they had been built to serve entered a period of decline or relocated to other parts of the country. By the late 1980s, American railroads had become primarily high-volume freight carriers operating on long-distance, main-line corridors. Intercity passenger traffic had largely been taken over by automobiles, buses, and airlines. Much freight, especially on the shorter distance hauls, was being carried by trucks. Yet the total railroad freight volume, as measured in ton-miles (a ton-mile is a unit of measurement corresponding to one ton of freight carried one mile) set a new all-time record in 1990—78 percent more than in 1960.

[5] SLEEPING CARS IN THE USA

The first passenger cars in the USA were high in proportion to their length, and were not fitted for movement upon rails. Their characteristics have gradually changed, so as to make them longer, lower, safer, more comfortable and convenient. One of the most important railroad inventions in the USA was a sleeping car. The earliest trains had no sleeping cars. There was really no need for them, because early railroads were short; the longest journeys lasted only a few hours, and nearly all trains went in the daytime. As a number of railroads increased, it became possible to make longer and longer journeys and night travel became common. Long journeys by night were very tiresome and uncomfortable because it was almost impossible for passengers to sleep in the car seats. Steamboats and sailing vessels had good sleeping rooms, and even canal boats used for passenger transportation had bunks in which travelers could rest at night. It can easily be seen that there was a real need for sleeping cars on the railroads, and especially upon the railroads of the USA, where the distance which one might travel was so large. The earliest sleeping cars had a row of double bunks on each side. Although these cars were more comfortable for night travel than the ordinary coach, they had one large defect. They could not be used for day travel. What was needed was a car in which the seats used during the day could be converted into beds at night.

George M. Pullman of Chicago invented the modern sleeping car. He built his first one in 1859. This car was much simpler in design than the sleeping cars of today but it was so much more suitable for long-distance travel than any other kind of car in use at that time. Encouraged by the success of his first car, Mr. Pullman built а much larger sleeping car a few years later, a car which was a great improvement over his first coach. This car was named the Pioneer. George Pullman received many orders for sleeping cars. In 1879 he bought the big site of land near Chicago. On this place the city of Pullman was constructed, and there the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company still has its great manufacturing plant, which is capable of producing many hundreds of all kinds of cars a year. Practically all of the sleeping cars on the USA's railroads are owned and operated by the Pullman Company.

To be read after Lesson 4

[6] MONORAIL

More used as a transportation system in industry than in cities, a monorail is a type of electric railway train that runs either above or below a single track. In factories monorails are used for moving equipment or materials from one part of a plant to another. In public transportation systems

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they have thus far been used only for hauling people for short distances.

One of the first monorail systems constructed was the Schwebebahn (suspension railway1) in Wuppertal, Germany. Completed in 1901, it consists of two-car trains hung from an elevated structure2. Much of the route operates over the Wupper River. The distance covered is 9.3 miles (15 kilometers).

This system, though it has proved safe and efficient, has not had many imitators. There are today only about three dozen monorails in the world, and none operates for a distance longer than 10 miles (16 kilometers). There is an 8.2-mile (13-kilometer) monorail in Japan running from Tokyo to the airport. It was constructed in 1964 on the occasion of the Summer Olympic Games. Although much newer in appearance than the one in Wuppertal, it also is suspended from an overhead beam3. A shorter line was built at Osaka for the World's Fair called Expo '70. There is a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) monorail in Seattle, Wash., that was built for the 1962 World's Fair. Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., and Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla., both have monorail trains operating within their grounds. The systems connect the various parts of the parks with hotels and parking lots.

The Disney and Seattle monorails ride above a beam. This system was designed in the 1950s in Sweden by Axel L. Wenner-Gren. The trains pick up an electric current from a rail attached to the side of the beam.

Although they provide swift and quiet transportation, monorails have not yet been accepted anywhere for long-distance travel. In England the Greater London Council studied the monorail as an option for urban transport. It concluded that such a system offered no advantages over existing surface and underground lines. Among the objections to monorail systems cited by critics are the huge cost of constructing a system, its unsightliness in a city, and passenger inconvenience. Such a system in any city would have the high visibility that elevated trains now have in parts of New York City, Boston, Chicago, and other urban centers.

