The American Railway_ Its Construction_ Development_ Management_ and Appliances Thomas Curtis Clarke 1538 downloads.pdf

Th e P ro j ect G u t en b erg eBoo k o f Th e Am eri ca n
Ra i l wa y : It s Co n st ru ct i on , Dev el op m en t ,
Ma n ag em en t , an d Ap p l i an ces

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Title: The American Railway: Its Construction, Development,
Management, and Appliances

Author: Thomas Curtis Clarke

Author of introduction, etc.: Thomas McIntyre Cooley

Release date: March 18, 2017 [eBook #54383]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
AMERICAN RAILWAY: ITS CONSTRUCTION, DEVELOPMENT,

MANAGEMENT, AND APPLIANCES ***

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T H E A ME R I C A N R A I LWAY

THE LAST SPAN—READY TO JOIN.

The American Railway

ITS CONSTRUCTION, DEVELOPMENT,
MANAGEMENT, AND APPLIANCES

BY

THOMAS CURTIS CLARKE THEODORE VOORHEES
JOHN BOGART BENJAMIN NORTON
M. N. FORNEY ARTHUR T. HADLEY
E. P. ALEXANDER THOMAS L. JAMES
H. G. PROUT CHARLES FRANCIS
ADAMS
HORACE PORTER B. B. ADAMS, JR.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

THOMAS M. COOLEY
CHAIRMAN OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION

WITH MORE THAN 200 ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1889

Copyright, 1888, 1889, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

TROW'S
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY,
NEW YORK.

CONTENTS.
PAGE

INTRODUCTION xxi
By THOMAS M. COOLEY,
Chairman Interstate Commerce Commission.

THE BUILDING OF A RAILWAY 1
By THOMAS CURTIS CLARKE,
Civil Engineer.
Roman Tramways of Stone—First Use of Iron Rails—The Modern Railway
created by Stephenson's "Rocket" in 1830—Early American Locomotives—
Key to the Evolution of the American Railway—Invention of the Swivelling
Truck, Equalizing Beams, and the Switchback—Locating a Road—Work of
the Surveying Party—Making the Road-bed—How Tunnels are Avoided—
More than Three Thousand Bridges in the United States—Old Wooden
Structures—The Howe Truss—The Use of Iron—Viaducts of Steel—The
American System of Laying Bridge Foundations under Water—Origin of the
Cantilever—Laying the Track—How it is Kept in Repair—Premiums for
Section Bosses—Number of Railway Employees in the United States—Rapid
Railway Construction—Radical Changes which the Railway will Effect.

FEATS OF RAILWAY ENGINEERING 47
By JOHN BOGART,
State Engineer of New York.
Development of the Rail—Problems for the Engineer—How Heights are Climbed
—The Use of Trestles—Construction on a Mountain Side—Engineering on
Rope Ladders—Through the Portals of a Cañon—Feats on the Oroya
Railroad, Peru—Nochistongo Cut—Rack Rails for Heavy Grades—
Difficulties in Tunnel Construction—Bridge Foundations—Cribs and
Pneumatic Caissons—How Men work under Water—The Construction of
Stone Arches—Wood and Iron in Bridge-building—Great Suspension Bridges
—The Niagara Cantilever and the enormous Forth Bridge—Elevated and
Underground Roads—Responsibilities of the Civil Engineer.

AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES AND CARS 100

By M. N. FORNEY,
Author of "The Catechism of the Locomotive," Editor "Railroad and Engineering
Journal," New York.
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1830—Evolution of the Car from the Conestoga
Wagon—Horatio Allen's Trial Trip—The First Locomotive used in the United
States—Peter Cooper's Race with a Gray Horse—The "De Witt Clinton,"
"Planet," and other Early Types of Locomotives—Equalizing Levers—How
Steam is Made and Controlled—The Boiler, Cylinder, Injector, and Valve
Gear—Regulation of the Capacity of a Locomotive to Draw—Increase in the
Number of Driving Wheels—Modern Types of Locomotives—Variation in the
Rate of Speed—The Appliances by which an Engine is Governed—Round-
houses and Shops—Development of American Cars—An Illustration from
Peter Parley—The Survival of Stage Coach Bodies—Adoption of the
Rectangular Shape—The Origin of Eight-wheeled Cars—Improvement in Car
Coupling—A Uniform Type Recommended—The Making of Wheels—
Relative Merits of Cast and Wrought Iron, and Steel—The Allen Paper Wheel
—Types of Cars, with Size, Weight, and Price—The Car-Builder's Dictionary
—Statistical.

RAILWAY MANAGEMENT 149
By Gen. E. P. ALEXANDER,
President of the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia.
Relations of Railway Management to all Other Pursuits—Developed by the
Necessities of a Complex Industrial Life—How a Continuous Life is Given to
a Corporation—Its Artificial Memory—Main Divisions of Railway
Management—The Executive and Legislative Powers—The Purchasing and
Supply Departments—Importance of the Legal Department—How the
Roadway is Kept in Repair—The Maintenance of Rolling Stock—Schedule-
making—The Handling of Extra Trains—Duties of the Train-despatcher—
Accidents in Spite of Precautions—Daily Distribution of Cars—How
Business is Secured and Rates are Fixed—The Interstate Commerce Law—
The Questions of "Long and Short Hauls" and "Differentials"—Classification
of Freight—Regulation of Passenger-rates—Work of Soliciting Agents—The
Collection of Revenue and Statistics—What is a Way-bill—How
Disbursements are Made—The Social and Industrial Problem which
Confronts Railway Corporations.

SAFETY IN RAILROAD TRAVEL 187
By H. G. PROUT,
Editor "Railroad Gazette," New York.
The Possibilities of Destruction in the Great Speed of a Locomotive—The Energy
of Four Hundred Tons Moving at Seventy-five Miles an Hour—A Look ahead
from a Locomotive at Night—Passengers Killed and Injured in One Year—
Good Discipline the Great Source of Safety—The Part Played by Mechanical
Appliances—Hand-brakes on Old Cars—How the Air-brake Works—The

Electric Brake—Improvements yet to be Made—Engine Driver Brakes—Two
Classes of Signals: those which Protect Points of Danger, and those which
Keep an Interval between Trains on the Same Track—The Semaphore—
Interlocking Signals and Switches—Electric Annunciators to Indicate the
Movements—The Block Signal System—Protection for Crossings—Gates
and Gongs—How Derailment is Guarded Against—Safety Bolts—Automatic
Couplers—The Vestibule as a Safety Appliance—Car Heating and Lighting.

RAILWAY PASSENGER TRAVEL 228
By Gen. HORACE PORTER,
Vice-President Pullman Palace-Car Company.
The Earliest Railway Passenger Advertisement—The First Time-table Published in
America—The Mohawk & Hudson Train—Survival of Stage-coach Terms in
English Railway Nomenclature—Simon Cameron's Rash Prediction—
Discomforts of Early Cars—Introduction of Air-brakes, Patent Buffers and
Couplers, the Bell-cord, and Interlocking Switches—The First Sleeping-cars
—Mr. Pullman's Experiments—The "Pioneer"—Introduction of Parlor and
Drawing-room Cars—The Demand for Dining-cars—Ingenious Devices for
Heating Cars—Origin of Vestibule-cars—An Important Safety Appliance—
The Luxuries of a Limited Express—Fast Time in America and England—
Sleeping-cars for Immigrants—The Village of Pullman—The Largest Car-
works in the World—Baggage-checks and Coupon Tickets—Conveniences in
a Modern Depot—Statistics in Regard to Accidents—Proportion of
Passengers in Various Classes—Comparison of Rates in the Leading
Countries of the World.

THE FREIGHT-CAR SERVICE 267
By THEODORE VOORHEES,
Assistant-General Superintendent, New York Central Railroad.
Sixteen Months' Journey of a Car—Detentions by the Way—Difficulties of the Car
Accountant's Office—Necessities of Through Freight—How a Company's
Cars are Scattered—The Question of Mileage—Reduction of the Balance in
Favor of Other Roads—Relation of the Car Accountant's Work to the
Transportation Department—Computation of Mileage—The Record Branch—
How Reports are Gathered and Compiled—Exchange of "Junction Cards"—
The Use of "Tracers"—Distribution of Empty Cars—Control of the
Movement of Freight—How Trains are Made Up—Duties of the Yardmaster
—The Handling of Through Trains—Organization of Fast Lines—Transfer
Freight Houses—Special Cars for Specific Service—Disasters to Freight
Trains—How the Companies Suffer—Inequalities in Payment for Car Service
—The Per Diem Plan—A Uniform Charge for Car Rental—What Reforms
might be Accomplished.

HOW TO FEED A RAILWAY 298

By BENJAMIN NORTON,
Second Vice-President, Long Island Railroad Company.
The Many Necessities of a Modern Railway—The Purchasing and Supply
Departments—Comparison with the Commissary Department of an Army—
Financial Importance—Immense Expenditures—The General Storehouse—
Duties of the Purchasing Agent—The Best Material the Cheapest—Profits
from the Scrap-heap—Old Rails Worked over into New Implements—Yearly
Contracts for Staple Articles—Economy in Fuel—Tests by the Best Engineers
and Firemen—The Stationery Supply—Aggregate Annual Cost of Envelopes,
Tickets, and Time-tables—The Average Life of Rails—Durability of Cross-
ties—What it Costs per Mile to Run an Engine—The Paymaster's Duties—
Scenes during the Trip of a Pay-car.

THE RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE 312
By THOMAS L. JAMES,
Ex-Postmaster General.
An Object Lesson in Postal Progress—Nearness of the Department to the People—
The First Travelling Post-Office in the United States—Organization of the
Department in 1789—Early Mail Contracts—All Railroads made Post-routes
—Compartments for Mail Clerks in Baggage-cars—Origin of the Present
System in 1862—Important Work of Colonel George S. Bangs—The "Fast
Mail" between New York and Chicago—Why it was Suspended—Resumption
in 1877—Present Condition of the Service—Statistics—A Ride on the "Fast
Mail"—Busy Scenes at the Grand Central Depot—Special Uses of the Five
Cars—Duties of the Clerks—How the Work is Performed—Annual
Appropriation for Special Mail Facilities—Dangers Threatening the Railway
Mail Clerk's Life—An Insurance Fund Proposed—Needs of the Service—A
Plea for Radical Civil Service Reform.

THE RAILWAY IN ITS BUSINESS RELATIONS 344
By ARTHUR T. HADLEY,
Professor of Political Science in Yale College, Author of "Railroad Transportation."
Amount of Capital Invested in Railways—Important Place in the Modern Industrial
System—The Duke of Bridgewater's Foresight—The Growth of Half a
Century—Early Methods of Business Management—The Tendency toward
Consolidation—How the War Developed a National Idea—Its Effect on
Railroad Building—Thomson and Scott as Organizers—Vanderbilt's Capacity
for Financial Management—Garrett's Development of the Baltimore & Ohio
—The Concentration of Immense Power in a Few Men—Making Money out
of the Investors—Difficult Positions of Stockholders and Bondholders—How
the Finances are Manipulated by the Board of Directors—Temptations to the
Misuse of Power—Relations of Railroads to the Public who Use Them—
Inequalities in Freight Rates—Undue Advantages for Large Trade Centres—
Proposed Remedies—Objections to Government Control—Failure of
Grangerism—The Origin of Pools—Their Advantages—Albert Fink's Great

Work—Charles Francis Adams and the Massachusetts Commission—
Adoption of the Interstate Commerce Law—Important Influence of the
Commission—Its Future Functions—Ill-judged State Legislation.

THE PREVENTION OF RAILWAY STRIKES 370
By CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS,
President of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Railways the Largest Single Interest in the United States—Some Impressive
Statistics—Growth of a Complex Organization—Five Divisions of Necessary
Work—Other Special Departments—Importance of the Operating Department
—The Evil of Strikes—To be Remedied by Thorough Organization—Not the
Ordinary Relation between Employer and Employee—Of what the Model
Railway Service Should Consist—Temporary and Permanent Employees—
Promotion from one Grade to the Other—Rights and Privileges of the
Permanent Service—Employment during Good Behavior—Proposed Tribunal
for Adjusting Differences and Enforcing Discipline—A Regular Advance in
Pay for Faithful Service—A Fund for Hospital Service, Pensions, and
Insurance—Railroad Educational Institutions—The Employer to Have a Voice
in Management through a Council—A System of Representation.

THE EVERY-DAY LIFE OF RAILROAD MEN 383
By B. B. ADAMS, Jr.,
Associate Editor, "Railroad Gazette," New York.
The Typical Railroad Man—On the Road and at Home—Raising the Moral
Standard—Characteristics of the Freight Brakeman—His Wit the Result of
Meditation—How Slang is Originated—Agreeable Features of his Life in Fine
Weather—Hardships in Winter—The Perils of Hand-brakes—Broken Trains
—Going back to Flag—Coupling Accidents—At the Spring—Advantages of a
Passenger Brakeman—Trials of the Freight Conductor—The Investigation of
Accidents—Irregular Hours of Work—The Locomotive Engineer the Hero of
the Rail—His Rare Qualities—The Value of Quick Judgment—Calm Fidelity
a Necessary Trait—Saving Fuel on a Freight Engine—Making Time on a
Passenger Engine—Remarkable Runs—The Spirit of Fraternity among
Engineers—Difficult Duties of a Passenger-train Conductor—Tact in Dealing
with Many People—Questions to be Answered—How Rough Characters are
Dealt with—Heavy Responsibilities—The Work of a Station Agent—
Flirtation by Telegraph—The Baggage-master's Hard Task—Eternal Vigilance
Necessary in a Switch-tender—Section-men, Train Despatchers, Firemen, and
Clerks—Efforts to Make the Railroad Man's Life Easier.

STATISTICAL RAILWAY STUDIES 425
ILLUSTRATED WITH THIRTEEN MAPS AND NINETEEN CHARTS.

By FLETCHER W. HEWES,
Author of "Scribner's Statistical Atlas."

Railway Mileage of the World—Railway Mileage of the United States—Annual
Mileage and Increase—Mileage Compared with Area—Geographical
Location of Railways—Centres of Mileage and of Population—Railway
Systems—Trunk Lines Compared: By Mileage; Largest Receipts; Largest Net
Results—Freight Traffic—Reduction of Freight Rates—Wheat Rates—The
Freight Haul—Empty Freight Trains—Freight Profits—Passenger Traffic—
Passenger Rates—Passenger Travel—Passenger Profits—General
Considerations—Dividends—Net Earnings per Mile and Railway Building—
Ratios of Increase—Construction and Maintenance—Employees and their
Wages—Rolling Stock—Capital Invested.

INDEX 449

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

F UL L - PAGE I L L US T RAT I ONS .

Title. Designer. Page
The Last Span (Frontispiece) A. B. Frost v
Alpine Pass. Avoidance of a Tunnel From a photograph 5
Big Loop, Georgetown Branch of the Union Pacific,
Colorado From a photograph 11
Snow-sheds, Selkirk Mountains, Canadian Pacific J. D. Woodward 19
Rail Making Walter Shirlaw 39
Loop and Great Trestle near Hagerman's, on the
Colorado Midland Railway J. D. Woodward 51
Portal of a Tunnel in Process of Construction Otto Stark 65
At Work in a Pneumatic Caisson—Fifty Feet below
the Surface of the Water Walter Shirlaw 73
Below the Brooklyn Bridge J. H. Twachtman 83
The St. Louis Bridge during Construction M. E. Sands & R.
Blum 95
A Typical American Passenger Locomotive From a photograph 111
Interior of a Round-house M. J. Burns 130
View in Locomotive Erecting Shop J. D. Woodward & R.
Blum 135
Diagram Used in Making Railway Time-Tables 161
The General Despatcher M. J. Burns 165
Mantua Junction, West Philadelphia, showing a
Complex System of Interlacing Tracks W. C. Fitler 169
Danger Ahead! A. B. Frost 189
Interlocking Apparatus for Operating Switches and
Signals by Compressed Air, Pittsburg Yards,
Pennsylvania Railroad From a photograph 211
Pullman Vestibuled Cars From a photograph 247
In a Baggage-room W. C. Broughton 255
"Show Your Tickets!" Walter Shirlaw 261

Freight Yards of the New York Central & Hudson
River Railroad, West Sixty-fifth Street, New
York W. C. Fitler 285
Freight from all Quarters—Some Typical Trains W. C. Fitler 291
At a Way-station—The Postmaster's Assistant Herbert Denman 321
Transfer of Mail at the Grand Central Station,
New York Herbert Denman 327
Sorting Letters in Car No. 1—The Fast Mail Herbert Denman 333
A Breakdown on the Road A. B. Frost 405
In the Waiting Room of a Country Station A. B. Frost 413
The Trials of a Baggage-master A. B. Frost 417

I L L US T RAT I ONS I N T HE T E XT.

PAGE
First Locomotive 2
Locomotive of To-day 3
A Sharp Curve—Manhattan Elevated Railway, 110th Street, New York 7
A Steep Grade on a Mountain Railroad 8
A Switchback 9
Plan of Big Loop 10
Profile of the Same 10
Engineers in Camp 14
Royal Gorge Hanging Bridge, Denver and Rio Grande, Colorado 16
Veta Pass, Colorado 17
Sections of Snow-sheds (3 cuts) 18
Making an Embankment 21
Steam Excavator 21
Building a Culvert 22
Building a Bridge Abutment 22
Rock Drill 23
A Construction and Boarding Train 24
Bergen Tunnels, Hoboken, N. J. 25
Beginning a Tunnel 26
Old Burr Wooden Bridge 28
Kinzua Viaduct; Erie Railway 30
Kinzua Viaduct 31
View of Thomas Pope's Proposed Cantilever (1810) 34
Pope's Cantilever in Process of Erection 35
General View of the Poughkeepsie Bridge 36
Erection of a Cantilever 37
Spiking the Track 38
Track Laying 41
Temporary Railway Crossing the St. Lawrence on the Ice 44
View Down the Blue from Rocky Point, Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad;
showing successive tiers of railway 49
Denver and Rio Grande Railway Entering the Portals of the Grand River Cañon,
Colorado 54
The Kentucky River Cantilever, on the Cincinnati Southern Railway 55
Truss over Ravine, and Tunnel, Oroya Railroad, Peru 56
The Nochistongo Cut, Mexican Central Railway 57
The Mount Washington Rack Railroad 58
Trestle on Portland and Ogdensburg Railway, Crawford Notch, White Mountains 58

A Series of Tunnels 59
Tunnel at the Foot of Mount St. Stephen, on the Canadian Pacific 60
Peña de Mora on the La Guayra and Carácas Railway, Venezuela 61
Perspective View of St. Gothard Spiral Tunnels, in the Alps 62
Plan of St. Gothard Spiral Tunnels 63
Profile of the Same 63
Portal of a Finished Tunnel; showing Cameron's Cone, Colorado 64
Railway Pass at Rocky Point in the Rocky Mountains 67
Bridge Pier Founded on Piles 68
Pneumatic Caisson 70
Transverse Section of Pneumatic Caisson 71
Pier of Hawkesbury Bridge, Australia 75
Foundation Crib of the Poughkeepsie Bridge 76
Transverse Section of the Same 76
Granite Arched Approach to Harlem River Bridge in Process of Construction 77
The Old Portage Viaduct, Erie Railway, N. Y. 78
The New Portage Viaduct 79
The Britannia Tubular Bridge over the Menai Straits, North Wales 80
Old Stone Towers of the Niagara Suspension Bridge 82
The New Iron Towers of the Same 82
Truss Bridge of the Northern Pacific Railway over the Missouri River at Bismarck,
Dak.—Testing the Central Span 87
Curved Viaduct, Georgetown, Col.; the Union Pacific Crossing its own Line 88
The Niagara Cantilever Bridge in Progress 90
The Niagara Cantilever Bridge Completed 91
The Lachine Bridge, on the Canadian Pacific Railway, near Montreal, Canada 92
The 510-feet Span Steel Arches of the New Harlem River Bridge, New York, during
Construction 97
London Underground Railway Station 98
Conestoga Wagon and Team 101
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 1830–35 101
Boston & Worcester Railroad, 1835 102
Horatio Allen 103
Peter Cooper's Locomotive, 1830 104
"South Carolina," 1831, and Plan of its Running Gear 105
The "De Witt Clinton," 1831 105
"Grasshopper" Locomotive 106
The "Planet" 107
John B. Jervis's Locomotive, 1831, and Plan of its Running Gear 108
Campbell's Locomotive 109
Locomotive for Suburban Traffic 110
Locomotive for Street Railway 110
Four-wheeled Switching Locomotive 113
Driving Wheels, Frames, Spurs, etc., of American Locomotive 114

