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Early American Railroad History
A New Source Within Grasp
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A prime source for early American railroad history has long been the report of Franz
Anton von Gerstner, access to which has been available in the German language for many years,
and since 1995 in an English translation published by Stanford University Press. Less well-known, and virtually inaccessible, has been another report by two Russian engineers, Pavel
Melnikov and Joseph Kraft. This report was presented about the same time as von Gerstner's,
and was believed for some time to have existed only in the Russian language in an archive in St.
Petersburg.
Recently, John Decker, an American researcher of railroad history with the ability to read
the Russian language had an opportunity to examine the Melnikov-Kraft report and to prepare a
summary of its contents. This is believed to be the first time an American researcher with Russian
language skills had seen the report. The indications are that this report could be a rich source for
hitherto unknown facts about early American railroad history. The Sociey intends to pursue
possibilties for eventually making this material accessible in English for American researchers.
A sample translation has been made by Mr. Decker of an interesting part of the Melnikov-Kraft report, in which Melnikov gives his technical analysis of the deficiencies of strap rail design.
This provides good evidence that Melnikov's approach to describing American railroad technology
had a much different thrust than did Von Gerstner's. Melnikov obviously placed much more
emphasis on technical engineering analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of various design
features being employed in early railroad construction. This material is believed to reveal insights
into the deficiencies of strap rail design which have not been found in any other early literature.
This translation mey be accessed by clicking here: The Track
Structure of American Railways.
The summary report of Mr. Decker (who was also one of the translators from the German
of von Gerstner) on the contents of the Melnikov-Kraft report can be accessed by clicking here
RUSSIA AND OUR EARLY RAILROADS
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