One of the few places in the world to invest in a monorail system in the late 1980s was Malaysia. The city of Kuala Lumpur approved a project to construct a 12-mile (20-kilometer) line.

Notes: 1suspension railway – подвесная железная дорога 2elevated structure – надземное сооружение, эстакада 3overhead beam – надземная балка (перекладина)

[7] STREET RAILWAY1

A historic type of urban transportation, the street railway has taken many forms, from a single horse-drawn car to a complex system of strings of cars running above and below the ground. In the typical street railway, electrically powered cars run on tracks laid in the street and share the roadway with other traffic.

The famed cable-car system2 in San Francisco, Calif., was among the first mechanical railways. Electric railways replaced most cable systems in the early 20th century. Electric streetcars draw power from a stationary generator. The power is transmitted most commonly by an overhead wire3 through a pantograph. The current passes to the motors, and then returns to the powerhouse by way of the running rails.

A modern variation of the street railway is light rail transit4 (LRT). LRT vehicles operate singly or in short trains of two or three cars. Their tracks may run in the common roadways, but typically the tracks are segregated from traffic except at cross streets and often run in subways or on elevated structures. LRT systems can transport many passengers, accelerate rapidly, and travel at high speeds. The direct operating costs are relatively low; however, the costs of construction and maintenance are fairly high.

Conventional streetcar systems are still used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia, The Netherlands, Eastern Europe, and parts of Canada and South America. In many cities of Europe, Asia, and the United States, however, streetcars have been replaced by diesel-powered buses, subway systems, and LRT systems.

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Examples of heavy rapid transit are subways and elevated railways, or combinations of the two, such as the systems found in Chicago, New York, London, Moscow, and Paris. They are electrically powered, on the same principle as the streetcar, except that the cars pick up current from a third rail alongside the running rails instead of from an overhead line. These systems operate in trains of up to ten cars and are completely separated from other traffic. As a result, they can run at high speeds and carry many passengers: heavy rapid-transit systems can transport up to 60,000 passengers per track, per hour; conventional street railways can move only 2,000 to 9,000, and LRT systems only 5,000 to 15,000.

Before 1920 (and in some metropolitan areas as late as 1950) it was common for street railway extensions to serve suburban areas, while interurban electric railways joined cities. Today the new LRT and rapid-transit lines continue to run well out into the suburbs. They are the modern suburban and interurban railroads.

In recent years there has been a worldwide renovation of old electric railway systems. In countries such as the United States, Austria, Germany, and The Netherlands, existing lines are being repaired and reequipped. In addition, new LRTsystems have opened in Bonn and Cologne, in Germany; Göteborg, Sweden; Newcastle upon Tyne, England; Calgary and Edmonton, Alta.; Zürich, Switzerland; and in a number of cities in the western United States.

In the late 1990s there were more than 325 street railway and LRT systems operating worldwide. Russia had the largest number with 121 lines; Germany had 58; and the United States had 14 LRT lines built or under construction. Traditional mixed-traffic street operation of any significant volume is now found only in a couple of cities in the United States and in parts of Germany, Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Egypt, and India.

Notes: 1street railway – городская железная дорога 2cable car system – воздушно-канатная дорога 3overhead wire – воздушный провод

4light rail transit – высокоскоростная железная дорога местного значения

To be read after Lesson 5

[8] BUILDING THE RAILROAD

Before a railroad is built there are usually several alternative routes to be considered. Maps, aerial photographs, and profiles1 showing the features of each route are prepared and carefully studied. Experts then choose what they consider to be the best route. The choice they make has much to do with the success or failure of the new railroad line. One route may be fairly level, requiring only a few cuts through hills and fills through valleys. Such a route, however, may require a long tunnel to get through an intervening mountain or several expensive bridges to get over rivers. This would make it more costly in the end than one with moderate cuts and fills all the way. Another route, though less expensive to build, may run through unsettled country. Hence it may be wiser to build the more expensive line for the sake of the greater local business it can get.