Longitudinal Section of a Locomotive Boiler 115
Transverse Section 115
Rudimentary Injector 116
Injector Used on Locomotives 117
Sections of a Locomotive Cylinder 118
Eccentric 118
Eccentric and Strap 118
Valve Gear 119
Turning Locomotive Tires 121
Six-wheeled Switching Locomotive 122
Mogul Locomotive 123
Ten-wheeled Passenger Locomotive 123
Consolidation Locomotive (unfinished) 124
Consolidation Locomotive 124
Decapod Locomotive 125
"Forney" Tank Locomotive 126
"Hudson" Tank Locomotive 127
Camden & Amboy Locomotive, 1848 129
Cab End of a Locomotive and its Attachments 133
Interior of Erecting Shop, showing Locomotive Lifted by Travelling Crane 137
Forging a Locomotive Frame 138
Mohawk & Hudson Car, 1831 139
Early Car 139
Early Car on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 140
Early American Car, 1834 140
Old Car for Carrying Flour on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 141
Old Car for Carrying Firewood on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad 141
Old Car on the Quincy Granite Railroad 141
Janney Car Coupler, showing the Process of Coupling 142
Mould and Flask in which Wheels are Cast 143
Cast-iron Car Wheels 144
Section of the Tread and Flange of a Car Wheel 145
Allen Paper Car Wheel 145
Modern Passenger-car and Frame 147
Snow-plough at Work 154
A Type of Snow-plough 155
A Rotary Steam Snow-shovel in Operation 156
Railway-crossing Gate 157
Signal to Stop 162
Signal to Move Ahead 162
Signal to Move Back 163
Signal that the Train has Parted 163
Entrance Gates at a Large Station 167

Central Switch and Signal Tower 168
Interior of a Switch-tower, showing the Operation of Interlocking Switches 171
Stephenson's Steam Driver-brake, patented 1833 192
Driver-brake on Modern Locomotive 192
English Screw-brake, on the Birmingham and Gloucester Road, about 1840 193
English Foot-brake on the Truck of a Great Western Coach, about 1840 193
Plan and Elevation of Air-brake Apparatus 196
Dwarf Semaphores and Split Switch 202
Semaphore Signal with Indicators 203
Section of Saxby & Farmer Interlocking Machine 204
Diagram of a Double-track Junction with Interlocked Switches and Signals 205
Split Switches with Facing-point Locks and Detector-bars 206
Derailing Switch 207
Torpedo Placer 213
Old Signal Tower on the Philadelphia & Reading, at Phœnixville 214
Crossing Gates worked by Mechanical Connection from the Cabin 217
Some Results of a Butting Collision—Baggage and Passenger Cars Telescoped 218
Wreck at a Bridge 219
New South Norwalk Drawbridge. Rails held by Safety Bolts 220
Engines Wrecked during the Great Wabash Strike 222
Link-and-pin Coupler 224
Janney Automatic Coupler applied to a Freight Car 224
Signals at Night 225
Stockton & Darlington Engine and Car 229
Mohawk & Hudson Train 231
English Railway Carriage, Midland Road. First and Third Class and Luggage
Compartments 232
One of the Earliest Passenger Cars Built in this Country; used on the Western
Railroad of Massachusetts (now the Boston & Albany) 233
Bogie Truck 233
Rail and Coach Travel in the White Mountains 234
Old Time Table, 1843 235
Old Boston & Worcester Railway Ticket (about 1837) 236
Obverse and Reverse of a Ticket used in 1838, on the New York & Harlem Railroad 236
The "Pioneer." First Complete Pullman Sleeping-car 240
A Pullman Porter 241
Pullman Parlor Car 243
Wagner Parlor Car 244
Dining-car (Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad) 245
End View of a Vestibuled Car 249
Pullman Sleeper on a Vestibuled Train 250
Immigrant Sleeping-car (Canadian Pacific Railway) 251
View of Pullman, Ill. 252
Railway Station at York, England, built on a Curve 257

Outside the Grand Central Station, New York 258
Boston Passenger Station, Providence Division, Old Colony Railroad 259
A Page from the Car Accountant's Book 277
Freight Pier, North River, New York 280
Hay Storage Warehouses, New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, West Thirty-
third Street, New York 282
"Dummy" Train and Boy on Hudson Street, New York 287
Red Line Freight-car Mark 288
Star Union Freight-car Mark 288
Coal Car, Central Railroad of New Jersey 289
Refrigerator-car Mark 289
Unloading a Train of Truck-wagons, Long Island Railroad 290
Floating Cars, New York Harbor 295
Postal Progress, 1776–1876 313
The Pony Express—The Relay 314
The Overland Mail Coach—A Star Route 315
Mail Carrying in the Country 316
Loading for the Fast Mail, at the General Post-Office, New York 324
At the Last Moment 326
Pouching the Mail in the Postal Car 329
A Very Difficult Address—known as a "Sticker." 331
Distributing the Mail by States and Routes 332
Pouching Newspapers for California—in Car No. 5 335
Catching the Pouch from the Crane 339
George Stephenson 345
J. Edgar Thomson 349
Thomas A. Scott 350
Cornelius Vanderbilt 352
John W. Garrett 355
Albert Fink 366
Charles Francis Adams 367
Thomas M. Cooley 369
"Dancing on the Carpet" 386
Trainman and Tramps 387
Braking in Hard Weather 389
Flagging in Winter 391
Coupling 392
The Pleasant Part of a Brakeman's Life 395
At the Spring 397
Just Time to Jump 403
Timely Warning 407
The Passenger Conductor 409
Station Gardening 416
In the Yard at Night 419

A Track-walker on a Stormy Night 421
A Crossing Flagman 423
A Little Relaxation 424

MAPS.

Mileage compared with Area 429
Railways, 1830, 1840, 1850, and 1860 430
Railways, 1870 431
Railways, 1880 432
Railways, 1889 433
Five Railway Systems 434, 435

CHARTS.

Principal Railway Countries 425
Mileage to Area in New Jersey 426
Total Mileage and Increase, 1830–1888 429
Mileage by States, 1870 431
Mileage by States, 1880 432
Mileage by States, 1888 433
Largest Receipts, 1888 435
Largest Net Results, 1888 435
Freight Rates of Thirteen Trunk Lines, 1870–1888 436
Wheat Rates, by Water and by Rail, 1870–1888 438
The Freight Haul, 1882–1888 439
East-bound and West-bound Freight, 1877–1888 439
Freight Profits, 1870–1888 440
Passenger Rates, 1870–1888 441
Passenger Travel, 1882–1888 442
Passenger Profits, 1870–1888 442
Average Dividends, 1876–1888 443
Net Earnings and Mileage Built, 1876–1888 444
Increase of Population, Mileage, and Freight Traffic, 1870–1888 446

INTRODUCTION.
By THOMAS M. COOLEY.

The railroads of the United States, now aggregating a hundred
and fifty thousand miles and having several hundred different
managements, are frequently spoken of comprehensively as the
railroad system of the country, as though they constituted a unity in
fact, and might be regarded and dealt with as an entirety, by their
patrons and by the public authorities, whenever the conveniences
they are expected to supply, or the conduct of managers and agents,
come in question. So far, however, is this from being the case, that
it would be impossible to name any other industrial interest where
the diversities are so obvious and the want of unity so conspicuous
and so important. The diversities date from the very origin of the
roads; they have not come into existence under the same laws nor
subject to the same control. It was accepted as an undoubted truth
in constitutional law from the first that the authority for the
construction of railroads within a State must come from the State
itself, which alone could empower the promoters to appropriate
lands by adversary proceedings for the purpose. The grant of
corporate power must also come from the State, or, at least, have
State recognition and sanction; and where the proposed road was to
cross a State boundary, the necessary corporate authority must be
given by every State through or into which the road was to run. It
was conceded that the delegated powers of the General
Government did not comprehend the granting of charters for the
construction of these roads within the States, and even in the
Territories charters were granted by the local legislatures. The case
of the transcontinental roads was clearly exceptional; they were to

be constructed in large part over the public domain, and subsidies
were to be granted by Congress for the purpose. They were also, in
part at least, to be constructed for governmental reasons as national
agencies; and invoking State authority for the purpose seemed to be
as inconsistent as it would be inadequate. But, though these were
exceptional cases, the magnitude and importance of the Pacific
roads are so immense that the agency of the General Government
in making provision for this method of transportation must always
have prominence in railroad history and railroad statistics.
Not only have the roads been diverse in origin, but the
corporations which have constructed them have differed very
greatly in respect to their powers and rights, and also to the
obligations imposed by law upon them. The early grants of power
were charter-contracts, freely given, with very liberal provisions;
the public being more anxious that they be accepted and acted upon
than distrustful of their abuse afterward. Many of them were not
subject to alteration or repeal, except with the consent of the
corporators; and some of them contained provisions intended to
exclude or limit competition, so that, within a limited territory,
something in the nature of a monopoly in transportation would be
created. The later grants give evidence of popular apprehension of
corporate abuses; the legislature reserves a control over them, and
the right to multiply railroads indefinitely is made as free as
possible, under the supposition that in this multiplication is to be
found the best protection against any one of them abusing its
powers. In very many cases the motive to the building of a new
road has been antagonism to one already in existence, and
municipalities have voted subsidies to the one in the hope that,
when constructed, it would draw business away from the other. The
anomaly has thus been witnessed of distrust of corporate power
being the motive for increasing it; and the multiplication of roads

has gone on, without any general supervision or any previous
determination by competent public authority that they were needed,
until the increase has quite outrun in some sections any proper
demand for their facilities.
Roads thus brought into existence, without system and under
diverse managements, it was soon seen were capable of being so
operated that the antagonism of managers, instead of finding
expression in legitimate competition, would be given to the sort of
strife that can only be properly characterized by calling it, as it
commonly is called, a war. From such a war the public inevitably
suffers. The best service upon the roads is only performed when
they are operated as if they constituted in fact parts of one
harmonious system; the rates being made by agreement, and traffic
exchanged with as little disturbance as possible, and without abrupt
break at the terminals. But when every management might act
independently, it sometimes happened that a company made its
method of doing business an impediment instead of a help to the
business done over other roads, recognizing no public duty which
should preclude its doing so, provided a gain to itself, however
indirect or illegitimate, was probable. Many consolidations of roads
have had for their motive the getting rid of this power to do
mischief on the part of roads absorbed.
In nothing is the want of unity so distinctly and mischievously
obvious as in the power of each corporation to make rates
independently. It may not only make its own local rates at
discretion, but it may join or refuse to join with others in making
through rates; so that an inconsiderable and otherwise insignificant
road may be capable of being so used as to throw rates for a large
section of the country into confusion, and to render the making of
profit by other roads impossible. It is frequently said in railroad
circles that roads are sometimes constructed for no other reason

than because, through this power of mischief, it will be possible to
levy contributions upon others, or to compel others, in self-
protection, to buy them up at extravagant prices. Cases are named
in which this sort of scheming is supposed to have succeeded, and
others in which it is now being tried.
Evils springing from the diversities mentioned have been cured,
or greatly mitigated, by such devices as the formation of fast-
freight lines to operate over many roads; by allowing express
companies to come upon the roads with semi-independence in the
transportation of articles, where, for special reasons, the public is
content to pay an extra price for extra care or speed; and by
arrangements with sleeping-car companies for special
accommodations in luxurious cars to those desiring them. These
collateral arrangements, however, have not been wholly beneficial;
and had all the roads been constructed as parts of one system and
under one management, some of them would neither have been
necessary nor defensible. They exist now, however, with more or
less reason for their existence; and they tend to increase the
diversities in railroad work.
The want of unity which has been pointed out tended to breed
abuses specially injurious to the public, and governmental
regulation was entered upon for their correction. Naturally the first
attempts in this direction were made by separate States, each
undertaking to regulate for itself the transportation within its own
limits. Such regulation would have been perfectly logical, and
perhaps effectual, had the roads within each State formed a system
by themselves; but when State boundaries had very little
importance, either to the roads themselves or to the traffic done
over them, unless made important by restrictive and obstructive
legislation, the regulation by any State must necessarily be
fragmentary and imperfect, and diverse regulation in different

States might be harmful rather than beneficial. It must be said for
State regulation that it has in general been exercised in a prudent
and conservative way, but it is liable to be influenced by a sensitive
and excitable public opinion; and as nothing is more common than
to find gross abuses in the matter of railroad transportation selfishly
defended in localities, and even in considerable sections, which are
supposed to receive benefits from them, it would not be strange if
the like selfishness should sometimes succeed in influencing the
exercise of power by one State in a manner that a neighboring State
would regard as unfriendly and injurious.
The Federal Government recently undertook the work of
regulation, and in doing so accepted the view upon which the
States had acted, and so worded its statute that the transportation
which does not cross State lines is supposed to be excluded. The
United States thus undertakes to regulate interstate commerce by
rail, and the States regulate, or may regulate, that which is not
interstate. It was perhaps overlooked at first that, inasmuch as
Government control may embrace the making of classifications,
prescribing safety and other appliances, and naming rates, any
considerable regulation of State traffic and interstate traffic
separately must necessarily to some extent cause interference. The
two classes of traffic flow on together over the same lines in the
same vehicles under the management of the same agencies, with
little or no distinction based on State lines; the rates and the
management influenced by considerations which necessarily are of
general force, so that separate regulation may without much
extravagance be compared to an attempt in the case of one of our
great rivers to regulate the flow of the waters in general, but
without, in doing so, interfering with an independent regulation of
such portion thereof as may have come from the springs and

streams of some particular section. This is one of many reasons for
looking upon all existing legislation as merely tentative.
No doubt the time will come when the railroads of the country
will constitute, as they do not now, a system. There are those who
think this may, sufficiently for practical purposes, be accomplished
by the legalization of some scheme of pooling; but this is a crude
device, against which there is an existing prejudice not easily to be
removed. Others look for unity through gradual consolidations, the
tendency to which is manifest, or through something in the nature
of a trust, or by means of more comprehensive and stringent
national control. Beyond all these is not infrequently suggested a
Government ownership.
Of the theories that might be advanced in this direction, or the
arguments in their support, nothing further will be said here; the
immediate purpose being accomplished when it is shown how
misleading may be the term system, when applied to the railroads
of the country as an aggregate, as now owned, managed, and
controlled.

Every man in the land is interested daily and constantly in
railroads and the transportation of persons and property over them.
The price of whatever he eats, or wears, or uses, the cost and
comfort of travel, the speed and convenience with which he shall
receive his mail and the current intelligence of the day, and even
the intimacy and extent of his social relations, are all largely
affected thereby. The business employs great numbers of persons,
and the wages paid them affect largely the wages paid in other lines
of occupation. The management of the business in some of its

departments is attended by serious dangers, and thousands annually
lose their lives in the service. Other thousands annually are either
killed or injured in being transported; the aggregate being
somewhat startling, though unquestionably this method of travel is
safer than any other. The ingenuity which has been expended in
devices to make the transportation rapid, cheap, and safe may well
be characterized as marvellous, and some feats in railroad
engineering are the wonder of the world. With all these facts and
many others to create a public interest in the general subject, the
editor of Scribner's Magazine, some little time ago, applied to
writers of well-known ability and competency to prepare papers for
publication therein upon the various topics of principal interest in
the life and use of railroads, beginning with the construction, and
embracing the salient facts of management and service. He was
successful in securing a series of papers of high value, the
appearance of which has been welcomed from month to month,
beginning with June, 1888, with constant and increasing interest.
These papers have a permanent value; and, in obedience to a
demand for their separate publication in convenient form for
frequent reference, the publishers now reproduce them with
expansions and additions. A reference to the several titles will
convince anyone at all familiar with the general subject that the
particular topic is treated in every instance by an expert, entitled as
such to speak with authority.

THE BUILDING OF A RAILWAY.
By THOMAS CURTIS CLARKE.

Roman Tramways of Stone—First Use of Iron Rails—The Modern Railway created by
Stephenson's "Rocket" in 1830—Early American Locomotives—Key to the Evolution of
the American Railway—Invention of the Swivelling Truck, Equalizing Beams, and the
Switchback—Locating a Road—Work of the Surveying Party—Making the Road-bed—
How Tunnels are Avoided—More than Three Thousand Bridges in the United States—Old
Wooden Structures—The Howe Truss—The Use of Iron—Viaducts of Steel—The
American System of Laying Bridge Foundations under Water—Origin of the Cantilever—
Laying the Track—How it is Kept in Repair—Premiums for Section Bosses—Number of
Railway Employees in the United States—Rapid Railway Construction—Radical Changes
which the Railway will Effect.

he world of to-day differs from that of Napoleon
Bonaparte more than his world differed from that of
Julius Cæsar; and this change has chiefly been made by
railways.
Railways have been known since the days of the Romans. Their tracks
were made of two lines of cut stones. Iron rails took their place about one
hundred and fifty years ago, when the use of that metal became extended.
These roads were called tram-roads, and were used to carry coal from the
mines to the places of shipment. They were few in number and attracted
little attention.
The modern railway was created by the Stephensons in 1830, when they
built the locomotive "Rocket." The development of the railway since is due
to the development of the locomotive. Civil engineering has done much, but
mechanical engineering has done more.
The invention of the steam-engine by James Watt, in 1773, attracted the
attention of advanced thinkers to a possible steam locomotive. Erasmus
Darwin, in a poem published in 1781, made this remarkable prediction:

"Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam! afar
Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car."

The first locomotive of which we
have any certain record was invented,
and put in operation on a model circular
railway in London, in 1804, by Richard
Trevithick, an erratic genius, who
invented many things but perfected few.
His locomotive could not make steam,
and therefore could neither go fast nor
First Locomotive. draw a heavy load. This was the fault of
all its successors, until the competitive
trial of locomotives on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, in 1829. The
Stephensons, father and son, had invented the steam blast, which, by
constantly blowing the fire, enabled the "Rocket," with its tubular boiler, to
make steam enough to draw ten passenger cars, at the rate of thirty-five
miles an hour.
Then was born the modern giant, and so recent is the date of his birth that
one of the unsuccessful competitors at that memorable trial, Captain John
Ericsson, was until the present year (1889) living and actively working in
New York. Another engineer, Horatio Allen, who drove the first locomotive
on the first trip ever made in the United States, in 1831, still lives, a hale
and hearty old man, near New York.
The earlier locomotives of this country, modelled after the "Rocket,"
weighed five or six tons, and could draw, on a level, about 40 tons. After the
American improvements, which we shall describe, were made, our engines
weighed 25 tons, and could draw, on a level, some sixty loaded freight cars,
weighing 1,200 tons. This was a wonderful advance, but now we have the
"Consolidation" locomotive, weighing 50 tons, and able to draw, on a level,
a little over 2,400 tons.
And this is not the end. Still heavier and more powerful engines are being
designed and built, but the limit of the strength of the track, according to its
present forms, has nearly been reached. It is very certain we have not
reached the limit of the size and power of engines, or the strength of the
track that can be devised.

After the success of the "Rocket," and of the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway, the authority of George Stephenson and his son Robert became
absolute and unquestioned upon all subjects of railway engineering. Their
locomotives had very little side play to their wheels, and could not go
around sharp curves. They accordingly preferred to make their lines as
straight as possible, and were willing to spend vast sums to get easy grades.
Their lines were taken as models and imitated by other engineers. All lines
in England were made with easy grades and gentle curves. Monumental
bridges, lofty stone viaducts, and deep cuts or tunnels at every hill marked
this stage of railway construction in England, which was imitated on the
European lines.

Locomotive of To-day.

As it was with the railway, so it was with the locomotive. The
Stephenson type, once fixed, has remained unchanged (in Europe), except
in detail, to the present day. European locomotives have increased in weight
and power, and in perfection of material and workmanship, but the general
features are those of the locomotives built by the great firm of George
Stephenson & Son, before 1840.

When we come to the United States we find an entirely different state of
things. The key to the evolution of the American railway is the contempt for
authority displayed by our engineers, and the untrammelled way in which
they invented and applied whatever they thought would answer the best

purpose, regardless of precedent. When we began to build our railways, in
1831, we followed English patterns for a short time. Our engineers soon
saw that unless vital changes were made our money would not hold out, and
our railway system would be very short. Necessity truly became the mother
of invention.
The first, and most far-reaching, invention was that of the swivelling
truck, which, placed under the front end of an engine, enables it to run
around curves of almost any radius. This enabled us to build much less
expensive lines than those of England, for we could now curve around and
avoid hills and other obstacles at will. The illustration opposite shows a
railroad curving around a mountain and supported by a retaining wall,
instead of piercing through the mountain with a tunnel, as would have been
necessary but for the swivelling truck. The swivelling truck was first
suggested by Horatio Allen, for the South Carolina Railway, in 1831; but
the first practical use of it was made on the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad,
in the same year. It is said to have been invented by John B. Jervis, Chief
Engineer of that road.
The next improvement was the invention of the equalizing beams or
levers, by which the weight of the engine is always borne by three out of
four or more driving-wheels. They act like a three-legged stool, which can
always be set level on any irregular spot. The original imported English
locomotives could not be kept on the rails of rough tracks. The same
experience obtained in Canada when the Grand Trunk Railway was opened,
in 1854–55. The locomotives of English pattern constantly ran off the track;
those of American pattern hardly ever did so. Finally, all their locomotives
were changed by having swivelling trucks put under their forward ends, and
no more trouble occurred. The equalizing levers were patented in 1838, by
Joseph Harrison, Jr., of Philadelphia.

Alpine Pass. Avoidance of a Tunnel.

These two improvements, which are absolutely essential to the success of
railways in new countries, and have been adopted in Canada, Australia,
Mexico, and South America,[1] to the exclusion of English patterns, are also
of great value on the smoothest and best possible tracks. The flexibility of

the American machine increases its adhesion and enables it to draw greater
loads than its English rival. The same flexibility equalizes its pressure on
the track, prevents shocks and blows, and enables it to keep out of the
hospital and run more miles in a year than an English locomotive.[2]

A Sharp Curve—Manhattan Elevated Railway, 110th Street, New York.

Equally valuable improvements were made in cars, both for passengers
and freight. Instead of the four-wheeled English car, which on a rough track
dances along on three wheels, we owe to Ross Winans, of Baltimore, the
application of a pair of four-wheeled swivelling trucks, one under each end
of the car, thus enabling it to accommodate itself to the inequalities of a
rough track and to follow its locomotive around the sharpest curves. There
are, on our main lines, curves of less than 300 feet radius, while, on the
Manhattan Elevated, the largest passenger traffic in the world is conducted
around curves of less than 100 feet radius. There are few curves of less than
1,000 feet radius on European railways.

A steep grade on a
Mountain Railroad.

The climbing capabilities of a
locomotive upon smooth rails were
not known until, in 1852, Mr. B. H.
Latrobe, Chief Engineer of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, tried
a temporary zigzag gradient of 10
per cent.—that is 10 feet rise in 100
feet length, or 528 feet per mile—
over a hill about two miles long,
through which the Kingwood
Tunnel was being excavated. A
locomotive weighing 28 tons on its drivers took one car weighing 15 tons
over this line in safety. It was worked for passenger traffic for six months.
This daring feat has never been equalled. Trains go over 4 per cent.
gradients on the Colorado system, and there is one short line, used to bring
ore to the Pueblo furnaces, which is worked by locomotives over a 7 per
cent. grade. These are believed to be the steepest grades worked by ordinary
locomotives on smooth rails.

Another American invention is the switchback. By this plan the length of
line required to ease the gradient is obtained by running backward and
forward in a zigzag course, instead of going straight up the mountain. As a
full stop has to be made at the end of every piece of line, there is no danger
of the train running away from its brakes. This device was first used among
the hills of Pennsylvania over forty years ago, to lower coal cars down into

the Nesquehoning Valley. It was afterwards used on the Callao, Lima, and
Oroya Railroad in Peru, by American engineers, with extraordinary daring
and skill. It was employed to carry the temporary tracks of the Cascade
Division of the Northern Pacific Railroad over the "Stampede" Pass, with
grades of 297 feet per mile, while a tunnel 9,850 feet long was being driven
through the mountains.

A Switchback.

With the improvement of brakes and more reliable means of stopping
trains upon steep grades, came a farther development of the above device,
which was first applied on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in
Colorado, and has since been applied on a grand scale on the Saint Gothard
road, the Black Forest railways of Germany, and the Semmering line in the
Tyrol. This device is to connect the two lines of the zigzag by a curve at the
point where they come together, so that the train, instead of going
alternately backward and forward, now runs continuously on. It becomes
possible for the line to return above itself in spiral form, sometimes crossing
over the lower level by a tunnel, and sometimes by a bridge. A notable
instance of this kind of location is seen on the Tehachapi Pass of the

Southern Pacific, where the line ascends 2,674 feet in 25 miles, with eleven
tunnels, and a spiral 3,800 feet long.
The "Big
Loop," as it is
called, on the
Georgetown
branch of the
Plan of Big Loop.
Union Pacific, in
Colorado,
between Georgetown and a mining camp called Silver Plume, has been
chosen to illustrate this point. The direct distance up the valley is 1¼ miles
and the elevation 600 feet, requiring a gradient of 480 feet per mile. But by
curving the line around in a spiral, the length of the line is increased to 4
miles and the gradient reduced to 150 feet per mile. Zigzags were used first
for foot-paths, then for common roads, lastly for railways. Their natural
sequence, spirals, was a railway device entirely, and confirms the saying of
one of our engineers: "Where a mule can go, I can make a locomotive go."
This may be called the poetry of engineering, as it requires both
imagination to conceive and skill to execute.

There is one
thing more which
distinguishes the
American railway
from its English
parent, and that is
the almost
uniform practice
of getting the Profile of the Same.
road open for
traffic in the cheapest manner and in the least possible time, and then
completing it and enlarging its capacity out of its surplus earnings, and from
the credit which these earnings give it.

Big Loop, Georgetown Branch of the Union Pacific, Colorado.

The Pennsylvania Railroad between Philadelphia and Harrisburg is a
notable example of this. Within the past few years it has been rebuilt on a
grand scale, and in many places relocated, and miles of sharp curves and
heavy gradients, originally put in to save expense, have been taken out. This
system has been followed everywhere, except on a few branch lines, and
upon one monumental example of failure—the West Shore Railroad, of
New York. The projectors of that line attempted in three years to build a
double-track railroad up to the standard of the Pennsylvania road, which
had been forty years in reaching its present excellence. Their money gave
out, and they came to grief.

II.

We have thus briefly reviewed the development of our railways to show
what they are, and how they came to be what they are, before describing the
processes of building, in order that the reasons may be clearly understood

why we do certain things, and why we fail to do other things which we
ought to do.
In the building of a railway the first thing is to make the surveys and
locate the position of the intended road upon the ground, and to make maps
and sections of it, so that the land may be bought and the estimates of cost
be ascertained. The engineer's first duty is to make a survey by eye without
the aid of instruments. This is called the "reconnoissance." By this he lays
down the general position of the line, and where he wants it to go if
possible. Great skill, the result of long experience, or equally great
ignorance may be shown here. After the general position of the line, or
some part of it, has been laid down upon the pocket map, the engineer sends
his party into the field to make the preliminary survey with instruments.
In an old-settled country the party may live in farm-houses and taverns,
and be carried to their daily work by teams. But a surveying party will make
better progress, be healthier and happier, if they live in their own home,
even if that home be a travelling camp of a few tents. With a competent
commissary the camp can be well supplied with provisions, and be pitched
near enough to the probable end of the day's work to save the tired men a
long walk. When they get to camp and, after a wash in the nearest creek,
find a smoking-hot supper ready—even though it consist of fried pork and
potatoes, corn-bread and black coffee—their troubles are all forgotten, and
they feel a true satisfaction which the flesh-pots of Delmonico's cannot
give. One greater pleasure remains—to fill the old pipe, and recline by the
camp-fire for a jolly smoke.

Engineers in Camp.

A full surveying party consists of the front flag-man, with his corps of
axe-men to cut away trees and bushes; the transit-man, who records the
distances and angles of the line, assisted by his chain-men and flag-men;

and lastly the leveller, who takes and records the levels, with his rod-men
and axe-men. The chief of the party exercises a general supervision over all,
and is sometimes assisted by a topographer, who sketches in his book the
contours of the hills and direction and size of the watercourses.
One tent contains the cook, the commissary, and the provisions; another
tent or two the working party, and another the superior engineers, with their
drawing instruments and boards. In a properly regulated party the map and
profile of the day's work should be plotted before going to bed, so as to see
if all is right. If it turns out that the line can be improved and easier grades
got, or other changes made, now is the time to do it.
After the preliminary lines have been run, the engineer-in-chief takes up
the different maps and lays down a new line, sometimes coinciding with
that surveyed, and sometimes quite different. The parties then go back into
the field and stake out this new line, called the "approximate location,"
upon which the curves are all run in. In difficult country the line may be run
over even a third or fourth time; or in an easy country, the "preliminary"
surveys may be all that is wanted.
The life of an engineer, while making surveys, is not an easy one. His
duties require the physical strength of a drayman and the mental accuracy
of a professor, both exerted at the same time, and during heat and cold, rain
and shine.
An engineer, once on a time, standing behind his instrument, was
surrounded by a crowd of natives, anxious to know all about it. He
explained his processes, using many learned words, and flattered himself
that he had made a deep impression upon his hearers. At last, one old
woman spoke up, with an expression of great contempt on her face, "Wall!
If I knowed as much as you do, I'd quit ingineerin' and keep a grocery!"
A large part of the financial difficulties of our railways results from not
taking time enough to properly locate the line. It must be remembered that a
cheaply constructed line can be rebuilt, but with a badly located line
nothing can be done except to abandon it entirely.

Royal Gorge Hanging Bridge, Denver and Rio Grande, Colorado.

It is well therefore to consider carefully what is the true problem of
location. It is so to place and build a line of railway that it shall get the
greatest amount of business out of the country through which it passes, and

at the same time be able to do that business at the least cost, including both
expenses of operating and the fixed charges on the capital invested. The
mere statement of this problem shows that it is not an easy one. Its solution
is different in a new and unsettled country from that in an old-settled region.
In the new country, the shortest, cheapest, and straightest line possible,
consistent with the easiest gradients that the topography of the land will
allow, is the best. The towns will spring up after the road is built, and will
be built on its line, and generally at the places where stations have been
fixed.

Veta Pass, Colorado.

In a mountainous country, like Colorado,
the problem is how to reach the important
mining camps, regardless of the crookedness
and increased length given to the line. The Denver and Rio Grande has been
compared to an octopus. This is really a compliment to its engineers. It
sucks nutriment from every place where nutriment is to be found. To do this
it has been forced to climb mountains, where it was thought locomotives
could never climb. In one place, called the Royal Gorge, the difficulties of
blasting a road-bed into the side of the mountain were so great that it was
thought expedient to carry the track upon a bridge, and this bridge was hung
from two rafters, braced against the sides of the gorge. In surveying some
parts of the lines the engineers were suspended by ropes from the top of the
mountains and made their measurements swinging in mid-air.

The problem of location is
different in an old-settled country,
where the position of the towns as
trade-centres has been fixed by
natural laws that cannot be
overruled. In this case the best thing
the engineer can do is to get the
easiest gradient possible consistent
Sections of Snow-sheds. with the topography of the country,
and let the curves take care of
themselves; always to strike the important towns, even if the line is made
more crooked and longer thereby; to so place the line in these towns as to
accommodate the public, and still be able to buy plenty of land; also to
locate for under or over, rather than grade crossings.
In all countries, old and
new, mountainous and level,
the rule should be to keep the
level of track well above the
surface of the ground, in order
to insure good drainage and
freedom from snow-drifts.
The question of avoidance
of obstruction by snow is a
very serious one upon the
Rocky Mountain lines, and
they could not be worked without the device of snow-sheds—another
purely American invention. There are said to be six miles of stanchly built
snow-sheds on the Canadian Pacific and sixty miles on the Central Pacific
Railway. The quantity of snow falling is enormous, sometimes amounting
to 250,000 cubic yards, weighing over 100,000 tons, in one slide. It is stated
by the engineers of the Canadian Pacific, that the force of the air set in
motion by these avalanches has mown down large trees, not struck by the
snow itself. Their trunks, from one to two feet in diameter, remain, split as
if struck by lightning.

Snow-sheds, Selkirk Mountains, Canadian Pacific. The winter track under cover; the outer track for
summer use.

After the railway line has been finally located, the next duty of the
engineers is to prepare the work for letting. Land-plans are made, from
which the right of way is secured. From the sections, the quantities are
taken out. Plans of bridges and culverts are made; and a careful
specification of all the works on the line is drawn up.

Making an Embankment.

The works are then let, either to one large contractor or to several smaller
ones, and the labor of construction begins. The duties of the engineers are to
stake out the work for the contractors, make monthly returns of its progress,
and see that it is well done and according to the specifications and contract.
The line is divided into sections, and an engineer, with his assistants, is
placed in charge of each. Where the works are heavy, the contractors build
shanties for their men and teams near the heavy cuttings or embankments. It
is the custom to take out heavy cuttings by means of the machine called a
steam shovel, which will dig as many yards in a day as 500 men.
On the prairies of the West the road-bed is thrown up from ditches on
each side, either by men with wheelbarrows and carts, or by means of a
ditching-machine, which can move 3,000 yards of earth daily. In this case
the track follows immediately after the embankment, and the men live in
cars fitted up as boarding-shanties, and moved forward as fast as required.
If the country contains suitable stone, the culverts and bridge abutments are
built by gangs of masons and stone-cutters, who move from point to point.

But the general practice
is to put in temporary
trestle-work of timber
resting upon piles,
which trestle-work is
renewed in the shape of
stone culverts covered
by embankments, or
iron bridges resting on
stone abutments and
built after the road is
running. Steam Excavator.

The pile-driver plays a very
important part therefore in the
construction of our railroads, and
has been brought to great perfection.
It is worked by a small boiler and
engine, and gives its blows with
great rapidity. It drags the piles up to
leaders and lifts them into place by
steam-power, so that it is worked by
a small gang of men. Finally, it is as
portable as a pedler's cart, and as
soon as it has finished one job it is
taken to pieces, packed upon
wagons, and moved on to the next
job. Building a Culvert.
Tunnels are neither so long nor so
frequent upon American railways as upon those of Europe. The longest are
from two to two and a half miles long, except one, the Hoosac, about four
miles. Sometimes they are unavoidable. The ridge called Bergen Hill, west
of Hoboken, N. J., is a case in point. This is pierced by the tunnels of the
West Shore, of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western, and of the Erie,
the last two of which, as shown on page 25, are placed at different levels to
enable one road to pass over the other.

It is by our system of using sharp
curves that we avoid tunnels. It may
be said, in general terms, that
American engineers have shown
more skill in avoiding the necessity
of tunnels than could possibly be
shown in constructing them. When
we are obliged to use tunnels, or to
make deep cuttings in rocks, our
labors are greatly assisted by the use
of power-drills worked by
compressed air and by the use of
high explosives, such as dynamite,
giant powder, rend-rock, etc. Rocks
can now be removed in less than
half the time formerly required,
when ordinary blasting-powder was
used in hand-drilled holes.[3]

Rock Drill.

A Construction and Boarding Train.

III.

From data furnished by Mr. D. J. Whittemore, chief engineer of the
Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul system (which had a total length of 5,688
miles on January 1, 1888), the length of open bridges on these lines was
11591/100 miles, and of culverts covered over with embankment, 392/10 miles.
"Everything," says Mr. Whittemore, "not covered with earth, except cattle
guards, be the span 10 or 400 feet, is called a bridge. Everything covered
with earth is called a culvert. Wherever we are far removed from suitable
quarries, we build a wooden culvert in preference to a pile bridge, if we can
get six inches of filling over it. These culverts are built of roughly squared
logs, and are large enough to draw an iron pipe through them of sufficient
diameter to take care of the water. We do this because we believe that we
lessen the liability to accident, and that the culvert can be maintained after
decay has begun, much longer than a piled bridge with stringers to carry the
track. Had we good quarries along our line, stone would be cheaper. Many
thousands of dollars have been spent by this company in building masonry
that after twenty to twenty-five years shows such signs of disintegration that
we confine masonry work now only to stone that we can procure from
certain quarries known to be good."

Bergen Tunnels, Hoboken, N. J.

Mr. Whittemore is an
engineer of great
experience, skill, and
judgment, and there is food
for much reflection in these
words of his: First—that it is
better to use temporary wooden structures, to be afterward renewed in good
stone, rather than to build of the stone of the locality, unless first-class.
Second—that a structure covered with earth is much safer than an open
bridge; which, if short and apparently insignificant, may be, through
neglect, a most serious point of danger, as was shown in the dreadful
accident of 1887 on the Toledo, Peoria, and Western road in Illinois, where
one hundred and fifty persons were killed and wounded, and by the equally
avoidable accident on the Florida and Savannah line, in March, 1888. Had
these little trestles been changed to culverts covered with earth, many
valuable lives would not have been lost.

Beginning a Tunnel.

It was safely estimated that there were, in 1888, 208,749 bridges of all
kinds, amounting in length to 3,213 miles, in the United States.[4]
The wooden bridge and the wooden trestle are purely American products,
although they were invented by Leonardo da Vinci in the sixteenth century.
From the above statistics it will be seen how much our American railways
owe to them, for without them over 150,000 miles could never have been
built.
The art of building wooden truss-bridges was developed by Burr &
Wernwag, two Pennsylvania carpenters, some of whose works are still in
use after eighty years of faithful duty (p. 28). A bridge built by Wernwag
across the Delaware in 1803 was used as a highway bridge for forty-five
years, was then strengthened and used as a railway bridge for twenty-seven
years more, and was finally superseded by the present iron bridge in 1875.
These old bridge-builders were very particular about the quality of their
timber, and never put any into a bridge less than two years old. But when
we began to build railways, everything was done in a hurry, and nobody
could wait for seasoned timber. This led to the invention of the Howe truss,
by the engineer of that name, which had the advantage of being adjustable

with screws and nuts, so that the shrinkage could be taken up, and which
had its parts connected in such a way that they were able to bear the heavy
concentrated weight of locomotives without crushing. This bridge was used
on all railways, new and old, from 1840 to about 1870. Had it been free
from liability to decay and burn up, we should probably not be building iron
and steel bridges now, except for long spans of over 200 feet; and as the
table opposite shows, the largest number of our spans are less than 100 feet
long.
The Howe truss forms an excellent bridge, and is still used in the West on
new roads, with the intention of substituting iron trusses after the roads are
opened.
After 1870, the weights both of locomotives and other rolling stock
began to be increased very rapidly. This, together with the development of
the manufacture of iron, and especially the invention of rolled beams and of
eye-bars, gave a great impetus to the construction of iron bridges. At first
cast-iron was used for the compression members, but the development of
the rolling-mill soon enabled us to make all parts of rolled iron sections at
no greater cost, and rolled iron, being a less uncertain material, has replaced
cast-iron entirely. Iron bridges came in direct competition with the less
costly Howe truss, and during the first decade of their construction every
attempt was made to build them with as few pounds of iron as would meet
the strains.
S. Whipple, C.E., published
a book in 1847 which was the
first attempt ever made to
solve the mathematical
questions upon which the due
proportioning of iron truss-
bridges depends. This work
bore fruit, and a race of bridge
designers sprang up. The first
iron bridges were modelled
after their wooden
Old Burr Wooden Bridge. predecessors, with high
trusses and short panels.
Riveted connections were avoided, and every part was so designed that it

might be quickly and easily erected upon staging or false works, placed in
the river. This was very necessary, for our rivers are subject to sudden
freshets, and if we had adopted the English system of riveting together all
the connections, the long time required before the bridge became self-
sustaining would have been a serious element of danger.
Following the practice of wooden bridge building, iron bridges were
contracted for by the foot, and not by the pound as is now the custom. To
this accidental circumstance is greatly due the development of the American
iron bridge. The engineer representing the railway company fixed the
lengths of spans, and other general dimensions, and also the loads to be
carried and the maximum strains to be allowed. The contracting engineer
was left perfectly free to design his bridge, and he strained every nerve to
find the form of truss and the arrangement of its parts that should give the
required strength with the least number of pounds weight per foot, so that
he could beat his competitors. When the different plans were handed in, an
expert examined them and rejected those whose parts were too small to
meet the strains. Of those found to be correctly proportioned, the lowest bid
took the work.
By the rule of the survival of the fittest all badly designed forms of
trusses disappeared and only two remained: one the original truss designed
by Mr. Whipple, and the other, the well-known triangular, or "Warren"
girder, so called after its English inventor.
It speaks well for the skill and honesty of American bridge engineers that
many of their old bridges are still in use, designed for loads of 2,500 pounds
per lineal foot, and now daily carrying loads of 4,000 pounds and over per
foot. Sometimes the floor has been replaced by a stronger one, but the
trusses still remain and do good service. The writer may be permitted to
point to the bridge over the Mississippi River at Quincy, Ill., built in 1869,
as an example. Most bridge-accidents can be traced to derailed trains
striking the trusses and knocking them down. Engineers (both those
specially connected with bridge works, and those in charge of railways)
know much better now what is wanted, and the managers of railways are
willing to pay for the best article. The introduction of mild steel is a great
step in advance. This material has an ultimate strength, in the finished
piece, of 63,000 to 65,000 pounds per square inch, or forty per cent. more
than iron, and it is tough enough to be tied in a knot, or punched into the

shape of a bowl, while cold. With this material it is as easy to construct
spans of 500 feet as it was spans of 250 feet in iron.
Bridges are now designed to carry much heavier loads than formerly. The
best practice adopts riveted connections except at the junction of the chord-
bars and the main diagonals, where pins and eyes are still very properly
used. Plate girders below the track are preferred up to 60 or 70 feet long,
then riveted lattice up to 125 feet. The wind strains also are now provided
for with a considerable excess of material, amounting in very long spans to
nearly as much as the strains due to gravity. Observing the rule that no
bridge can be stronger than its weakest part, a vast deal of care and skill has
been applied in perfecting the connections of the parts of a truss, and many
valuable experiments have been made which have greatly enlarged our
knowledge of this difficult subject. The introduction of riveting by the
power of steam or compressed air is another very great improvement.[5]
Kinzua Viaduct;
Erie Railway.