The selected route is then surveyed carefully, and building commences. Sometimes work parties begin at each end and build toward the middle, as was the case with the transcontinental railroad in the United States. The constructed sections of track carry trains with supplies for the construction workers. Today parties can be stationed at various points and receive supplies from other railroads already built nearby. This method gets the road finished and earning money much more quickly.

The first step is the preparation of the roadbed2. Following the stakes3 and plans set up by the surveyors, the working parties clear away trees, make cuts and fills, and otherwise prepare the way. Other workers set up bridges and dig tunnels. As fast as the roadbed is ready, crossties and rails are laid, either by hand or by machines. Working on level ground, tracklayers can complete several miles in a day. Finally, the track must be ballasted, preferably with gravel, cinders4, or broken stone.

In the United States the usual practice was to build a single-track line with as few tunnels, bridges, and expensive cuts and fills as possible. Then the track was doubled, first at portions where

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most trains passed and finally over the entire route, and thus the railroad grew into a first-class line. This method was largely responsible for the development of great railroads in the United States. Companies built roads through the open frontier. Soon communities5 appeared along the lines, and new businesses were started. These enabled the railroads to prosper. While track undergoes constant maintenance and improvement, there has been very little new construction in the United States in recent years, and it is estimated that the existing track system could carry 25 percent more traffic. In some areas, new communications and train control systems have allowed the elimination of double tracks in favor of single-track operations.

Notes: 1profile – чертёж ж/д пути в вертикальном разрезе 2roadbed – земляное полотно

3stake – опорный столбик, веха

4cinder – шлак

5community – населённый пункт

[9] FRENCH TRANSPORT

Transport systems have long been vital to France, serving to unite the nation in an administrative sense while promoting the growth of regional economies and linking the country to the rest of Europe and to the world. Paris has always been the hub1 of French transportation.

The Industrial Revolution brought innovations in transportation to France. For example, a complex system of canals was built, connecting many navigable rivers and providing low-cost water transport for products of the mines and factories.

The railroad age began while the canal-building era was at its height. The first French line began operating in 1827, between St.-Étienne and Andrézieux, and steel rails soon linked most parts of the country. By 1934 France had 33,282 miles (53,561 kilometers) of railways. Most of the main lines were built in a radial pattern2, with Paris at the center, thus reinforcing the importance of the capital. Paris continued to grow and prosper at a remarkable rate because people had difficulty traveling between any two points in France without passing through the capital. Also, rail lines made it easier for rural people displaced by the Industrial Revolution to migrate to Paris than to any other city.

The appearance of the automobile just before 1900, and the airplane a few years later, added new perspectives to transportation. Highways, duplicating the earlier railway patterns, radiated in all directions from Paris, and the distance to any point in France was calculated from the front steps of the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Air transportation to and from the airfield at Le Bourget, near Paris, began in 1919.

Today, French transportation systems are changing to cope with three problems: rapid technological change, the obsolete condition of many earlier systems, and increasing pressure to reduce the dependency of the entire country on Paris. Although lagging behind several other European countries, France has, since about 1960, embarked on a major program of superhighway construction. Many of the new highways have necessarily duplicated the older ones centered on Paris, but engineers have made great efforts to enable travelers to go to and from other parts of France without passing through the capital.

Rail traffic has declined, as it has in nearly every country, but is still important in France. The high-speed TGV travels between Paris and Lyon in only two hours, compared with four hours for conventional service, and the TGV service is being expanded to other lines as well. Air travel has also increased enormously. Traffic at Paris is divided among the airport at Orly, south of the city, and Charles de Gaulle, to the northeast, in Roissy. With Le Bourget, which today handles only charter flights, these airports accommodated a total of about 30 million passengers per year in the early 1980s, making Paris the second busiest European air travel center after London. Paris is also the airfreight capital of Europe, handling about 625,000 tons of cargo in 2001. Other major international airports include those at Marseilles, Nice, Lyon, Lille, and Strasbourg.