Valleys and ravines are now
crossed by viaducts of iron and
steel, of which the Kinzua
viaduct, illustrated here, is an
example. A branch line from
the Erie, connecting that
system with valuable coal-
fields, strikes the valley of the
Kinzua, a small creek, about
15 miles southwest of
Bradford, Pa. At the point suitable
for crossing, this ravine is about half
a mile wide and over 300 feet deep.
At first it was proposed to run down
and cross the creek at a low level by
some of the devices heretofore
illustrated in this article. But finally
the engineering firm of Clarke,
Reeves & Co. agreed to build the

viaduct, shown above, for a much
less sum than any other method of
crossing would have cost. This
viaduct was built in four months. It is
305 feet high and about 2,400 feet
long. The skeleton piers were first erected by means of their own posts, and
afterward the girders were placed by means of a travelling scaffold on the
top, projecting over about 80 feet. No staging of any kind was used, nor
even ladders, as the men climbed up the diagonal rods of the piers, as a cat
will run up a tree.
The Manhattan Elevated Railway, about 34 miles long, is nothing but a
long viaduct, and is as strong and durable as iron viaducts on railways
usually are, while from the slower speed of its trains it is much safer.

It may not be out of
place for the writer to
state here what, in his
belief, is the next series
of steps to be taken to
insure safety in
travelling over our
bridges: Replace,
wherever possible, all
temporary trestles by
wood or stone culverts
covered with earth.
Where this cannot be
done, build strong iron
Kinzua Viaduct.
or steel bridges and
viaducts with as short spans as possible and having no trusses above the
track where it can possibly be helped. Cover these and all new bridges with
a solid deck of rolled-steel corrugated plates, coated with asphalt to prevent
rusting. Place on this broken stone ballast, and bed the ties in it as in the
ordinary form of road-bed.
By this means the usual shock felt in passing from the elastic
embankment to the comparatively solid bridge will be done away. Has a

crack formed in a wheel or axle, this shock generally develops it into a
break, the car or engine is derailed, and if it strikes the truss the bridge is
wrecked. The cost of this proposed safety floor is insignificant, compared
with the security resulting from it.

The improvements in the processes of putting in the foundations of
bridges have been as great as those above water. All have shortened greatly
the time necessary, and have made the results more certain. The American
system may briefly be described as an abandonment of the old engineering
device of coffer-dams, by which the bed of the river is enclosed by a water-
tight fence and the water pumped out. For this we substitute driving piles
and sawing them off under water; or sinking cribs down to a hard bottom
through the water. In both cases we sink the masonry, built in a great water-
tight box (called a caisson) with a thick bottom of solid timber, until it
finally rests on the heads of the piles sawn to a level, or on the top of a crib
which is filled with stone, dumped out of a barge. Sometimes it is filled
with concrete lowered through the water by special apparatus.[6]
Another process, developed within the last twenty years, is to sink cribs
through soft or unreliable material to a harder stratum by compressed air.
This is an improvement on the old diving-bell. The air, forced into the bell-
shaped cavity, expels the water and allows the men to work and remove the
material, which is taken up by a device called an air-lock. The crib slowly
sinks, carrying the masonry on its top.
By this means the foundations of the Brooklyn bridge and of the St.
Louis bridge were sunk a little over 100 feet below water. A recent
invention is that of a German engineer, Herr Poetsch, who freezes the sand
by inserting tubes filled with a freezing mixture, and then excavates it as if
it were solid rock.
The process of sinking open cribs through the water by weighting them
and dredging out the material was followed at the new bridge recently built
over the Hudson at Poughkeepsie, where the cribs were sunk 130 feet below
water, and at the bridge building over the Hawkesbury River, in Australia.
The Hawkesbury piers are sunk to a depth of 175 feet below water, and are

the deepest foundations yet put in. The writer (who derives his knowledge
from being one of the designing and executive engineers of both these
bridges) sees no difficulty in putting down foundations by this process of
open dredging to even much greater depths. The compressed-air process is
limited to about 110 feet in depth.

I V.

The most notable invention of latter days in bridge construction is that of
the cantilever bridge, which is a system devised to dispense with staging, or
false works, where from the great depth, or the swift current, of the river,
this would be difficult, or, as in the case of the Niagara River, impossible to
make. The word cantilever is used in architecture to signify the lower end of
a rafter, which projects beyond the wall of a building, and supports the roof
above. It is from an Italian word, taken from the Latin cantilabrum (used by
Vitruvius), meaning the lip of the rafter. If two beams were pushed out from
the shores of a stream until they met in the centre, and these two beams
were long enough to run back from the shores until their weight, aided by a
few stones, held them down, we should have a primitive form of the
cantilever, but one which in principle would not differ from the actual
cantilever bridges. This is another American invention, although it has been
developed by British engineers—Messrs. Fowler & Baker—in their huge
bridge now building across the Forth, in Scotland, of a size which dwarfs
everything hitherto done in this country, the Brooklyn bridge not excepted.
The first design of which we have any record was that of a bridge
planned by Thomas Pope, a ship carpenter of New York, who, in 1810,
published a book giving his designs for an arched bridge of timber across
the North River at Castle Point, of 2,400 feet span. Mr. Pope called this an
arch, but his description clearly shows it to have been what we now call a
cantilever. As was the fashion of the day, he indulged in a poetical
description:
"Like half a Rainbow rising on yon shore,
While its twin partner spans the semi o'er,
And makes a perfect whole that need not part
Till time has furnish'd us a nobler art."

View of Thomas Pope's Proposed Cantilever (1810).

The first railway cantilever bridge in the world was built by the late C.
Shaler Smith, C.E., one of our most accomplished bridge engineers. This
was a bridge over the deep gorge of the Kentucky River.[7] The next was a
bridge on the Canadian Pacific, in British Columbia, designed by C. C.
Schneider, C.E. A very similar bridge is that over the Niagara River,
designed by the same engineer in conjunction with Messrs. Field & Hayes,
Civil Engineers. This bridge was the first to receive the distinctive name of
cantilever.
The new bridge at Poughkeepsie has three of these cantilevers, connected
by two fixed spans, as shown in the illustration (pg. 36). The fixed spans
have horizontal lower chords, and really extend beyond each pier and up the
inclined portions, to where the bottom chord of the cantilever is horizontal.
At these points the junctions between the spans are made, and arranged in
such a way, by means of movable links, that expansion and contraction due
to changes of temperature can take place. The fixed spans are 525 feet long.
Their upper chord, where the tracks are placed, is 212 feet above water.
These spans required stagings to build them upon. These stagings were 220
feet above water, and rested on piles, driven through 60 feet of water and 60
feet of mud, making the whole height of the temporary staging 332 feet, or
within 30 feet of the height of Trinity Church steeple, in New York. The

time occupied in building one of these stagings and then erecting the steel-
work upon it was about four months.
The cantilever spans were erected, as shown in the illustration on page
37, without any stagings at all below, and entirely from the two overhead
travelling scaffolds, shown in the engraving. These scaffolds were moved
out daily from the place of beginning over the piers, until they met in the
centre. The workmen hoisted up the different pieces of steel from a barge in
the river below and put them into place, using suspended planks to walk
upon. The time saved by this method was so great that one of these spans of
548 feet long was erected in less than four weeks, or one-seventh of the
time which would have been required if stagings had been used.
At the
Forth
Bridge,
all the
projectin
g
cantileve
rs will be Pope's Cantilever in Process of Erection. (From his "Treatise on Bridge Architecture.")
built
from overhead scaffolds, 360 feet above the water. It contains two spans of
1,710 feet each. When spans of this length are used, the rivets become very
long—seven inches—and it would be impossible to make a good job by
hand riveting. Hence a power-riveter is used in riveting the work upon the
staging. A steam-engine raises up a heavy mass of cast-iron, called "the
accumulator;" the weight of this in descending is transmitted through tubes
of water, and its power increased by contracting the area of pressure, until
some twenty tons can be applied to the head of each rivet. One rivet per
minute can be put in with this tool.

It will be seen that most of the great saving of time in modern
construction of bridges and other parts of railways is due to improved
machinery. The engineer of to-day is probably not more skilful than his
ancestor, who, in periwig and cue, breeches and silk stockings, is

represented in old prints supervising a gang of laborers, who slowly lift the
ram of a pile-driver by hauling on one end of a rope passed over a pulley-
wheel. The modern engineer has that useful servant, steam, and the history
of modern engineering is chiefly the history of those inventions by which
steam has been able to supersede manual labor—such as pile-drivers,
steam-shovels, steam-dredges, and other similar tools.

General View of the Poughkeepsie Bridge.

After the road-bed of a railway is completed and covered with a good
coat of gravel or stone-ballast, and after all the temporary structures have
been replaced by permanent ones, that part of the work may be said to be
done, requiring only that the damages of storms should be repaired. But the
track of a railway is never done. It is always wearing out and always being
replaced.

Erection of a Cantilever.

Some of the early English engineers, not appreciating this, endeavored to
lay down solid stone walls coped with stone cut to a smooth surface, on
which they laid their rails. They called this "permanent way," as
distinguished from the temporary track of rails and cross-ties used by
contractors in building the lines. But experience soon showed that the
temporary track, if supported by a bed of broken stone, always kept itself
drained and was always elastic, and remained in much better order than the
more expensive so-called "permanent way." When the increase in the
weight of our rolling stock began to take place, dating from about 1870,
iron rails were found to be wearing out very fast. Some railway men
declared that the railway system had reached its full development. But in
this world the supply generally equals the demand. When a thing is very
much wanted, it is sure to come, sooner or later. The process of making
steel invented by, and named after, Henry Bessemer, of England, and

perfected by A. L. Holley, of this country, gave us a steel rail which at the
present time costs less than one of iron, and has a life five or six times as
long, even under the heavy loads of to-day. We are now approaching very
near the limit of what the rail will carry, while the joints are becoming less
able to do their duty. Bad joints mean rough track. Rough track means
considerably greater expenditure both for its maintenance and that of all the
rolling stock, as the blows and shocks do reciprocal damage, both to the
rails and to that which runs on them. Hence all railway managers are now
devoting more care and attention to their tracks.
In laying track on a new railway, if it be in an old-settled country where
other railroads are near and the highways good, the ties are delivered in
piles along the line where wanted, and the haul of the rails is comparatively
short. The ties are laid down, spaced and bedded, adzed off to a true
bearing, and the rails laid upon them; the workmen being divided into
gangs, each doing a different part of the work. After the track is laid, the
ballast-trains come along and cover the roadbed with gravel. The track is
raised, the gravel tamped well under the ties, and the track is ready for use.

Spiking the Track.

Rail Making.

The road is then divided into sections about five miles long. On each
section there is a section-boss, with four to six laborers. Their duty is to
pass over the track at least twice a day in their hand-car, to examine every
joint, and where one is found low or out of line, to bring it back to its true
position by tamping gravel under it and moving the track. They have also to
see that all ditches are kept clear of water, a most essential point, as without
good drainage the ground under gravel ballast becomes soft, and the mud is
churned up into the gravel, and the whole soon gets into bad order.
They have to see that the fences are all right, that trees and telegraph
poles do not fall across the track, that wooden bridges do not burn down,
that iron and stone bridges are not undermined by freshets, and always to
set up danger signals to warn the trains.

Track Laying.

It is admitted by competent judges, that the track of the Pennsylvania
Railroad is the best in this country, and one of the best in the world. It is
kept up to its high standard of excellence by a system of competitive
examinations.
About the first of November, in each year, after the season's work has
been done, a tour of inspection is made over all the lines, on a train of cars
expressly prepared, consisting of two or more cars not unlike ordinary box
cars with the front end taken out. Each car is pushed in front of an engine,
and goes slowly over the line, by daylight only, so that the inspecting party
may have a full view of the road.
The Pennsylvania road is divided into Grand Divisions, Superintendents'
Divisions, of about 100 miles long, Supervisors' Divisions, of about 30
miles, and Subdivisions, of 2½ miles.
The examining committee for each Supervisor's Division consists of the
supervisors of other divisions. As they pass along, they mark on a card. One
sub-committee marks the condition of the alignment and surfacing of the
rails; another the condition of the joints and the spacing of the ties; another
the ballast, switches, and sidings; another the ditches, road-crossings,
station grounds. The marks range from 0 to 10, 0 being very bad, 5 medium,
and 10 perfection. When the trip is done these reports are all collected and
the average is taken for each division.

As an inducement to the supervisors and the foremen of the Subdivisions
to excel on their division, premiums are given as follows:

$100 to the supervisor having the best yard on his Grand Division.
$100 each to the supervisors having the best Supervisor's Division on each Superintendent's
Division of 100 miles.
$75 to the foreman having the best subdivision of 2½ miles on each Grand Division.
$60 to each foreman having the best subdivision on his Superintendent's Division, including
yards.
$50 to the foreman having the best subdivision on each Supervisor's Division.

In addition to the above there are two premiums of honor given by the
general manager, which bring into competition with each other those parts
of the main line lying on either side of Philadelphia, viz.:

$100 to the supervisor having the best line and surface between Pittsburg and Jersey City.
$50 to the second best ditto.

If a supervisor or foreman of subdivision receives one of the higher
premiums, he is not allowed to be a competitor for any others premiums,
except the premiums of honor.
The advantages of these inspections and premiums are these: Every man
knows exactly what the standard of excellence is, and strives to have his
section reach it. Under the old system, a man never got off of his own
section, and had no means of comparison, and like all untravelled persons,
became conceited.
The standard of excellence becomes higher and higher every year. Perfect
fairness prevails, as the men themselves are the judges. The officers of the
road make no marks, but usually look on and see that there is fair play.
This brings the officers and men nearer together, and shows the men how
all are working for the common good. An agreeable break is made in the
monotony of the men's lives. They have something to look forward to better
than a spree.
It is by the adoption of such methods as these that strikes will be
prevented in the future. It encourages an esprit de corps among the men,
and educates them in every way.

This system was first devised and put in operation on the Pennsylvania
Railroad in 1879, by Mr. Frank Thomson, General Manager, to whom the
credit of it is justly due.

V.

I have thus endeavored to trace the history of the building of a railway;
and it must have been seen, from what has been said, that the evolution of
the railway and of its rolling stock follows the same laws which govern the
rest of the world: adaptation to circumstances decides what is fittest, and
that alone survives. The scrap-heap of a great railway tells its own story.
Our railways have now reached a development which is wonderful. The
railways of the United States, if placed continuously, would reach more
than half-way to the moon. Their bridges alone would reach from New York
to Liverpool. Notwithstanding the number of accidents that we read of in
the daily papers, statistics show that less persons are killed annually on
railways than are killed annually by falling out of windows.
Railways have so cheapened the cost of transportation that, while a load
of wheat loses all of its value by being hauled one hundred miles on a
common road, meat and flour enough to supply one man a year can,
according to Mr. Edward Atkinson, be hauled 1,500 miles from the West to
the East for one day's wages of that man, if he be a skilled mechanic. If
freight charges are diminished in the future as in the past, this can soon be
done for one day's wages of a common laborer.
The number of persons employed in constructing, equipping, and
operating our railways is about two millions.
The combined armies and navies of the world, while on peace footing,
will draw from gainful occupations 3,455,000 men.
Those create wealth—these destroy it. Is it any wonder that America is
the richest country in the world?
The rapidity with which it is possible to build railways over the prairies
of the West is extraordinary. It is true that the amount of earth necessary to
be moved is much less than on the railways of the East. In Iowa and
Wisconsin, the amount runs from 20,000 to 25,000 yards per mile, while in

Dakota it is only 12,000 to 15,000 yards per mile. After making all due
allowance for this, the result is still remarkable.

Temporary Railway Crossing
the St. Lawrence on the Ice.

The Manitoba system was
extended in 1887 through Dakota
and Montana, a distance of 545
miles. A small army of 10,000
men, with about 3,500 teams, commanded by General D. C. Shepard, of
St. Paul, a veteran engineer and contractor, did it all between April 2 and
October 19. All materials and subsistence had to be hauled to the front,
from the base of supplies. The army slept in its own tents, shanties, and
cars. The grading was cast up from the side ditches, sometimes by carts,
and sometimes by the digging machine.

Everything was done with military organization, except that what was
left behind was a railway and not earth-work lines of defence. Assuming
that this railway, ready for its equipment, cost $15,100 per mile, or
$8,175,000, and if it be true, as statisticians tell us, that every dollar
expended in building railways in a new country adds ten to the value of
land and other property, then this six months' campaign shows a solid
increase of the wealth of our country of over eighty millions of dollars. Had
it been necessary for our Government to keep an army of observation of the

same size on the Canadian frontier, there would have been a dead loss of
over eight millions of dollars, and the only result would have been a slight
reduction of the Treasury surplus.
It must be remembered that this railway was built after the American
system: when the rails were laid, so as to carry trains, it was not much more
than half finished; the track had to be ballasted, the temporary wooden
structures replaced by stone and iron, and many buildings and miles of
sidings were yet to be constructed. But it began to earn money from the
very day the last rail was laid, and out of its earnings, and the credit thereby
acquired, it will complete itself.
And this is only one instance out of many. The armies of peace are
working all over our country, increasing our wealth, and binding all parts
into a common whole. We have here the true answer to the Carlyles and the
Ruskins who ask: "What is the use of all this? Is a man any better who goes
sixty miles an hour than one who went five miles an hour?" "Were we not
happier when our fields were covered with their golden harvests, than now,
when our wheat is brought to us from Dakota?"
The grand function of the railway is to change the whole basis of
civilization from military to industrial. The talent, the energy, the money,
which is expended in maintaining the whole of Europe as an armed camp is
here expended in building and maintaining railways, with their army of two
millions of men. Without the help of railways the rebellion of the Southern
States could never have been put down, and two great standing armies
would have been necessary. By the railways, aided by telegraphs, it is easy
to extend our Federal system over an entire continent, and thus dispense
forever with standing armies.
The moral effect of this upon Europe is great, but its physical effect is
still greater. American railways have nearly abolished landlordism in
Ireland, and they will one day abolish it in England, and over the continent
of Europe. So long as Europe was dependent for food upon its own fields,
the owner of those fields could fix his own rental. This he can no longer do,
owing to the cheapness of transportation from Australia and from the
prairies of America, due to the inventions of Watt, the Stephensons,
Bessemer, and Holley.

With the wealth of the landlord his political power will pass away. The
government of European countries will pass out of the hands of the great
landowners, but not into those of the rabble, as is feared. It will pass into
the same hands that govern America to-day—the territorial democracy, the
owners of small farms, and the manufacturers and merchants. When this
comes to pass, attempts will be made to settle international disputes by
arbitration instead of war, following the example of the Geneva arbitration
between the two greatest industrial nations of the world. Whether our
Federal system will ever extend to the rest of the world, no one knows, but
we do know that without railways it would be impossible.
When we consider the effects of all these wonderful changes upon the
sum of human happiness, we must admit that the engineer should justly take
rank with statesmen and soldiers, and that no greater benefactors to the
human race can be named than the Stephensons and their American
disciples—Allen, Rogers, Jervis, Winans, Latrobe, and Holley.

F OOT NOT E S :
[1] It is proper here to say that English engineers now appreciate the merits of
the American swivelling truck or bogie. In the article on Railways in the last
edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica," speaking of locomotives, the author of
the article, who is an English engineer of high authority, says: "American
practice, many years since, arrived at two leading types of locomotive for
passenger, and for goods traffic. The passenger locomotive has eight wheels, of
which four in front are framed in a bogie, and the four wheels behind are
coupled drivers. This is the type to which English practice has been
approximating." The italics are ours.
[2] The statistics of ten leading English and ten leading American lines, given by
Dorsey, show the following results: 1. The cost per year of the rations, wages,
fuel of an American locomotive is $5,590; of an English locomotive, $3,080. 2.
Average yearly number of train-miles run by American locomotive, 23,928;
English locomotive, 17,539. 3. Yearly earnings: American locomotive, $14,860;
English locomotive, $10,940, although the English freight charges are much
greater than those of the United States.
[3] The writer has obtained many of the statistics used in this article from A. M.
Wellington's "Economic Theory of Railway Location," a perfect mine of
valuable information upon all such matters.
[4] The amount of permanent wood and iron truss bridges, and of temporary
wooden trestles on the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul is as follows:

Truss bridges, 700 spans, average 93 feet, 124/5 miles.
Trestle " 7,196 " " 77 " 1031/10 "
—— ———
Total, 7,896 1159/10 "
The approximate total number of bridges in the United States was in 1888:
Iron and wood truss bridges, 61,562 spans, 1,086 miles.
Wooden trestles, 147,187 2,127 "
–——— –——
Total, 208,749 3,213 "
Probably three-fourths of the truss bridges are now of iron or steel, and may be
considered perfectly safe so long as the trains remain upon the rails and do not
strike the side trusses. The wooden trestles are a constant source of danger from
decay or burning or from derailed trains, and should be replaced by permanent
structures as fast as time and money will allow.
[5] See following article on "Feats of Railroad Engineering," page 86.
[6] For fuller description of work in a caisson see "Feats of Railway
Engineering," page 69.
[7] See "Feats of Railway Engineering," page 55.

FEATS OF RAILWAY ENGINEERING.
By JOHN BOGART.

Development of the Rail—Problems for the Engineer—How Heights are Climbed—The Use
of Trestles—Construction on a Mountain Side—Engineering on Rope Ladders—Through
the Portals of a Cañon—Feats on the Oroya Railroad, Peru—Nochistongo Cut—Rack
Rails for Heavy Grades—Difficulties in Tunnel Construction—Bridge Foundations—
Cribs and Pneumatic Caissons—How Men work under Water—The Construction of Stone
Arches—Wood and Iron in Bridge-building—Great Suspension Bridges—The Niagara
Cantilever and the enormous Forth Bridge—Elevated and Underground Roads—
Responsibilities of the Civil Engineer.

here are one hundred and fifty thousand miles of
railway in the United States: three hundred
thousand miles of rails—in length enough to
make twelve steel girdles for the earth's
circumference. This enormous length of rail is
wonderful—we do not really grasp its
significance. But the rail itself, the little section
of steel, is an engineering feat. The change of its
form from the curious and clumsy iron pear-head of thirty years ago to the
present refined section of steel is a scientific development. It is now a beam
whose every dimension and curve and angle are exactly suited to the
tremendous work it has to do. The loads it carries are enormous, the blows
it receives are heavy and constant, but it carries the loads and bears the
blows and does its duty. The locomotive and the modern passenger and
freight cars are great achievements; and so is the little rail which carries
them all.
The railway to-day is one of the matter-of-fact associations of our active
life. We use it so constantly that it requires some little effort to think of it as
a wonderful thing; a creation of man's ingenuity, which did not exist when
our grandfathers were young. Its long bridges, high viaducts, and dark
tunnels may be remarked and remembered by the traveller, but the narrow
way of steel, the road itself, seems but a simple work. And yet the problem

of location, the determination, foot by foot and mile by mile, of where the
line must go, calls in its successful solution for the highest skill of the
engineer, whose profession before the railway was created hardly existed at
all. Locomotives now climb heights which a few years ago no vehicle on
wheels could ascend. The writer, with some engineer friends, was in the
mountains of Colorado during the summer of 1887, and saw a train of very
intelligent donkeys loaded with ore from the mines, to which no access
could be had but by those sure-footed beasts. Within a year one of that party
of engineers had located and was building a railway to those very mines.
No heights seem too great to-day, no valleys too deep, no cañons too
forbidding, no streams too wide; if commerce demands, the engineer will
respond and the railways will be built.
The location of the line of a railway through difficult country requires the
trained judgment of an engineer of special experience, and the most difficult
country is not by any means that which might at first be supposed. A line
through a narrow pass almost locates itself. But the approach to a summit
through rolling country is often a serious problem. The rate of grade must
be kept as light as possible, and must never exceed the prescribed
maximum. The cuttings and the embankments must be as shallow as they
can be made—the quantities of material taken from the excavations should
be just about enough to make adjacent embankments. The curves must be
few and of light radius—never exceeding an arranged limit. The line must
always be kept as direct as these considerations will allow—so that the final
location will give the shortest practicable economical distance from point to
point. Many a mile of railway over which we travel now at the highest
speed has been a weary problem to the engineer of location, and he has
often accomplished a really greater success by securing a line which seems
to closely fit the country over which it runs without marking itself sharply
upon nature's moulding, than if he had with apparent boldness cut deep into
the hills and raised embankments and viaducts high over lowlands and
valleys.

View Down the Blue from Rocky Point,
Denver,
South Park and Pacific Railroad;
showing successive tiers of railway.

But roads must run through
many regions where very
different measures must be taken
to secure a location practicable
for traffic. For instance, a line at
a high elevation approaches a
wide valley which it must cross.
The rate of descent is fixed by the established maximum grade, and the
sides of the valley are much steeper than that rate. Then the engineer must
gain distance—that is to say, he must make the line long enough to
overcome the vertical height. This can often be accomplished by carrying
it up the valley on one side and down on the other. Tributary valleys can
be made use of if necessary, and the desired crossing thus accomplished.
But at times even these expedients will not suffice. Then the line is made
to bend upon itself and wind down the hillside upon benches cut into the
earth, or rock, curving at points where nature affords any sort of
opportunity, and reaching the valley at last in long convolutions like the
path of a great serpent on the mountain side. These lines often show

several tiers of railway, one directly above the other, as may be seen in the
illustrations on pages 49 and 51.

The long trestle shown in the illustration opposite is an example of an
expedient often of the greatest service in railway construction. These
trestles are built of wood, simply but strongly framed together, and are
entirely effective for the transport of traffic for a number of years. Then
they must be renewed, or, what is better, be replaced by embankment,
which can be gradually made by depositing the material from cars on the
trestle itself. The trestle illustrated is interesting as conforming to the curve
of the line, which in that country, the mountains of Colorado, was probably
a necessity of location.

Where the direct turning of a line upon itself may not be necessary, there
may and often must be bold work done in the construction of the road upon
a mountain side. It must be supported where necessary by walls built up
from suitable foundations, often only secured at a great depth below the
grade of the road. Projecting points of rock must be cut through, and any
practicable natural shelf or favorable formation must be made use of, as in
the picture on page 61. In some of the mountain locations, galleries have
been cut directly into the rock, the cliff overhanging the roadway, and the
line being carried in a horizontal cut or niche in the solid wall.

Loop and Great Trestle near Hagerman's, on the Colorado Midland Railway.

The Oroya and the Chimbote railways in South America demanded
constant locations of this character. At many points it was necessary to
suspend the persons making the preliminary measurements from the cliff
above. The engineer who made these locations told the writer that on the
Oroya line the galleries were often from 100 to 400 feet above the base of
the cliff, and were generally reached from above. Rope ladders were used to
great advantage. One 64 feet long and one 106 feet long covered the usual
practice, and were sometimes spliced together. The side ropes were ¾ and
1¼ inches in diameter, and the rounds of wood 1¼ inches in diameter, and
16 inches and 24 inches long. These were notched at the ends and passed
through the ropes, to which they were afterward lashed. These ladders could
be rolled up and carried about on donkeys or mules. When swung over the
side of a cliff and secured at the top, and when practicable at the bottom,
they formed a very useful instrument in location and construction. For
simple examination of the cliff, and for rough or broken slopes not
exceeding 70 to 80 degrees, an active fellow would, after some experience,
walk up and down such a slope simply grasping the rope in his hands. If

required to do any work he would secure the rope about his body, or wind it
around his arm, leaving his hands comparatively free for light work.
The boatswain's chair—consisting of a wooden seat 6 inches wide and
two feet long, through the ends of which pass the side ropes, looped at the
top, and having their ends knotted—is a particularly convenient seat to use
where cliffs overhang to a slight degree. The riggers were generally
Portuguese sailors, who seemed to have more agility and less fear than any
other men to be found. At Cuesta Blanca, on the Oroya, a prominent
discoloration on the cliff served as a triangulation point for locating the
chief gallery. Men were swung over the side of the cliff in a cage about 2½
feet by 6 feet, open at the top and on the side next the rock. This was a
peculiar cliff about 1,000 feet high, rising from the river at a general slope
of about 70 degrees. The grade line of the road was 420 feet above the river.
The Chileno miners climbed up a rope ladder to a large seam near the
grade, where they lived; provisions, water, etc., being hoisted up to them.
The first men sent over the cliff to begin the preliminary work were lowered
in a cage and took their dinners with them, for fear they would not return to
the work, and that unless a genuine start was made others could not be
induced to take their places. It is safe to say that 80 per cent. of the sixty
odd tunnels on the Oroya and the seven tunnels on the Chimbote lines were
located and constructed on lines determined by triangulation, and the results
were so satisfactory that the method may be depended upon as the best
system for determining topographical data or for locating and constructing
the lines in any similar locality.

Denver and Rio Grande
Railway Entering the

Portals of the Grand
River Cañon, Col.

Where the
rocks close in
together, as in
some of the
cañons of our
Southwest, the
railway curves
about them and
finds its way often
where one would
hardly suppose a
decent wagon
road could be
built. The portals
of the Grand
River Cañon, as
here shown, present such a line, passing through narrow gateways of rock
rising precipitously on either side to enormous heights.

When such a cañon or a narrow valley directly crosses the line of the
road, it must be spanned by a bridge or viaduct. The Kentucky River
Bridge, shown below, is an instance. The Verrugas Bridge, on the Lima and
Oroya Railroad in Peru, is another. This bridge is at an elevation of 5,836
feet above sea-level. It crosses a ravine at the bottom of which is a small
stream. The bridge is 575 feet long, in four spans, and is supported by iron
towers, the central one of which is 252 feet in height. The construction was
accomplished entirely from above, the material all having been delivered at
the top of the ravine, and the erection was made by lowering each piece to
its position. This was done by the use of two wire-rope cables, suspended
across the ravine from temporary towers at each end of the bridge.

The Kentucky River Cantilever, on the Cincinnati Southern Railway.

On the line of the same Oroya Railroad is a striking example of the
difficulties encountered in such mountain country and of the method by
which they have been overcome. A tunnel reaches a narrow gorge, a truss is
thrown across, and the tunnel continued. Nature's wildest scenery, the deep
ravine, the mountain cliffs, and the graceful truss carrying the locomotive
and train safely over what would seem an impossible pass, here combine to
give a vivid illustration of an engineering feat.

Truss over Ravine, and Tunnel, Oroya Railroad, Peru.

The location of a part of the Mexican Central Railway through the cut of
Nochistongo is peculiarly interesting. Far underneath the level of this line
of railway there was skilfully constructed, in 1608, a tunnel which at that
period was a very bold piece of engineering. It was designed to drain the
Valley of Mexico, which has no natural outlet. This tunnel was more than
six miles long and ten feet wide. It was driven through the formation called
tepetate, a peculiar earth with strata of sand and marl. It was finished in

eleven months. At first excavated without a lining, it was afterward faced
with masonry. It was not entirely protected when a great flood came, the
dikes above gave way, and the tunnel became obstructed. The City of
Mexico was flooded, and it was decided that, instead of repairing the tunnel
an open cut should be made. The engineer who had constructed the tunnel,
Enrico Martinez, was put in charge of this enormous undertaking, and
others took his place after his death. The cut is believed to be the largest
ever made in the world. For more than a century the work was continued.
Its greatest depth is now 200 feet. It was cut deeper, but has partially filled
with the washings from the slopes. The cost was enormous, more than
6,000,000 dollars in silver having been actually disbursed! Wages for
workmen were then from 9 to 12 cents a day. All convicts sentenced to hard
labor were put at work in the great cut. The loss of life was very great.
Writers of the time state that more than 100,000 Indians perished while
engaged in the work.

The Nochistongo Cut, Mexican Central Railway.

When a line of railway encountered a grade too steep for ascent by the
traction of the locomotive, the earlier engineers adopted the inclined plane.
Such planes were in use at important points during many years. Notable

instances were those by which
traffic was carried across the
Alleghany Mountains, connecting on
each side with the Pennsylvania
railway lines. These old planes are
still visible from the present
Pennsylvania Railroad where it
crosses the summit west of Altoona.
The planes were operated by
stationary engines acting upon
cables attached to the cars. These
cables passed around drums at the
head of the planes, the weight of the
cars on one track partially balancing
those on the other. Similar planes
The Mount Washington Rack Railroad.
were in use also at Albany,
Schenectady, and other places.
Another effective expedient is the
central rack rail. No better or more
successful example of this method
of construction can be given than the
Mount Washington Railway,
illustrated above. The road was
completed in 1869. Its length is 31/3
miles and its total rise 3,625 feet. Its
steepest grade is about 1 foot rise in
every 3 feet in length; the average
grade is 1 in 4. It is built of heavy
timber, well bolted to the rock. Low
places are spanned by substantial
trestle work. The gauge of the road Trestle on Portland and Ogdensburg Railway,
is 4 feet 7½ inches, and it is Crawford Notch, White Mountains.
provided with the two ordinary rails
and also the central rack rail, which is really like an iron ladder, the sides
being of angle iron and the cross-pieces of round iron 1½ inches in diameter
and 4 inches apart. Into these plays the central cog-wheel on the
locomotive, which thus climbs this iron ladder with entire safety. Very

complete arrangements are made to control the descent of the train in case
of accident to the machinery. The locomotive is always below the train, and
pushes it up the mountain. Many thousands of passengers have been
transported every year without accident.
The rack railroad ascending the Righi,
in Switzerland, was copied after the Mount
Washington line. Some improvements in
the construction of the rack rail and
attachments have been introduced upon
mountain roads in Germany, and this
system seems very advantageous for use in
exceptionally steep locations.

A Series of Tunnels.

When a line of railway meets in its course a barrier of rock, it is often
best to cut directly through. If the grade is not too far below the surface of
the rock, the cut is made like a great trench with the sides as steep as the
nature of the material will allow. Very deep cuts are, however, not desirable.
The rains bring down upon their slopes the softer material from above, and
the frost detaches pieces of rock which, falling, may result in serious
accidents to trains. Snow lodges in these deep cuts, at times entirely
stopping traffic, as in the blizzard near New York, in March, 1888. A tunnel,
therefore, while perhaps greater in first cost than a moderately deep cut, is
really often the more economical expedient.

Tunnel at the Foot of Mount St. Stephen, on the Canadian Pacific.
(The glacier 8,200 feet above the Railway.)

Peña de Mora
on the La Guayra and Carácas Railway, Venezuela.

And here is as good a place, perhaps,
as any other in this chapter, to say that

true engineering is the economical
adaptation of the means and
opportunities existing, to the
end desired. Civil engineering
was defined, by one of the
greatest of England's
engineers, as "the
art of directing the
great sources of
power in nature
for the use and
convenience of
man," and that
definition was
adopted as a
fundamental idea
in the charter of
the English
Institution of Civil
Engineers. But the
development of
engineering works
in America has been effected successfully by American engineers only
because they have appreciated another side of the problem presented to
them. A past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a man of
rare judgment and remarkable executive ability, the late Ashbel Welch, said,
in discussing a great undertaking proposed by an eminent Frenchman: "That
is the best engineering, not which makes the most splendid, or even the
most perfect, work, but that which makes a work that answers the purpose
well, at the least cost." And it may be remarked, as to the project which he
was then discussing, that after a very large expenditure and an experience of
eight years since that discussion, the plans of the work were modified and
the identical suggestions made by Mr. Welch of a radical economical
change were adopted in 1888.[8] Another eminent American engineer,
whose practical experience has been gained in the construction and
engineering supervision of more than five thousand miles of railway, said,
in his address as President of the American Society of Civil Engineers: "The

high object of our profession is to consider and determine the most
economic use of time, power, and matter."

Perspective View of St. Gothard Spiral Tunnels, in
the Alps.

That true economy, which finally
secures in a completed work the best results from the investment of capital,
in first cost and continued maintenance, is an essential element in the
consideration of any really great engineering feat.

The difficulties involved in the construction of a tunnel, after the line and
dimensions have been determined, depend generally upon the nature of the
material found as the work advances. Solid rock presents really the fewest
difficulties, but it is seldom that tunnels of considerable length occur
without meeting material which requires special provision for successful
treatment. In some cases great portions of the rock, where the roof of the
tunnel is to be, press downward with enormous weight, being detached
from the adjacent mass by the occurrence of natural seams.

At other places soft material may be encountered, and the passage then is
attended with great difficulty. Temporary supports, generally of timber, and
of great strength, have often to be used at every foot of progress to prevent
the material from forcing its way into the excavation already made.
In long tunnels the ventilation is a difficult problem, although the use of
compressed air drills has aided greatly in its solution.
Among the great tunnels which
have been excavated, the St.
Gothard is the most remarkable. It is
9¼ miles long, with a section 26¼
feet wide by 192/3 feet high. The
work on this tunnel was continuous,
and it required 9¼ years for its
completion. Plan of St. Gothard Spiral Tunnels.
1
The Mont Cenis tunnel, 8 /3 miles
in length, was completed in 12 years.
Profile of the Same.

The Hoosac Tunnel, 4¾ miles in length, 26
feet wide and 21½ feet high, was not
prosecuted continuously; it was completed in
1876. These tunnels are notable chiefly on
account of their great length; there are others
of more moderate extent which have peculiar
features; one, illustrated on the
preceding page, is unique. This
tunnel is a portion of the St. Gothard
Railway, and not very far distant
from the great tunnel referred to
above. In the descent of the mountain
it was absolutely necessary to secure
a longer distance than a straight line
or an ordinary curve would give; the
line was therefore doubly curved
upon itself. It enters the mountain at

a high elevation, describes a circle through the rock and, constantly
descending, reappears under itself at the side; still descending, it enters the
mountain at another point and continues in another circular tunnel until it
finally emerges again, under itself, but at a comparatively short horizontal
distance from its first entry, having gained the required descent by a
continued grade through the tunnels. The profile above shows the descent,
upon a greatly reduced scale, the heavy lines marking where the line is in
the tunnel.

Portal of a Finished Tunnel; showing Cameron's Cone, Colorado.

Portal of a Tunnel in Process of Construction.

The remarkable success achieved by engineers in securing suitable
foundations at great depths is, of course, hardly known to the thousands
who constantly see the structures supported on those foundations, but in any
fair consideration of such engineering achievements this must not be
omitted. The beautiful bridge built by Captain Eads over the Mississippi
River at St. Louis, bold in its design and excellent in its execution, is an
object of admiration to all who visit it, but the impression of its importance
would be greatly magnified if the part below the surface of the water, which
bears the massive towers, and which extends to a depth twice as great as the
height of the pier above the water, could be visible.

Railway Pass at Rocky Point in the Rocky Mountains.

The simplest and most effective foundation is, of course, on solid rock. In
many localities reliable foundations are built upon earth, when it exists at a
suitable depth and of such a character as properly to sustain the weight.
Foundations under water, when rock or good material occurs at moderate
depth, are constructed frequently by means of the coffer-dam, which is
simply an enclosure made water-tight and properly connected with the
bottom of the stream. The water is then pumped out and the foundation and

masonry built within this temporary dam. When the material is not of a
character to sustain the weight, the next expedient is the use of piles, which
are driven into the ground, often to a very considerable depth, and sustain
the load placed upon them by the friction upon the sides of the piles of the
material in which they are driven. It is seldom that dependence is placed
upon the load being transferred from the top to the point of the pile, even
though the point may have penetrated to a comparatively solid material.
Wood is generally used for piles, and where the ground is permanently
saturated there seems to be hardly any known limit to its durability. The
substructure of foundations, where it is certain that they will always be in
contact with water, can be, and generally is, of wood, and the permanency
of such foundations is well established. An exception to this, however,
occurs in salt-water, particularly in warmer countries, where the ravages of
the minute Teredo Navalis, and of the still more minute Limnoria
Terebrans, destroy the wood in a very short period of time. These insects,
however, do not work below the ground-line or bed of the water. In many
special cases hollow iron piles are used successfully.
The ordinary method of forcing a pile into the ground is by repeated
blows of a hammer of moderate weight; better success being obtained by
frequent blows of the hammer, lifted to a slight elevation, than results from
a greater fall, there being danger also in the latter case of injuring the
material of the pile. The use of the water-jet for sinking piles, particularly in
sand, is interesting. A tube, generally of ordinary gas-pipe, open at the
lower end, is fastened to the pile; the upper end is connected by a hose to a
powerful pump and, the pile being placed in position on the surface of the
sand, water is forced through the tube and excavates a passage for the pile,
which, by the application of very light pressure, descends rapidly to the
desired depth. The stream of water must be continuous, as it rises along the
side of the pile and keeps the sand in a mobile state. Immediately upon the
cessation of pumping, the sand settles about the pile, and it is sometimes
quite impossible to afterward move it. The water-jet is used in sinking iron
piles by conducting the water through the interior of the hollow pile and out
of a hole at its point. The piles of the great iron pier at Coney Island were
sunk with great celerity in this way. The illustration opposite shows one of
the piers of a bridge founded upon wooden piling.