Notes: 1hub – центр

2radial pattern – радиальная схема

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[10] AUSTRALIAN TRANSPORT

In Australia railways were constructed in all colonies between 1854, when a line was built between Melbourne and Port Melbourne, and 1871. Trivial disagreements among the self-protecting colonies blocked the creation of any master plan and saddled Australia with three different rail gauges: the standard gauge of 4 feet 81/2 inches (144 centimeters) in New South Wales; the broad gauge of 5 feet 3 inches (160 centimeters) in Victoria and South Australia; and the narrow gauge of 3 feet 6 inches (107 centimeters) in Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, and the northern extremities of South Australia. It took until 1970 to standardize one continuous line between Perth and Brisbane, along which the India-Pacific train now travels. It crosses the Nullarbor Plain on the longest straight stretch of rail track in the world – 300 miles (480 kilometers).

State governments control most of the railways, including the profitable electrified commuter lines in the cities. These help offset the losses1 on run-down rural services. The Commonwealth government controls the railways of Tasmania, the Northern Territory, and parts of the transcontinental line. Private freight lines convey iron ore, sugar, coal, and other goods to the nearest ports. Trams served the larger cities until buses replaced them by the 1960s – except in Melbourne, where trains still run along broad streets laid out in a grid pattern.

Australia's busiest ports are Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle, Hay Point, Dampier, and Port Hedland. The last three of these are occupied primarily with carrying mineral exports.

Australia originally depended on shipping for all contact with England, Europe, and other trading partners. In 1787–88, the fleet bringing the original convict settlers arrived after being eight months at sea. The travel time from England to Australia was cut to 60 days – a time set in 1871 by the Thermopylae, after clipper ships, including the famous Cutty Sark, had entered the Australian run. They mainly carried wool to Europe.

The airplane made connections with other countries much swifter. Qantas and Imperial Airways flew their first passengers to Britain in 1935. By the 1960s, ships to Southampton, Genoa, and San Francisco had carried their last passengers, though fleets of cruise ships2 still ply3 the Australian waters.

Mercantile shipping is now dominated by the Australian National Line, established by the federal government in 1956. River transport is negligible in a land beset by droughts, sand-clogged channels, and the scarcity of navigable rivers.

Aviation solved the problem of Australia's vast internal distances and remoteness from overseas centers. In 1919, Keith and Ross Smith flew from England to Darwin in 28 days. The first flight across the Pacific, from California to Brisbane, was completed in 1928 by Charles Kingsford-Smith, after whom Sydney's airport is named. Such exploits made Australians air-conscious and promoted the domestic market. Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services (Qantas) was founded in 1920. It became the nation's flagship carrier after being nationalized by the federal government in 1947. Its safety record is unmatched.

Thirty overseas carriers now serve Australia, mostly under bilateral agreements which give Qantas reciprocal landing rights. Domestic airline services were controlled between 1952 and 1987 by a two-airline policy. This maintained a regulated monopoly on interstate routes, with the government airline (Australian Airlines) in sole direct competition with one private airline (Ansett). Remote outposts have been served by the Royal Flying Doctor Service since 1928, using aerial ambulances, radio and landline networks, and mobile clinics. The School of the Air for outback children began in 1951 by using the same two-way radio transmitters.

Notes: 1to offset the losses – возмещать убытки

2cruise ship – круизное судно

3to ply – курсировать

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[11] СHINESE RAILWAYS

Railway construction began in China late in the 19th century, and the first line, between Shanghai and Peking (Beijing), was opened in 1903. By World War II more than 15,500 miles (25,000 kilometers) of track had been built, primarily in the eastern and northeastern parts of the country. Much of the network was destroyed during the war, but rail construction began anew after 1949 and has continued ever since. By 1993 China had an estimated 43,131 miles (69,412 kilometers) of railroads. (By comparison, the United States had about three times as much trackage in that year.) By 1983 every province-level administrative unit except Tibet was served by rail, and plans were being made to extend a line south from the Lanzhou-UrUmqi line to Lhasa, in Tibet.

Railways have become the most important form of transportation in China. For example, more than 50 percent of the country’s traffic is moved by the railroad system. China’s rail network consists of a series of north-south trunk lines, crossed by a few major east-west lines. Most of the large cities are served by these trunk lines. But many of the main lines cannot meet the demand for service. The sixth five-year plan (1981 to 1985) called for continued large investment in railways. The investment was used to improve the carrying capacity of existing lines through double tracking or electrification, and to construct short lines where the government decided there was a crucial need for service.

Nowadays much attention is paid to the development of high speed railway transportation. Unexpected growth of air and road transport has hit the railways hard. The Chinese Minister of Railways has noted that during the ‘good old days’ such things as customer service and fast, reliable trains didn’t matter too much. “The timetable was fixed and we had nothing to worry about but watching passengers struggling for tickets,” he said. “But today we have to go out and look for food like horses.”

Worldwide, high speed trains moving at 250 km/h or more operate over 3,700 km of speciallybuilt track, while passenger trains in Chine still mainly run at 80-100 km/h. The situation needs to change and change quickly if railways in the world’s most populous1 country are to continue to play their important social and economic role. In recognition of this, China is planning several thousand kilometers of new lines in order to transport 1.5 billion passengers and 2.1 billion tones of freight a year. Specific plans have been drawn up to upgrade the busiest main lines for semi-express passenger trains running at 160 km/h, or express trains moving at 250 km/h, while at the same time experiments are going ahead for 300 to 350 km/h operation.

So, despite a drift away from passenger train travel by some people, there is no possibility of railways in China becoming obsolete. The country is vast and still developing which means that the railways are and will remain the chief means of transport.

Note: 1populous - густонаселённый

[12] JAPANESE TRANSPORTATION

Modern transportation facilities1 link all parts of Japan and provide the swift, efficient movement of people and goods. Railways are the main form of land transportation. Railway stations are the hubs2 of mass-transportation systems, which also include buses, taxis, subways, and the vanishing trolleys.

The first Japanese railway was laid in 1872 between Tokyo and Yokohama. By 1930 a rail network covered the four main islands. Most private lines were nationalized in 1906 and passed to a public corporation, the Japan National Railways (JNR), in 1949. The JNR operates about four fifths of Japan's 17,000 miles (27,000 kilometers) of railway lines, including all long-distance trunk lines. It owns about 90 percent of all rolling stock. The private railways operate commuter lines in the metropolitan areas. Japanese railways use narrow-gauge track – 3 feet 6 inches – and relatively small and light rolling stock. About three fifths of the JNR lines are double-tracked or electrified. Diesel and electric units have replaced coal-burning locomotives.

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Postwar population and economic growth has placed an enormous strain on the carrying capacity of Japan's railways. The high-speed, broad-gauge New Tokaido Line went into operation in 1964. Its fastest express trains make the 320-mile (515-kilometer) run from Tokyo to Osaka in a little more than three hours. An extension known as the New Sanyo Line was completed from Osaka to Okayama in 1972. The railways of Honshu are linked to Kyushu and Hokkaido by undersea tunnels and to Shikoku by ferry service. Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe, Sapporo, and Yokohama have subways.

Modern highway construction has lagged badly behind the needs of automobile and truck traffic. About 70 percent of the total mileage of roads is paved. By 1990 there were 692,661 miles (1,114,699 kilometers) of national expressways and general roadways for a country that had more than 60 million registered motor vehicles. City traffic is speeded by street widening and by the construction of elevated expressways.

Domestic air service links all major cities. Japan Air Lines (JAL) operates round-the-world service. Tokyo International Airport at Narita, more than 40 miles (60 kilometers) from downtown Tokyo, was completed in 1973. Its opening was delayed until 1978 because of protests by opponents of the facility. The planned addition of two runways at Narita in the 1990s was also prevented by protests from environmentalists. The new Kansai International Airport was scheduled to open at Osaka in 1994. Built at a cost of 14 billion dollars, it was the world's most expensive airport. It is located on an artificial 1,300-acre (526-hectare) island in Osaka Bay. The island itself cost 4.5 billion dollars to construct. The airport's designer was Italian architect Renzo Piano. To ease congestion at the major airports, the government decided to upgrade local airports at Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama, Kyoto, and other cities to handle the large increase in air traffic.