In many cases it would be impossible to drive
piling in such a way as to insure the durability of
the structure above it. This is particularly true of the
foundations of structures crossing many of our
rivers, where the bottom is of material which, in
time of flood, sometimes scours to very remarkable
depths; the material often being replaced when the
flood has subsided. The expedient adopted is the
pneumatic tube, or the caisson. Both are merely
applications of the well-known principle of the
diving-bell. In the former case hollow iron tubes,
open at the bottom, are sunk to considerable depths,
the water being expelled by air pumped into the
tubes at a pressure sufficient to resist the weight of
the water. Entrance to the tubes is obtained by an
air-lock at the top, the material is excavated from
the inside, and sufficient weight placed upon the
tube to force it gradually to the desired depth.
When that depth is attained, the tubes are filled
with concrete, and thus solid pillars of hydraulic
concrete, surrounded by cast-iron tubing, are
obtained.
The pneumatic caisson is an enlargement of this Bridge Pier Founded on Piles.
idea of the diving-bell. The caisson is simply a
great chamber or box, open at the bottom; the outside bottom edges are
shod and cased with iron so as to give a cutting surface; the roof and sides
are made of timber, thoroughly bolted together, and of such strength as to
resist the pressure of the structure to be finally founded upon it. The
chamber in the open bottom is of sufficient height to enable the laborers to
work comfortably in it. This caisson is generally constructed upon the shore
in the vicinity of the structure and towed to the point where the foundation
is to be sunk. Air is supplied by powerful pumps and is forced into the
working chamber. The pressure of the air of course increases constantly as
the caisson descends; it must always be sufficient to overbalance the weight
of the water and thus prevent the water from entering the chamber.

Descent to the caisson is made through a tube, generally of wrought iron,
and having, at a suitable point, an air-lock, which is substantially an
enlargement of the tube, forming a chamber, and of sufficient size to
accommodate a number of men. This air-lock is provided with doors or
valves at the top and at the bottom, both opening downward, and also with
small tubes connecting the air-lock with the chamber below and with the
external air above. Entrance to the caisson is effected through this air-lock.
The lower door, or valve, being at the bottom, closes and is kept closed by
the pressure of the air in the caisson below. After the air-lock is entered the
upper door or valve is shut, and held shut a few moments, and the tube
connecting with the outer air is closed; a small valve in the tube connecting
with the caisson is then opened gradually and the pressure in the air-lock
becomes the same as that in the chamber below; as soon as this is effected
the valve, or door, at the bottom of the air-lock falls open and the air-lock
becomes really a part of the caisson.

Pneumatic Caisson.

A sufficient force of men is employed in the chamber to gradually
excavate the material from its whole surface and from under the cutting
edge, and the masonry structure is founded upon the top of the caisson and
built gradually, so as to give constantly a sufficient weight to carry the
whole construction down to its final location upon the stable foundation,
which may be the bed-rock or may be some strata of permanent character.

The problem of lighting the chamber was until recently of considerable
difficulty. The rapid combustion under great pressure made the use of lamps
and candles very troublesome, particularly on account of the dense smoke
and large production of lampblack.
The introduction of the electric light has greatly aided in the more
comfortable prosecution of pneumatic foundation work.

Transverse Section of Pneumatic Caisson.

The removal of rock, or any large mass, from the caisson is effected
through the air-chamber; but the removal of finer material, as sand or earth,
is accomplished by the sand pump or by the pressure of the air. A tube,
extending from the top of the masonry and kept above the surface by
additions, as may be required, enters the working chamber and is controlled
by proper valves. Lines of tubing and hose extend to all portions of the
chamber. A slight excavation is made and kept filled with water. The bottom
of the tube, or the hose connected with it, is placed in this excavation, and,
the material being agitated so as to be in suspension in the water, the valve
is opened, and the pressure of the air throws the water and the material held
in suspension to the surface, through the tube, from the end of which it is

projected with great velocity and may be deposited at any desired adjacent
point. This method, however, exhausts the air from the caisson too rapidly
for continuous service. The Eads sand-pump is therefore generally used.
This is an ingenious apparatus, somewhat the same in principle as the
injector which forces water into steam-boilers. A stream of water is thrown
by a powerful pump through a tube which, at a point near the inlet for the
excavated material, is enlarged so as to surround another tube. The water is
forced upward with great velocity into the second tube, through a conical
annular opening, and, expelling the atmosphere, carries with it to the
surface a continuous stream of sand and water from the bottom of the
excavation.
This system has been used successfully in the foundations of piers and
abutments of bridges in all parts of the world. The rapidity of the descent of
the caisson varies with the material through which it has to pass. The speed
with which such foundations are executed is remarkable, when one
remembers with what delicacy and intelligent supervision they have to be
balanced and controlled. In some instances it has been necessary to carry
them to great depths, one at St. Louis being 107 feet below ordinary water
level in the river.
The pressure of air in caissons at these depths is very great; at 110 feet
below the surface of the water it would be 50 pounds to the square inch. Its
effect upon the men entering and working in the caisson has been carefully
noted in various works, and these effects are sometimes very serious; the
frequency of respiration is increased, the action of the heart becomes
excited, and many persons become affected by what is known as the
"caisson disease," which is accompanied by extreme pain and in some cases
results in more or less complete paralysis. The careful observations of
eminent physicians who have given this disease special attention have
resulted in the formulation of rules which have reduced the danger to a
minimum.

At Work in a Pneumatic Caisson—fifty feet below the surface of the water.

The execution of work within a deep pneumatic caisson is worth a
moment's consideration. Just above the surface of the water is a busy force
engaged in laying the solid blocks of masonry which are to support the
structure. Great derricks lift the stones and lay them in their proper position.
Powerful pumps are forcing air, regularly and at uniform pressure, through
tubes to the chamber below. Occasionally a stream of sand and water issues
with such velocity from the discharge pipe that, in the night, the friction of
the particles causes it to look like a stream of living fire. Far below is
another busy force. Under the great pressure and abnormal supply of
oxygen they work with an energy which makes it impossible to remain
there more than a few hours. The water from without is only kept from
entering by the steady action of the pumps far above and beyond their
control. An irregular settlement might overturn the structure. Should the
descent of the caisson be arrested by any solid under its edge, immediate
and judicious action must be taken. If the obstruction be a log, it must be
cut off outside the edge and pulled into the chamber. Boulders must be
undermined and often must be broken up by blasting. The excavation must

be systematic and regular. A constant danger menaces the lives of these
workers, and the wonderful success with which they have accomplished
what they have undertaken is entitled to notice and admiration.
Another process, which has succeeded in
carrying a foundation to greater depths than
is possible with compressed air, is by
building a crib or caisson, with chambers
entirely open at the top, but having the
alternate ones closed at the bottom and
furnished with cutting edges. These closed
chambers are weighted with stone or gravel
until the structure rests upon the bottom of
the river; the material is then excavated from
the bottom through the open chambers, by
means of dredges, thus permitting the
structure to sink by its weight to the desired
depth. When that depth is reached, the
chambers which have been used for dredging
are filled with concrete, and the masonry is
constructed upon the top of this structure.
The use of this system has enabled the
engineer to place foundations deeper than has
been accomplished by any other device, one
recently built in Australia being 175 feet
below the surface of the water. The
illustrations above and on page 76 show this Pier of Hawkesbury Bridge, Australia.
method of construction.
Even more remarkable than the pneumatic caisson is this method of
sinking these great foundations. The removal of material must be made with
such systematic regularity that the structure shall descend evenly and
always maintain its upright position. The dredge is handled and operated
entirely from the surface. The very idea is startling, of managing an
excavation more than a hundred feet below the operator, entirely by means
of the ropes which connect with the dredge, and doing it with such delicacy
that the movement of an enormous structure, weighing many tons, is

absolutely controlled.
This is one of the latest
and most interesting
advances of engineering
skill.

Foundation Crib of the Poughkeepsie Bridge.

While it is true that
the avoidance of large
expenditure, when
possible, is a mark of
the best engineering, yet
great structures often
become absolutely
necessary in the
development of railway
communication. Wide
rivers must be crossed,
deep valleys must be Transverse Section of the same.
spanned, and much
study has been given to the best methods of accomplishing these results. In
the early history of railways in Europe substantial viaducts of brick and
stone masonry were generally built; and in this country there are notable
instances of such constructions. The approach to the depot of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, in the city of Philadelphia, is an excellent example.
Each street crossed by the viaduct is spanned by a bold arch of brick. Upon
a number of our railways there are heavy masonry arches and culverts, and
at some places these are of a very interesting character. The arches in the
approach to the bridge over the Harlem Valley (recently completed) are

shown above. They are of granite, having a span of 60 feet. The illustration
shows also the method of supporting the stone work of such arches during
construction. Braced timbers form what is called the centre, and support the
curved frame of plank upon which the masonry is built, which, of course,
cannot be self-supporting until the keystone is in place; then the centre is
lowered by a loosening of the wedges which support it, and the stone work
of the arch is permitted to assume its final bearing. It is generally
considered that where it is practicable to construct masonry arches under
railways there is a fair assurance of their permanency, but some engineers
of great experience in railway construction advance the theory that the
constant jar and tremor produced by passing railway trains is really more
destructive to masonry work than has been supposed, and that it may be
true that the elements of the best economy will be found in metal structures
rather than in masonry. It is a fact that repairs and renewals of metal bridges
are much more easily accomplished than of masonry constructions.

Granite Arched Approach to
Harlem River Bridge in
Process of Construction.

In this country the wooden bridge has been
an important, in fact an essential element in

the successful building of our railways.
Timber is also used extensively in railroad construction in the form of
trestles; one example of which has been alluded to on page 50. There were
also constructed, years ago, some very bold viaducts in wood. One of the
most interesting is shown above, being the viaduct at Portage, N. Y. This
construction was over 800 feet long, and 234 feet high from the bed of the
river to the rail. The masonry foundations were 30 feet high, the trestles 190
feet, and the truss 14 feet; it contained more than a million and a half feet,
board measure, of timber. The timber piers, which were 50 feet apart, are
formed by three trestles, grouped together. It was framed so that defective
pieces could be taken out and replaced at any time. This bridge was finished
in 1852 and was completely destroyed by fire in 1875. The new metal
structure which took its place is shown on the opposite page, and is an
interesting example of the American method of metal viaduct construction,
an essential feature of that construction being the concentration of the
material into the least possible number of parts. This bridge has ten spans of
50 feet, two of 100 feet, and one of 118 feet. The trusses are of what is
called the Pratt pattern, and are supported by wrought-iron columns, two
pairs of columns forming a skeleton tower 20 feet wide and 50 feet long on
the top. There are six of these towers, one of which has a total height from
the masonry to the rail of 203 feet 8 inches. There are over 1,300,000
pounds of iron in this structure.

The Old Portage Viaduct,
Erie Railway, N. Y.

The fundamental
idea of a bridge is a simple beam
of wood. If metal is substituted it
is still a beam with all
superfluous parts cut away. This
results in what is called an I
beam. When greater loads have
to be carried, the I beam is enlarged and built up of metal plates riveted
together and thus becomes a plate girder. These are used for all short
railway spans. For greater spans the truss must be employed.

The New Portage Viaduct.

Before referring, however, to examples of truss bridges, a description
should be given of the Britannia Bridge, built by Robert Stephenson in
1850, over the Menai Straits. This great construction carries two lines of
rails and is built of two square tubes, side by side, each being continuous,
1,511 feet long, supported at each extremity and at three intermediate
points, and having two spans of 460 feet each and two spans of 230 feet
each. The towers which support this structure are of very massive masonry,
and rise considerably above the top of the tubes. These tubes are each 27
feet high and 14 feet 8 inches wide; they are built up of plate iron, the top
and bottom being cellular in construction, and the sides of a single thickness
of iron. The tubes for the long spans were built on shore and floated to the
side of the bridge and then lifted by hydraulic presses to their final position.
The rapid current, and other considerations, made the erection of false
works for these spans impracticable. The beautiful suspension bridge, built
by Telford in 1820, over the Menai Straits, is only a mile away from this
Britannia Bridge, but, at the time of the construction of the latter, it was not
deemed possible by English engineers to erect a suspension bridge of
sufficient strength and stability to accommodate railway traffic.

The Britannia Tubular Bridge over the Menai Straits, North Wales.

The Victoria Bridge at Montreal is of the same general character of
construction as the Britannia Bridge, but is built only for a single line of
rails; this bridge also was built by Mr. Stephenson, in 1859. These two
structures were enormous works; their strength is undoubted, but they lack
that element of permanent economy which has been spoken of in this
article; their cost was very great, and the expense of maintenance is also
very great. A very large amount of rust is taken from these tubes every year;
they require very frequent painting, and there are on the Victoria Bridge 30
acres of iron surface to be thus painted.
A remarkable and interesting contrast to these heavy tubes of iron is the
Niagara Falls railway suspension bridge, completed in March, 1855. The
span of this bridge is 821 feet, and the track is 245 feet above the water
surface. It is supported by 4 cables which rested on the tops of two masonry
towers at each end of the central span, the ends of the cables being carried
to and anchored in the solid rock. The suspended superstructure has two

floors, one above the other,
connected together at each side by
posts and truss rods, inclined in
such a manner as to form an open
trussed tube, not intended to
support the load, but to prevent
excessive undulations. The floors
are suspended from the cables by
wire ropes, the upper floor
carrying the railroad track, and the
lower forming a foot and carriage
Old Stone Towers of the Niagara Suspension Bridge. way. Each cable has 3,640 iron
wires. This bridge carried
successfully a heavy traffic for 26 years; it was then found that some repairs
to the cable were required at the anchorage, the portions of the cables
exposed to the air being in excellent condition. These repairs were made,
and the anchorage was substantially reinforced. At the same time it was
found that the wooden suspended superstructure was in bad condition, and
this was entirely removed and replaced by a structure of iron, built and
adjusted in such a manner as to secure the best possible results. For some
time it had been noticed that the stone towers which supported the great
cables of the bridge showed evidences of disintegration at the surface, and a
careful engineering examination in 1885 showed that these towers were in a
really dangerous condition. The reason for this was that the saddles over
which the cables pass on the top of the towers had not the freedom of
motion which was required for the action of the cables, caused by
differences of temperature and by passing loads. These saddles had been
placed upon rollers but, at some period, cement had been allowed to be put
between these rollers, thus preventing their free motion. The result was a
bending strain upon the towers which was too great for the strength and
cohesion of the stone. A most interesting and successful feat was
accomplished in the substitution of iron towers for these stone towers,
without interrupting the traffic across the bridge. This was accomplished
within a year or two by building a skeleton iron tower outside of the stone
tower, and transferring the cables from the stone to the iron tower by a most
ingenious arrangement of hydraulic jacks. The stone towers were then
removed. Thus, by the renewal of its suspended structure and the replacing

of its towers, the bridge has been given a new lease of life and is in
excellent condition to-day.
This Niagara railway suspension
bridge has been so long in successful
operation that it is difficult now to
appreciate the general disbelief in
the possibility of its success as a
railway bridge, when it was
undertaken. It was projected and
executed by the late John A.
Roebling. Before it was finished,
Robert Stephenson said to him, "If
your bridge succeeds, mine is a
The New Iron Towers of the Same.
magnificent blunder." The Niagara
bridge did succeed.

Below the Brooklyn Bridge.
From a painting by J. H. Twachtman.

We are so familiar with the great suspension bridge between New York
and Brooklyn, that only a simple statement of some of its characteristic
features will be given. Its clear span is 1,595½ feet. With its approaches its
length is 3,455 feet. The clear waterway is 135 feet high. The towers rise
272 feet above high water and extend on the New York side down to rock
78 feet below. The four suspension cables are of steel wire and support six
parallel steel trusses, thus providing two carriage ways, two lines of
railway, and one elevated footway. The cables are carried to bearing
anchorages in New York and in Brooklyn. The cars on the bridge are
propelled by cables, and the amount of travel is now so great as to demand
some radical changes in the methods for its accommodation, which a few
years ago were supposed to be ample.
Except under special circumstances of location or length of span, the
truss bridge is a more economical and suitable structure for railway traffic
than a suspension bridge.
The advance from the wood truss to the modern steel structure has been
through a number of stages. Excellent bridges were built in combinations of
wood and iron, and are still advocated where wood is inexpensive. Then
came the use of cast iron for those portions of the truss subject only to
compressive strains, wrought iron being used for all members liable to
tension. Many bridges of notable spans were built in this way and are still in
use. The form of this combination truss varied with the designs of different
engineers, and the spans extended to over three hundred feet. The forms
bore the names of the designers, and the Fink, the Bollman, the Pratt, the
Whipple, the Post, the Warren, and others had each their advocates. The
substitution of wrought for cast iron followed, and until quite recently
trusses built entirely of wrought iron have been used for all structures of
great span. The latest step has been made in the use of steel, at first for
special members of a truss and latterly for the whole structure. The art of
railway bridge building has thus, in a comparatively few years, passed
through its age of wood, and then of iron, and now rests in the application
of steel in all its parts.
Two distinct ways of connecting the different parts of a structure are in
common use, riveting and pin connections.

In riveted connections the various parts of the bridge are fastened at all
junctions by overlapping the plates of iron or steel and inserting rivets into
holes punched through all the plates to be connected. The rivets are so
spaced as to insure the best result as to strength. The pieces of metal are
brought together, either in the shop or at the structure during erection, and
the rivets, which are round pieces of metal with a head formed on one end,
are heated and inserted from one side, being made long enough to project
sufficiently to give the proper amount of metal for forming the other head.
This is done while the rivet is still hot, either by hammering or by the
application of a riveting machine, operated by steam or hydraulic pressure.
Ingenious portable machines are now manufactured which are hung from
the structure during erection and connected by flexible hose with the steam
power, by the use of which the rivet heads can be formed in place with great
celerity. The connections of plates by rivets of proper dimensions and
properly spaced give great strength and stiffness to such joints.
In pin connections the members of a structure are assembled at points of
junction and a large iron or steel pin inserted in a pin-hole running through
all the members. This pin is made of such diameter as to withstand and
properly transmit all the strains brought upon it. Joints made with such pin
connections have flexibility, and the strains and stresses can be calculated
with great precision. Eye-bars are forged pieces of iron or steel, generally
flat, and enlarged at the ends so as to give a proper amount of metal around
the pin-hole or eye, formed in those ends.
Structures connected by pins at their principal junctions have, of course,
many parts in which riveting must be used.
The elements which are distinctively American in our railway bridges are
the concentration of material in few members and the use of eye-bars and
pin connections in place of riveted connections. The riveted methods are,
however, largely used in connection with the American forms of truss
construction.

Truss Bridge of the Northern Pacific Railway over the Missouri River at Bismarck, Dak.—Testing
the central span.

An excellent example of an American railway truss bridge is shown on
the opposite page. This structure spans the Missouri River at its crossing by
the Northern Pacific Railroad. It has three through spans of 400 feet each
and two deck spans of 113 feet each. The bottom chords of the long spans
are 50 feet above high water, which at this place is 1,636 feet above the
level of the sea. The foundations of the masonry piers were pneumatic
caissons. The trusses of the through spans, 400 feet long, are 50 feet deep
and 22 feet between centres. They are divided into 16 panels of 25 feet
each. The truss is of the double system Whipple type, with inclined end
posts. The bridge is proportioned to carry a train weighing 2,000 pounds per
lineal foot, preceded by two locomotives weighing 150,000 pounds in a
length of 50 feet. The pins connecting the members of the main truss are 5
inches in diameter.
This bridge is a characteristic illustration of the latest type of American
methods. The extreme simplicity of its lines of construction, the direct
transfer of the strains arising from loads, through the members, to and from
the points where those strains are concentrated in the pin connections at the
ends of each member, are apparent even to the untechnical eye. The
apparent lightness of construction arising from the concentration of the
material in so small a number of members, and the necessarily great height
of the truss, give a grace and elegance to the structure, and suggest bold and
fine development of the theories of mechanics.

Curved Viaduct, Georgetown, Col.; the Union Pacific crossing its own Line.

An interesting viaduct is shown in the above illustration, where the
railway crosses its own line on a curved truss.
The truss bridges which have been mentioned as types of the modern
railway bridge are erected by the use of false works of timber, placed
generally upon piling or other suitable foundation, between the piers or
abutments, and made of sufficient strength to carry each span of the
permanent structure until it is completed and all its parts connected, or, as is
technically said, until the span is swung. Then the false works are removed
and the span is left without intermediate support. But there are places where
it would be impossible or exceedingly expensive to erect any false works. A
structure over a valley of great depth, or over a river with very rapid
current, are instances of such a situation.
A suspension bridge would solve the problem, but in many cases not
satisfactorily. The method adopted by Colonel C. Shaler Smith at the
Kentucky River Bridge [p. 55] shows ingenuity and boldness worthy of

special remark. The Cincinnati Southern Railroad had here to cross a cañon
1,200 feet wide and 275 feet deep. The river is subject to freshets every two
months, with a range of 55 feet and a known rise of 40 feet in a single night.
Twenty years before, the towers for a suspension bridge had been erected at
this point. The design adopted for the railroad bridge was based upon the
cantilever principle. The structure has three spans of 375 feet each, carrying
a railway track at a height of 276 feet above the bed of the river. At the time
of its construction this was the highest railway bridge in the world, and it is
still the highest structure of the kind with spans of over 60 feet in length.
The bridge is supported by the bluffs at its ends and by two intermediate
iron piers resting upon bases of stone masonry. Each iron pier is 177 feet
high, and consists of four legs, having a base of 71½ × 28 feet, and
terminating at its top in a turned pin 12 inches in diameter under each of the
two trusses. Each iron pier is a structure complete in itself, with provision
for expansion and contraction in each direction through double roller beds
interposed between it and the masonry, and is braced to withstand a gale of
wind that would blow a loaded freight-train bodily from the bridge.
The trusses were commenced by anchoring them back to the old towers,
and were then built out as cantilevers from each bluff to a distance of one-
half the length of the side spans, and at this point rested upon temporary
wooden supports. Thence they were again extended as cantilevers until the
side spans were completed and rested upon the iron piers. This cantilever
principle is simply the balancing of a portion of the structure on one side of
a support by the portion on the opposite side of the same support. Similarly
the halves of the middle span were built out from the piers, meeting with
exactness in mid-air. The temporary support used first at the centre of one
side span and then at the other, was the only scaffolding used in erecting the
structure, none whatever being used for the middle span.
When the junction was made at the centre of the middle span, the trusses
were continuous from bluff to bluff, and, had they been left in this
condition, would have been subjected to constantly varying strains resulting
from the rise and fall of the iron piers due to thermal changes. This liability
was obviated by cutting the bottom chords of the side spans and converting
them into sliding joints at points 75 feet distant from the iron piers. This
done, the bridge consists of a continuous girder 525 feet long, covering the
middle span of 375 feet, and projecting as cantilevers for 75 feet beyond

each pier, each cantilever supporting one end of a 300-foot span, which
completes the distance to the bluff on each side.

The Niagara Cantilever
Bridge in Progress.

A most interesting
example of cantilever
construction is the railway
bridge built several years
ago at Niagara, only a few rods from
the suspension bridge and a short
distance below the great falls. It is
shown in the illustrations above and on page 91. The floor of the bridge is
239 feet above the surface of the water, which at that point has a velocity in
the centre of 16½ miles per hour and forms constant whirlpools and eddies
near the shores. The total length of the structure is 910 feet, and the clear
span over the river between the towers is 470 feet. The shore arms of the
cantilever, that is to say, those portions of the structure which extend from
the top of the bank to the top of the tower built from the foot of the bank,
are firmly anchored at their shore ends to a pier built upon the solid rock.
These shore-arms were constructed on wooden false works, and serve as
balancing weights to the other or river arms of the lever, which project out
over the stream. These river-arms were built by the addition of metal, piece

by piece, the weight being always more than balanced by the shore-arms.
The separate members of the river-arms were run out on the top of the
completed part and then lowered from the end by an overhanging travelling
derrick, and fastened in place by men working upon a platform suspended
below. This work was continued, piece by piece, until the river-arm of each
cantilever was complete, and the structure was then finished by connecting
these river-arms by a short truss suspended from them directly over the
centre of the stream. This whole structure was built in eight months, and is
an example both of a bold engineering work and of the facility with which a
pin-connected structure can be erected. The materials are steel and iron. The
prosecution of this work by men suspended on a platform, hung by ropes
from a skeleton structure projecting, without apparent support, over the
rushing Niagara torrent, was always an interesting and really thrilling
spectacle.

The Niagara Cantilever Bridge Completed.

The Lachine Bridge recently built over the St. Lawrence near Montreal,
illustrated below, has certain peculiar features. It has a total length of 3,514

feet. The two channel spans are each 408 feet in length and are through
spans. The others are deck spans. Through spans are those where the train
passes between the side trusses. Deck spans are those where the train passes
over the top of the structure. These two channel spans and the two spans
next them form cantilevers, and the channel spans were built out from the
central pier and from the adjacent flanking spans without the use of false
works in either channel. A novel method of passing from the deck to the
through spans has been used, by curving the top and bottom chords of the
channel spans to connect with the chords of the flanking spans. The
material is steel.
The Lachine Bridge, on the
Canadian Pacific Railway,
near Montreal, Canada.

This structure,
light, airy, and
graceful, forms a
strong contrast to the
dark, heavy tube of
the Victoria Bridge
just below.

The enormous cantilever Forth Bridge, with its two spans of 1,710 feet
each, is in steady progress of construction and will when completed mark a

long step in advance in the science of bridge construction.

Of entirely different design and principle from all these trusses are the
beautiful steel arches of the St. Louis Bridge [p. 95], the great work of that
remarkable genius, James B. Eads. This structure spans the Mississippi at
St. Louis. Difficult problems were presented in the study of the design for a
permanent bridge at that point. The river is subject to great changes. The
variation between extreme low and high water has been over 41 feet. The
current runs from 2¾ to 8½ miles per hour. It holds always much matter in
suspension, but the amount so held varies greatly with the velocity. The
very bed of the river is really in constant motion. Examination by Captain
Eads in a diving-bell showed that there was a moving current of sand at the
bottom, of at least three feet in depth. At low water, the velocity of the
stream is small and the bottom rises. When the velocity increases, a "scour"
results and the river-bed is deepened, sometimes with amazing rapidity. In
winter the river is closed by huge cakes of ice from the north, which freeze
together and form great fields of ice.
It was decided to be necessary that the foundations should go to rock, and
they were so built. The general plan of the superstructure, with all its
details, was elaborated gradually and carefully, and the result is a real feat
of engineering. There are three steel arches, the centre one having a span of
520 feet and each side arch a span of 502 feet. Each span has four parallel
arches or ribs, and each arch is composed of two cylindrical steel tubes, 18
inches in exterior diameter, one acting as the upper and the other as the
lower chord of the arch. The tubes are in sections, each about twelve feet
long, and connected by screw joints. The thickness of the steel forming the
tubes runs from 13/16 to 21/8 inches. These upper and lower tubes are parallel
and are 12 feet apart, connected by a single system of diagonal bracing. The
double tracks of the railroad run through the bridge adjacent to the side
arches at the elevation of the highest point of the lower tube. The carriage
road and footpaths extend the full width of the bridge and are carried, by
braced vertical posts, at an elevation of twenty-three feet above the railroad.
The clear headway is 55 feet above ordinary high water. The approaches on
each side are masonry viaducts, and the railway connects with the City
Station by a tunnel nearly a mile in length. The illustration shows vividly
the method of erection of these great tubular ribs. They were built out from
each side of a pier, the weight on one side acting as a counterpoise for the

construction on the other side of the pier. They were thus gradually and
systematically projected over the river, without support from below, till they
met at the middle of the span, when the last central connecting tube was put
in place by an ingenious mechanical arrangement, and the arch became self-
supporting.
The double arch steel viaduct recently built over the Harlem Valley in the
city of New York [p. 97] has a marked difference from the St. Louis arches
in the method of construction of the ribs. These are made up of immense
voussoirs of plate steel, forming sections somewhat analogous to the ring
stones of a masonry arch. These sections are built up in the form of great I
beams, the top and bottom of the I being made by a number of parallel steel
plates connected by angle pieces with the upright web, which is a single
piece of steel. The vertical height of the I is 13 feet. The span of each of
these arches is 510 feet. There are six such parallel ribs in each span,
connected with each other by bracing. These great ribs rest upon steel pins
of 18 inches diameter, placed at the springing of the arch. The arches rise
from massive masonry piers, which extend up to the level of the floor of the
bridge. This floor is supported by vertical posts from the arches and is a
little above the highest point of the rib. It is 152 feet above the surface of
the river—having an elevation fifty feet greater than the well-known High
Bridge, which spans the same valley within a quarter of a mile. The
approaches to these steel arches on each side are granite viaducts carried
over a series of stone arches. The whole structure forms a notable example
of engineering construction. It was finished within two years from the
beginning of work upon its foundations, the energy of its builders being
worthy of special commendation.

The St. Louis Bridge during Construction.

The 510-feet Span Steel Arches of the New Harlem River Bridge, New York, during construction.

In providing for the rapid transit of passengers in great cities the two
types of construction successfully adopted are represented by the New York
Elevated and the London Underground railways. The New York Elevated is
a continuous metal viaduct, supported on columns varying in height so as to
secure easy grades. The details of construction differ greatly at various parts

of the elevated lines, those more recently built being able to carry much
heavier trains than the earlier portions. The roads have been very successful
in providing the facilities for transit so absolutely necessary in New York.
The citizens of that city are alive to the present necessity of adding very
soon to those facilities, and it is now only a question of the best method to
be adopted to secure the largest results in a permanent manner.
The London Underground road has also been very successful. Its
construction was a formidable undertaking. Its tunnels are not only under
streets but under heavy buildings. Its daily traffic is enormous. The difficult
question in its management is, as in all long tunnels, that of ventilation, but
modern science will surely solve that, as it does so many other problems
connected with the active life of man.

London Underground Railway Station.

Many broad questions of general policy, and innumerable matters of
detail are involved in the development of railway engineering. In the
determination, for instance, of the location, the relations of cost and
construction to future business, the possibilities of extensions and
connections, the best points for settlements and industrial enterprises, the
merits and defects of alternative routes must be weighed and decided.
Where structures are to be built, the amount and delicacy of detail
requisite in their design and execution can hardly be described. Final
pressures upon foundations must be ascertained and provided for. Accurate
calculations of strains and stresses, involving the application of difficult
processes and mechanical theories, must be made. The adjustment of every
part must be secured with reference to its future duty. Strength and safety
must be assured and economy not forgotten. Every contingency must, if
possible, be anticipated, while the emergencies which arise during every
great construction demand constant watchfulness and prompt and accurate
decision.
The financial success of the largest enterprises rests upon such practical
application of theory and experience. Even more weighty still is the fact
that the safety of thousands of human lives depends daily upon the
permanency and stability of railway structures. Such are some of the deep
responsibilities which are involved in the active work of the Civil Engineer.

F OOT NOT E :
[8]
Reference is made to the substitution of locks in the Panama Canal for the
original project of a canal at the sea-level.

AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES AND
CARS.
By M. N. FORNEY.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1830—Evolution of the Car from the Conestoga Wagon—
Horatio Allen's Trial Trip—The First Locomotive used in the United States—Peter
Cooper's Race with a Gray Horse—The "De Witt Clinton," "Planet," and other Early
Types of Locomotives—Equalizing Levers—How Steam is Made and Controlled—The
Boiler, Cylinder, Injector, and Valve Gear—Regulation of the Capacity of a Locomotive
to Draw—Increase in the Number of Driving Wheels—Modern Types of Locomotives—
Variation in the Rate of Speed—The Appliances by which an Engine is Governed—
Round-houses and Shops—Development of American Cars—An Illustration from Peter
Parley—The Survival of Stage Coach Bodies—Adoption of the Rectangular Shape—The
Origin of Eight-wheeled Cars—Improvement in Car Coupling—A Uniform Type
Recommended—The Making of Wheels—Relative Merits of Cast and Wrought Iron, and
Steel—The Allen Paper Wheel—Types of Cars, with Size, Weight, and Price—The Car-
Builder's Dictionary—Statistical.

mong the readers of this volume there will be some
who have reached the summit of the "divide" which
separates the spring and summer of life from its
autumn and winter, and whose first information
about railroads was received from Peter Parley's
"First Book of History," which was used as a
schoolbook forty or fifty years ago. In his chapter on
Maryland, he says:

But the most curious thing at Baltimore is the railroad. I must tell you that there is a great
trade between Baltimore and the States west of the Alleghany Mountains. The western people
buy a great many goods at Baltimore, and send in return a great deal of western produce.
There is, therefore, a vast deal of travelling back and forth, and hundreds of teams are
constantly occupied in transporting goods and produce to and from market. [9]
Now, in order to carry on all this business more easily, the people are building what is
called a railroad. This consists of iron bars laid along the ground, and made fast, so that
carriages with small wheels may run along upon them with facility. In this way, one horse will
be able to draw as much as ten horses on a common road. A part of this railroad is already
done, and if you choose to take a ride upon it, you can do so. You will mount a car something

like a stage, and then you will be drawn along by two horses, at the rate of twelve miles an
hour.

Fig. 1.—Conestoga Wagon and Team. (From a recent photograph.)

The picture reproduced below (Fig. 2) of a car drawn by horses was
given with the above description of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. The
mutilated copy of the book from which the engraving and extract were
copied does not give the date when it was written or published. It was
probably some time between the years 1830 and 1835. That the car shown
in the engraving was evolved from the Conestoga wagon is obvious from
the illustrations.
This engraving and description,
made for children, more than fifty
years ago, will give some idea of the
state of the art of railroading at that
time; and it is a remarkable fact that
the present wonderful development
and the improvements in railroads and
their equipments in this country have
been made during the lives of persons Fig. 2.—Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, 1830–35.
still living.
In the latter part of 1827, the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company put
the Carbondale Railroad under construction. The road extends from the
head of the Delaware & Hudson Canal at Honesdale, Pa., to the coal mines
belonging to the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company at Carbondale, a
distance of about sixteen miles. This line was opened, probably in 1829,
and was operated partly by stationary engines, and partly by horses. The

road is noted chiefly for
being the one on which
a locomotive was first
used in this country.
This was the
"Stourbridge Lion,"
which was built in
Fig. 3.—Boston & Worcester Railroad, 1835. England under the
direction of Mr. Horatio
Allen, who afterward was president of the Novelty Works in New York, and
who is still (1889) living near New York at the ripe age of eighty-seven.
Before the road was opened, he had been a civil engineer on the Carbondale
line. In 1828 Mr. Allen went to England, the only place where a locomotive
was then in daily operation, to study the subject in all its practical details.
Before leaving this country he was intrusted by the Delaware & Hudson
Canal Company with the commission to have rails made for that line, and to
have three locomotives built on plans to be decided by him when in
England. This, it must be remembered, was before the celebrated trial of the
"Rocket" on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, which was not made
until 1829. Previous to that trial, it had not been decided what type of boiler
was the best for locomotives. The result of Mr. Allen's investigations was to
produce in his mind a decided confidence in the multitubular boiler which
is now universally used for locomotives. Other persons of experience
recommended a boiler with small riveted flues of as small diameter as could
be riveted. An order was therefore given to Messrs. Foster, Rastrick & Co.,
at Stourbridge, for one engine whose boiler was to have riveted flues of
comparatively large size, and another order was given to Messrs.
Stephenson & Co., of Newcastle-on-Tyne, for two locomotives with boilers
having small tubes. The engine built by Foster, Rastrick & Co. was named
the "Stourbridge Lion." It was sent to this country and was tried at
Honesdale, Pa., on August 9, 1829. On its trial trip it was managed by Mr.
Allen, to whom belongs the distinction of having run the first locomotive
that was ever used in this country. In 1884 he wrote the following account
of this trip:

When the time came, and the steam was of the right pressure, and all was ready, I took my
position on the platform of the locomotive alone, and with my hand on the throttle-valve

handle said: "If there is any danger in this ride it is not necessary that the life and limbs of
more than one should be subjected to that danger."
The locomotive, having no train behind it, answered at once to the movement of the hand;
... soon the straight line was run over, the curve was reached and passed before there was time
to think as to its not being passed safely, and soon I was out of sight in the three miles' ride
alone in the woods of Pennsylvania. I had never run a locomotive nor any other engine before;
I have never run one since.

The two engines contracted for
with Messrs. Stephenson & Co.
were made by them, and Mr. Allen
has informed the writer that they
were built on substantially the same
plans that were afterward embodied
in the famous "Rocket." They were
shipped to New York and for a time
were stored in an iron warehouse on
the east side of the city, where they
were exhibited to the public. They
were never sent to the Delaware &
Hudson Canal Company's road, and
it is not now known whatever Horatio Allen.
became of them. If they had been
put to work on their arrival here the use of engines of the "Rocket" type
would have been anticipated on this side the Atlantic.
The first railroad which was undertaken for the transportation of freight
and passengers in this country, on a comprehensive scale, was the Baltimore
& Ohio. Its construction was begun in 1828. The laying of rails was
commenced in 1829, and in May, 1830, the first section of fifteen miles
from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills was opened. It was probably about this
time that the animated sketch of the car given by Peter Parley was made.
From 1830 to 1835 many lines were projected, and at the end of that year
there were over a thousand miles of road in use.
Whether the motive power on these roads should be horses or steam was
for a long time an open question. The celebrated trial of locomotives on the
Liverpool & Manchester Railway, in England, was made in 1829. Reports
of these trials, and of the use of locomotive engines on the Stockton &
Darlington line, were published in this country, and, as Mr. Charles Francis

Adams says, "The country, therefore, was not only ripe to accept the results
of the Rainhill contest, but it was anticipating them with eager hope." In
1829 Mr. Horatio Allen, who had been in England the year before to learn
all that could then be learned about steam locomotion, reported to the South
Carolina Railway Company in favor of steam instead of horse power for
that line. The basis of that report, he says, "Was on the broad ground that in
the future there was no reason to expect any material improvement in the
breed of horses, while, in my judgment, the man was not living who knew
what the breed of locomotives was to place at command."
As early as 1829 and 1830, Peter
Cooper experimented with a little
locomotive on the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad (Fig. 4). At a meeting of the
Master Mechanics' Association in New
York, in 1875—at the Institute which
bears his name—he related with great
glee how on the trial trip he had beaten a
gray horse, attached to another car. The
Fig. 4.—Peter Cooper's Locomotive, 1830.
coincidence that one of Peter Parley's
horses is a gray one might lead to the inference that it was the same horse
that Peter Cooper beat, a deduction which perhaps has as sound a basis to
rest on as many historical conclusions of more importance.
The undeveloped condition of the art of machine construction at that time
is indicated by the fact that the flues of the boiler of this engine were made
of gun-barrels, which were the only tubes that could then be obtained for
the purpose. The boiler itself is described as about the size of a flour-barrel.
The whole machine was no larger than a hand-car of the present day.
In the same year that Peter Cooper built his engine, the South Carolina
Railway Company had a locomotive, called the "Best Friend," built at the
West Point Foundry for its line. In 1831 this company had another engine,
the "South Carolina" (Fig. 5), which was designed by Mr. Horatio Allen,
built at the same shop. It was remarkable in having eight wheels, which
were arranged in two trucks. One pair of driving-wheels, D D and D′ D′,
and a pair of leading-wheels, L L and L′ L′, were attached to frames, c d e f
and g h i j, which were connected to the boiler by kingbolts, K K′, about
which the trucks could turn. Each pair of driving-wheels had one cylinder,

C C′. These were in the
middle of the engine and were
connected to cranks on the
axles A and B.
The "De Witt Clinton" (Fig.
6) was built for the Mohawk
& Hudson Railroad, and was
the third locomotive made by
the West Point Foundry
Association. The first
excursion trip was made with
passengers from Albany to
Fig. 5.—"South Carolina," 1831,
Schenectady, August 9, 1831. and Plan of its Running Gear.
This is the engine shown in
the silhouette engraving of the "first[10] railroad train in America" which in
recent years has been so widely distributed as an advertisement.
In 1831 the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
Company offered a premium of $4,000 "for
the most approved engine which shall be
delivered for trial upon the road on or before
the 1st of June, 1831; and $3,500 for the
engine which shall be adjudged the next
best." The requirements were as follows:
Fig. 6.—The "De Witt Clinton," 1831. The engine, when in operation, must not exceed three
and one-half tons weight, and must, on a level road, be
capable of drawing day by day fifteen tons, inclusive of the weight of wagons, fifteen miles
per hour.

In pursuance of this call upon American genius, three locomotives were
produced, but only one of these was made to answer any useful purpose.
This engine, the "York," was built at York, Pa., and was brought to
Baltimore over the turnpike on wagons. It was built by Davis & Gartner,
and was designed by Phineas Davis, of that firm, whose trade and business
was that of a watch and clock maker. After undergoing certain
modifications, it was found capable of performing what was required by the
company. After thoroughly testing this engine, Mr. Davis built others,

which were the progenitors of the "grasshopper" engines (Fig. 7) which
were used for so many years on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. It is a
remarkable fact that three of these are still in use on that road, and have
been in continuous service for over fifty years. Probably there is no
locomotive in existence which has had so long an active life.

Fig. 7.—"Grasshopper" Locomotive. (From an old photograph.)

In August, 1831, the locomotive "John Bull," which was built by George
& Robert Stephenson & Company, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was received
in Philadelphia, for the Camden & Amboy Railroad & Transportation
Company. This is the old engine which was exhibited by the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876. After the arrival of
the "John Bull" a very considerable number of locomotives which were
built by the Stephensons were imported from England. Most of them were
probably of what was known as the "Planet" class (Fig. 8), which was a
form of engine that succeeded the famous "Rocket."