There were more than 7,000 vessels carrying passengers and cargo in coastal shipping in 1990. For passenger service between cities there are jetfoils3 and air-cushion vessels4. Considering the very large volume of Japanese imports and exports, most products are carried in oceangoing vessels registered to other countries.

Notes: 1transportation facilities – средства транспорта

2hub – центр

3jetfoil – судно на подводных крыльях 4air-cushion vessel – судно на воздушной подушке

[13] RAILROAD MODERNIZATION

Like their younger competitors, the railroads have become specialized carriers that concentrate on the types of transportation for which they are best suited. Railroads are particularly efficient at moving large volumes of bulk commodities1 such as coal or ore over long distances and transporting marine containers and piggyback highway trailers2. Railroads are also efficient at carrying commuter passengers between suburbs and city centers and providing comfortable, fast intercity passenger services.

New technologies – in design, materials, and methods – have helped railroads become still more efficient. After World War II, for example, strong concrete crossties replaced wooden ties on many railroads, especially in Europe. Rail welded3 into long sections became the standard for most busy main lines. By the 1960s high-speed passenger trains were introduced.

Japan's so-called “bullet train” was in the forefront of the new technology. It began operating on Oct. 1, 1964, to mark Asia's first Olympic Games, which were held in Tokyo. The first section of the fabled Shinkansen (New Trunk Line, known as the New Tokaido Line) was a 320-mile (515kilometer) stretch between Tokyo and Osaka. A 100-mile (160-kilometer) extension from Osaka to Okayama was completed in 1972, and the final segment – a 244-mile (393-kilometer) run to the Hakata station in Fukuoka, northern Kyushu – opened in 1975. Other lines, completed in 1982, radiate north of Tokyo to Niigata and Morioka. The Shinkansen was privatized in 1987.

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France's TGV became the supertrain of the 1970s and 1980s. It set a new world speed record of 320 miles an hour in 1990. The newer ten-car TGV trains are powered by front and rear electric locomotives. Computerized controls provide on-board signalization and fail-safe braking4.

Some of the other countries where superspeed trains are running or planned are Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Australia, Canada, and the United States. High speed train called Metroliners make daily three-hour trips between New York City and Washington, D.C.; although the trains are capable of faster runs up to 160 miles (260 kilometers) per hour, drawbacks on the existing line hold speeds to a maximum of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour.

Several American railroads operate trains of RoadRailers, vehicles that have both rail and highway wheels. On the railroad they run coupled5 together in trains pulled by locomotives, then are separated and moved by highway tractors to their final destinations.

Among the more advanced systems proposed is the magnetic levitation6, or maglev, train. Instead of wheels or steel rails, the system uses coils in the surface of the track, or guide way, to create a magnetic field that lifts the vehicles and propels them forward. By the late 1980s only short test systems had been built in Germany and Japan. Successful experimental runs were first made in the early 1990s using locomotives powered by environmentally friendly natural gas.

Notes: 1bulk commodities – бестарные грузы, грузы насыпью

2piggyback highway trailers – автополуприцепы или прицепы

3to weld – сваривать

4fail-safe braking – гарантированно надёжное торможение

5to couple – сцеплять

6magnetic levitation – магнитная левитация (поднятие)

[14] ADVANCES IN TRANSPORTATION

Technological advances in transportation have included the development of superspeed trains, such as Japan’s ‘bullet train’ of the 1960s and Frances TGV (Train de Grand Vitesse) of the 1970s and 1980s. These advances gave engineers the inspiration to design such experimental railroad systems as the magnetic levitation1, or maglev train, which by the early 1990s had only short test systems set up in Germany and Japan. Improvements in power generation and transmission and concern for the air and noise pollution caused by diesel engines have prompted automobile makers to develop cars that will run on alternative types of fuel. One result has been the prototype of an electric car. A greater variety of ships, including submarine tankers and fast surface ships, have been developed. Other new types of vessels that are available include the hydrofoil2, which travels on sea wings with its hull3 above water, and the hovercraft4, which rides above the water on a cushion of air. The widespread use of atomic power for ship propulsion is a major research goal. STOL (short takeoff and landing), VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing), and supersonic aircraft have been adopted. These new technologies have made vehicles quieter. Passenger travel has improved in speed and comfort. Freight transport costs less because larger vehicles are used and operating efficiency has increased. The computer is used for record keeping, traffic control, navigation, and other routine operations.

In the more distant future, rocket transportation may become feasible, perhaps in combination with orbiting satellites, enabling all points on Earth to be connected in less than an hours travel time. Underground gravity vacuum tubes may permit freight and passengers to travel between stations thousands of miles apart also in less than an hour. Improvements may be expected in transportation management techniques. Some forms of transportation now under private ownership, management, and operation will increasingly depend on public financing or control, just as urban mass transit now does. Some forms of transportation will be integrated into multimodal organizations, both public and private, in order to move people and goods with a minimum of cost, inconvenience, and delay. Innovative communications systems, however, have already made much travel unnecessary. Teleconferencing enables people to hold meetings and see each other without having to travel.

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Computer networking makes cooperative work possible, without the workers leaving home or office.

Notes: 1magnetic levitation – магнитная левитация (поднятие) 2hydrofoil – корабль на подводных крыльях

3hull – корпус

4hovercraft – судно на воздушной подушке

To be read after Lesson 6

[15] BRIDGES

The invention of the steam locomotive changed bridge building because stronger spans1 were needed. Iron was first used for chain cables of a suspension bridge2 over the Tees River, in England, in 1741. The flooring3 was laid directly upon the cables. Abraham Darby and John Wilkinson built the first iron bridge over the Severn River at Coalbrookdale, England, in 1779. This 100-foot (30meter) arch bridge is still in service. Thomas Telford built the first modern iron arch bridge in 1813. It is Craig Ellachie Bridge over the Spey River, Scotland, with a 150-foot (46-meter) span. It was not built up of cast-iron blocks in imitation of masonry as were previous iron arch bridges but was the first to use an arch made up of iron trusses4. In 1819 – 1824 Telford built the forerunner of the modern suspension bridges – the 570-foot (174-meter) span over Menai Strait in Wales. It had wrought-iron5 chains for cables.

The first to design railroad bridges was George Stephenson, who with his son Robert invented the Rocket, the first practical locomotive. Robert Stephenson built the Britannia Tubular Bridge over Menai Strait in 1846. Its two boxlike tubes were made of iron plates riveted6 together. Many truss designs were patented in the 1850s for railroad bridges. After numerous failures of cast-iron bridges, wrought iron was used, then steel.

The first bridge to use steel extensively was the triple-arched Eads Bridge over the Mississippi at St.Louis, Mo., in 1874. It was an important link in the transcontinental railroad and made St.Louis a crossroads. This bridge was named after James B. Eads who designed it and was in charge of its construction. The modern era of steel arch building began in the 20th century. The Bayonne Bridge, completed in 1931 over Kill van Kull between New York and New Jersey, has a 1,652-foot (504meter) span. Australia’s Sydney Harbor Bridge, finished in 1932, is only 2 feet (0.6 meter) shorter. At the turn of the 20th century, the construction of masonry arch bridges reached its peak. Then the more economical and easier to use concrete became common for arch bridges. Later, reinforced concrete7 and then prestressed concrete8 were used.

Notes: 1span – пролёт моста

2suspension bridge – висячий мост

3flooring – настил

4truss – балка, ферма (моста)

5wrought iron – кованое железо

6to rivet – приковывать

7reinforced concrete – железобетон

8prestressed concrete – предварительно напряжённый бетон

To be read after Lesson 7

[16] CHARLES BABBAGE (1792–1871)

Although he was a 19th century mathematician, is credited with inventing the modern computer. He also designed a type of speedometer and the cowcatcher1 (a frame on the front of a locomotive that tosses obstacles off the railroad tracks).

Charles Babbage was born on Dec. 26, 1792, in Teignmouth, Devon, England. At age 19 he helped found the Analytical Society, whose purpose was to introduce developments from Europe

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