The following quotation is from "The Early History of Locomotives in
this Country," issued by the Rogers Locomotive & Machine Works:

These locomotives, which were imported from England, doubtless to a very considerable
extent, furnished the types and patterns from which those which were afterward built here
were fashioned. But American designs very soon began to depart from their British
prototypes, and a process of adaptation to the existing conditions of the railroads in this
country followed, which afterward "differentiated" the American locomotives more and more
from those built in Great Britain. A marked feature of difference between American and
English locomotives has been the use of a "truck" under the former.

In all of the locomotives which
have been illustrated, excepting the
"South Carolina," the axles were
held by the frames so that the former
were always parallel to each other.
In going around curves, therefore,
there was somewhat the same
difficulty that there would be in
turning a corner with an ordinary
wagon if both its axles were held
Fig. 8.—The "Planet."
parallel, and the front one could not
turn on the kingbolt. The plan of the wheels and running gear of the "South
Carolina" shows the position that they assumed on a curved track (Fig. 5). It
will be seen that, by reason of their connection to the boiler by kingbolts, K
K′, the two pairs of wheels could adjust themselves to the curvature of the
rails. This principle was afterward applied to cars, and nearly all the rolling-
stock in this country is now constructed on this plan, which was proposed
by Mr. Allen in a report dated May 16, 1831, made to the South Carolina
Canal & Railroad Company; and an engine constructed on this principle
was completed the same year.
In the latter part of the year 1831 the late John B. Jervis invented what he
called "a new plan of frame, with a bearing-carriage for a locomotive
engine," for the use of the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad. Jervis's engine is
shown by Figure 9. In a letter published in the American Railroad Journal
of July 27, 1833, he described the objects aimed at in the use of the truck as
follows:

The leading objects I had in view, in the general arrangement of the plan of the engine, did
not contemplate any improvement in the power over those heretofore constructed by
Stephenson & Company, [11] but to make an engine that would be better adapted to railroads of
less strength than are common in England; that would travel with more ease to itself and to the
rail on curved roads; that would be less affected by inequalities of the rail, than is attained by
the arrangement in the most approved engines.

In Jervis's locomotive the main
driving-axle, A, shown in the plan of
the wheels and running gear, was
rigidly attached to the engine-frame,
a b c d, and only one truck, or
"bearing-carriage," e f g h,
consisting of the two pairs of small
wheels attached to a frame, was
used. This was connected to the
main engine-frame by a kingbolt, K,
as in Allen's engine.
The position of its wheels on a
Fig. 9.—John B. Jervis's Locomotive, 1831,
and Plan of its Running Gear. curve, and the capacity of the truck,
or "bearing-carriage," to adapt itself
to the sinuosities of the track are shown in the plan. The effectiveness of the
single truck for locomotives, in accomplishing what Mr. Jervis intended it
for, was at once recognized, and its almost general adoption on American
locomotives followed.
In 1834, Ross Winans, of Baltimore, patented the application of the
principle which Mr. Allen had proposed and adopted for locomotives "to
passenger and other cars." He afterward brought a number of actions at law
against railroads for infringement of his patent, which was a subject of legal
controversy for twenty years. Winans claimed that his invention originated
as far back as 1831, and was completed and reduced to practice in 1834.
The dispute was finally carried to the Supreme Court of the United States,
and was decided against the plaintiff, after an expenditure of as much as
$200,000 by both sides. It involved the principle on which nearly all cars in
this country are now and were then built; and, as one of the counsel for the
defendants has said, "It was at one time a question of millions, to be assured
by a verdict of a jury."

In 1836, Henry R. Campbell, of Philadelphia, patented the use of two
pairs of driving-wheels and a truck, as shown in Figure 10. The driving-
wheels were coupled by rods, as may be seen below. This plan has since
been so generally adopted in this country that it is now known as the
"American type" of locomotive, and is the one almost universally used here
for passenger, and to a considerable extent for freight, service. An example
of a modern locomotive of this type is represented by Figure 11.
From these comparatively small
beginnings, the magnificent
equipment of our railroads has
grown. From Peter Cooper's
locomotive, which weighed less than
a ton, with a boiler the size of a
flour-barrel, and which had
difficulty in beating a gray horse, we
now have locomotives which will
easily run sixty and can exceed
seventy miles an hour, and others Fig. 10.—Campbell's Locomotive.
which weigh seventy-five tons and
over. A comparison of the engraving of Peter Cooper's engine with that of
the modern standard express passenger locomotive (Fig. 11) shows vividly
the progress which has been made since that first experiment was tried—
little more than half a century ago. In that period there have been many
modifications in the design of locomotives to adapt them to the changed
conditions of the various kinds of traffic of to-day. An express train
travelling at a high rate of speed requires a locomotive very different from
one which is designed for handling heavy freight trains up steep mountain
grades. A special class of engines is built for light trains making frequent
stops, as on the elevated railroads in New York, and those provided for
suburban traffic (Fig. 12)—and still others for street railroads (Fig. 13), for
switching cars at stations (Fig. 14), etc. [Pp. 110 and 113]. The process of
differentiation has gone on until there are now as many different kinds of
these machines as there are breeds of dogs or horses.

Fig. 11.—A Typical American Passenger Locomotive.

Fig. 12.—Locomotive for Suburban Traffic. By the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia.

Fig. 13.—Locomotive for Street Railway. By the Baldwin Locomotive Works.

Nearly all the early locomotives had only four wheels. In some cases one
pair alone was used to drive the engine, and in others the two pairs were
coupled together, so that the adhesion of all four could be utilized to draw
loads. The four-wheeled type is still used a great deal for moving cars at
stations, and other purposes where the speed is comparatively slow. But to
run around sharp curves the wheels of such engines must be placed near
together, just as they are under an ordinary street-car. This makes the wheel-
base very short, and such engines are therefore very unsteady at high
speeds, so that they are unsuited for any excepting slow service. They have
the advantage, though, that the whole weight of the machine may be carried
on the driving-wheels, and can thus be useful for increasing their friction, or
adhesion to the rails. This gives such engines an advantage for starting and
moving heavy trains, at stations or elsewhere, which is the kind of service
in which they are usually employed.

Fig. 14.—Four-wheeled Switching Locomotive. By the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia.

If the front end of the engine is carried on a truck, as in Campbell's plan
(Fig. 10)—which is the one that has been very generally adopted in this
country—the wheel-base can be extended and at the same time the front
wheels can adjust themselves to the curvature of the track. This gives the
running-gear lateral flexibility. But as the tractive power of a locomotive is
dependent upon the friction, or adhesion of the wheels to the rails, it is of
the utmost importance that the pressure of the wheels on the rails should be
uniform. For this reason the wheels must be able to adjust themselves to the
vertical as well as the horizontal inequalities of the track.
Figure 15
shows the
driving-wheels,
axles, journal-
boxes, and part of
the frame and
springs of an
Fig. 15.—Driving Wheels, Frames, Spurs, etc., of American Locomotive. American type of
engine—the

circumference of the wheels only being shown. The axles A A each have
journal-boxes or bearings, B B, in which they turn. These boxes are held
between the jaws J J J J of the frames, and can slide vertically in the spaces
c c c c between the jaws. The frames are suspended on springs, S S, which
bear on the boxes B B. The vertical motion of the boxes and the flexibility
of the springs allow the wheels to adjust themselves to some extent to the
unevenness of the track. But, in order to distribute the weight equally on the
two wheels, the springs S S on each side of the engine are connected
together by an equalizing lever, E E. These levers each have a fulcrum, F,
in the middle, and are connected by iron straps or hangers, h h, to the
springs. It is evident that any strain or tension on one spring is transferred
by the equalizing lever to the other spring, and thus the weight is equalized
on both wheels.
But to give perfect vertical adjustment of such an engine to the track, still
another provision must be made. Everyone has observed that a three-legged
stool will always stand firm on any surface, no matter how irregular, but
one with four legs will not. Now if the back end of a locomotive should rest
on the fulcrums of the equalizing levers, as shown in Figure 15, and the
front end should rest on the two sides of the truck, it would be in the
condition of the four legged stool. Therefore, instead of resting on the two
sides of the truck, locomotives are made to bear on the centre of it, so that
they are carried on it and on the two fulcrums of the equalizing levers,
which gives the machine the adjustability due to the three-legged principle.
When more than four driving-wheels are used the springs are connected
together by equalizing levers, as shown in Figure 29 (p. 124), which
represents a consolidation engine as it appears before the wheels are put
under it.
Having a vehicle which is adapted to running on a railroad track, it
remains to supply the motive power. This, in all but some very few
exceptional cases, is the expansive power of steam. What the infant
electricity has in store for us it would be rash to predict, but for locomotives
its steps have been thus far weak and uncertain, and when we want a giant
of steel or a race-horse of iron our only sure reliance is steam. This is the
breath of life to the locomotive, which is inhaled and exhaled to and from
the cylinders, which act as lungs, while the boiler fulfils functions
analogous to the digestive organs of an animal. A locomotive is as

dependent on the action of its boiler for its capacity for doing work as a
human being on that of his stomach. The mechanical appliances of the one
and the mental and physical equipment of the other are nugatory without a
good digestive apparatus.

Fig. 16.—Longitudinal Section of a Locomotive Boiler.
Fig. 17.—Transverse Section.

A locomotive boiler consists of a rectangular fireplace or fire-box, as
shown at A, in Figure 16, which is a longitudinal section, and Figure 17 a
transverse section through the fire-box. The fire-box is connected with the
smoke-box B by a large number of small tubes, a a, through which the
smoke and products of combustion pass from the fire-box to the smoke-
box, and from the latter they escape up the chimney D. The fire-box and
tubes are all surrounded with water, so that as much surface as possible is
exposed to the action of the fire. This is essential on account of the large
amount of water which must be evaporated in such boilers. To create a
strong draught, the steam which is exhausted from the cylinders is
discharged up the chimney through pipes, and escapes at e. This produces a
partial vacuum in the smoke-box, which causes a current of air to flow
through the fire on the grate, into the fire-box, through the tubes, and thence
to the smoke-box and up the chimney. Probably many readers have noticed,
that of late years the smoke-boxes of locomotives have been extended
forward in front of the chimneys. This has been done to give room for

deflectors and wire netting inside to arrest sparks and cinders, which are
collected in the extended front and are removed by a door or spout, L,
below.
To get the water into the boiler against
the pressure of steam a very curious
instrument, called an injector, has been
devised. Formerly force-pumps were used,
but these are now being abandoned. The
illustration (Fig. 18) shows what may be
called a rudimentary injector. B is a boiler
and E a conical tube open at its lower end
—and connected to a water-supply tank by
Fig. 18.—Rudimentary Injector. a pipe, C. A pipe, A, is connected with the
steam-space of the boiler and terminates in
a contracted mouth, F, inside of the cone E. If steam is admitted to A, it
flows through the pipe and escapes at F. In doing so it produces a partial
vacuum in E, and water is consequently drawn up the pipe C from the tank.
The current of steam now carries with it the water, and they escape at G.
After flowing for a few seconds the water has a high velocity and the steam,
mingling with the water, is condensed. The momentum of the water soon
becomes sufficient to force the valve H down against the pressure below it,
and the jet of water then flows continuously into the boiler. A very curious
phenomenon of this somewhat mysterious instrument is that if steam of a
low pressure is taken from one boiler it will force water into another against
a higher pressure. Figure 19 is a section of an actual injector used on
locomotives.
Having explained how the steam is generated, it remains to show how it
propels a locomotive. It does this very much as a person on a bicycle
propels it—that is, by means of two cranks the wheels are made to revolve,
and the latter must then either slip or the vehicle will move. In a locomotive
the driving-wheels are turned by means of two cylinders and pistons, which
are connected by rods to the cranks attached to the driving-wheels or axles.
These cranks are placed at right angles to each other, so that when one of
them is at the "dead-point" the piston connected with the other can exert its
maximum power to rotate the wheels. This enables the locomotive to start
with the pistons in any position; whereas, if one cylinder only was used it

would be impossible to turn the wheels if the crank
should stop at one of its dead-points.
It will probably interest a good many readers to
know how the steam gets into the cylinders and
moves the pistons and then gets out again, and how
a locomotive is made to run either backward or
forward at pleasure.
Figure 20 (p. 118) shows a section of a cylinder,
A A′, with the piston B and piston rod R. The
cylinder has two passages, c c and d d, which
connect its ends with a box, U, called a steam-chest,
to which steam is admitted from the boiler by a
pipe, J. The two passages c and d have another one,
g, between them, which is connected with the
chimney. These passages are covered by a slide-
valve, V, which moves back and forth in the steam-
chest, alternately uncovering the openings c and d.
When the valve is in the position shown in Figure Fig. 19.—Injector used on
20, obviously steam can flow into the front end A of Locomotives.
the cylinder through the passage c, as indicated by
the darts. The valve has a cavity, H, underneath it. When this cavity is over
the passage d and g, it is plain that the steam in the back end A′ of the
cylinder can flow through d and g and then escape up the chimney. Under
these circumstances the steam in the front end A of the cylinder will force
the piston B to the back end. When it reaches the back end of the cylinder
the valve is moved into the position shown in Figure 21, and steam can then
enter d and will fill the back end A′ while that in the front end escapes
through c and g. The piston is then forced to the front end by the pressure of
the steam behind it. It will thus be seen that the steam enters and escapes to
and from the cylinder through the same openings.
From what has been said it is obvious, too, that every time the piston
moves from one end of the cylinder to the other the valve must also be
moved back and forth in the steam-chest. This is done by what is called an
eccentric.

An "eccentric" is a disk or wheel
(Fig. 22) with a hole, S, the size of
the axle of the locomotive to which
it is attached. The centre n of the
outside periphery of the eccentric is
some distance from S, the centre of
the shaft. A metal ring, K K (Fig.
23), made in two halves, embraces
the eccentric, and the latter revolves
inside of this ring. A rod, L, is
attached to the strap, and is
connected with the valve so that the
motion of the eccentric is
communicated to it. It is obvious
Figs. 20 (above) and 21.—Sections of a that if the eccentric revolves it will
Locomotive Cylinder. impart a reciprocating motion to the
rod L, which is communicated to the
valve.
If properly adjusted on the axle
the eccentric will run the engine in
one direction. To run the opposite
way another eccentric must be
provided. Therefore locomotives
always have two eccentrics for each
cylinder. These, J and K, are shown
in Figure 24, which represents the
"valve-gear" of a locomotive. S is a
section of the main driving-axle, to Fig. 22.—Eccentric.
which the eccentrics are attached by Fig. 23.—Eccentric and Strap.
keys or screws. C is the eccentric
rod of the forward-motion eccentric and D that of the one for running
backward. As a locomotive must be run either backward or forward, and, as
the one eccentric moves the valve to run forward and the other to run
backward, we must be able to connect or disconnect the rods to and from
the valve at will. The eccentric rods of the early locomotives had hooks on
the ends by which they were attached to or detached from suitable pins
connected with the valves. But these hooks were very uncertain in their

action and therefore were abandoned, and now what is known as the "link-
motion" is almost universally used for the valve-gear of locomotives. It
consists of a "link" (a b, Fig. 24) which has a curved opening or slot, k, in it
in which a block, B, fits accurately, so that it can slide from end to end of
the link. This block has a hole bored in the middle which receives a pin, c,
which is attached to the end of the arm N of the "rocker" M O N. The rocker
has a shaft, O, which can turn in a suitable bearing, and two arms, M and N;
the latter, as explained, is connected to the link by the pin c and block B.
The upper arm M has another pin, V, on its end, which is connected by a
rod, v V, to the main slide-valve V. The rocker-arms, as will be seen, can
vibrate about the shaft O.

Fig. 24.—Valve Gear.

The link is hung by a pendulous bar, g h, to the
end g of the arm E, attached to the shaft A. This
shaft has another upright arm, F, which is connected
by a rod or bar, G G′, to a lever, H I, called a reverse
lever, whose fulcrum is at I. To save room, in the
engraving this lever and the cylinder G are drawn

nearer to the main axle S than they would be on an engine. The lever is
located inside the cab of the locomotive, and is indicated by the numbers
17 17′ in Figure 36 on p. 133, which is a view looking from the tender at
the back end of a locomotive. The lever has a trigger (t, Fig. 24) which is
connected by a rod, r, to a latch, l, which engages in the notches of the
sector S S′. This latch holds the lever in any desired position and can be
disengaged from the notches by grasping the upper end of the lever and
the trigger.

It is plain that, by moving the upper end of the reverse lever, the link a b
can be raised up or lowered at will. When the link is down, or in the
position represented in the engraving, the forward eccentric rod imparts its
motion to the block B, pin c, and thence to the rocker and valve, and the
engine will run forward. If, however, the reverse lever is thrown back into
the position indicated by the dotted line J I, the link would then be raised up
so that the end e of the backward-motion rod would be opposite to the block
B and pin c and would communicate its motion to the rocker and valve, and
the wheels would then be turned backward instead of forward. It will thus
be seen how the movement of the reverse lever effects the reversal of the
engine.
A locomotive is started by admitting steam to the cylinders by means of
what is called the "throttle-valve." This is usually placed in the upper part of
the boiler at T (Fig. 16). The valve is worked by a lever at l, which is also
shown at 14, 14′ (Fig. 36). The steam is conveyed to the cylinders by a pipe
(s, Fig. 16, p. 115).
If steam is admitted to the cylinders and the wheels are turned, one of
two results must follow: either the locomotive will move backward or
forward according to the direction of revolution, or the wheels will slip, as
they often do, on the rails. That is, if the resistance of the cars or train is less
than the friction or "adhesion" of the wheels on the rails, the engine and
train will be moved; if the adhesion is less than the resistance the wheels
will turn without moving the train.
The capacity of a locomotive to draw loads is therefore dependent on the
adhesion, and this is in proportion to the weight or pressure of the driving-
wheels on the rails. The adhesion also varies somewhat with the weather
and the condition of the wheels and rails. In ordinary weather it is equal to
about one-fifth of the weight which bears on the track; when perfectly dry,
if the rails are clean, it is about one-fourth, and with the rails sanded about
one-third. In damp or frosty weather the adhesion is often considerably less
than a fifth.

Fig. 25.—Turning Locomotive Tires.

It would, then, seem as though all that is needed to increase the capacity
of a locomotive to draw loads would be to add to the weight on its driving-
wheels, and provide engine-power sufficient to turn them—which is true.
But it has been found that if the weight on the wheels is excessive both the
wheels and rails will be injured. Even when they are all made of steel, they
are crushed out of shape or are rapidly worn if the loads are too great. The
weight which rails will carry without being injured depends somewhat on
their size or weight, but ordinarily from 12,000 to 16,000 pounds per wheel
is about the greatest load which they should carry.
For these reasons, when the capacity of a locomotive must be increased
beyond a limit indicated by these data, one or more additional pairs of
driving-wheels must be used. Thus, if a more powerful engine was required
than that shown in Figure 14 (p. 113), another pair of wheels would be

added, as shown in Figures 26, 27, and 28. Or, if you wanted a more
powerful engine than these, still another pair of driving-wheels would be
provided, as shown in Figure 30. In this way the Mogul, ten-wheeled and
consolidation engines have been developed from that shown in Figure 14.
The Mogul locomotive (Fig. 27) has three pairs of driving-wheels, but only
one pair of truck-wheels. The engravings shown in Figures 30 and 31
represent consolidation and decapod types of engines which have four and
five pairs of driving-wheels.

Fig. 26.—Six-wheeled Switching Locomotive. By the Schenectady Locomotive Works.

From the illustrations, Figures 28, 30, and 31, it will be seen that when so
many wheels are used, even if they are of small diameter, the wheel-base
must necessarily be long, so that a limit is very soon reached beyond which
the number of driving-wheels cannot be increased.
Improvements in the processes of manufacturing steel, which resulted in
the general use of that material for rails and tires, have made it possible to
nearly double the weight which was carried on each wheel when they were
made of iron. The weight of rails has also been very much increased since
they were first made of steel. Twenty or twenty-five years ago iron rails
weighing 56 pounds per yard were about the heaviest that were laid in this
country. Now steel rails weighing 72 pounds are commonly used, and some

weighing 85 pounds have been laid on American roads, and others
weighing 100 pounds have been laid on the Continent of Europe.

Fig. 27.—Mogul Locomotive. By the Schenectady Locomotive Works.

Fig. 28.—Ten-wheeled Passenger Locomotive. By the Schenectady Locomotive Works.

Fig. 29.—Consolidation Locomotive (unfinished).

Fig. 30.—Consolidation Locomotive. By the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.

Of late years urban and suburban traffic has created a demand for a class
of locomotives especially adapted to that kind of service. One of the
conditions of that traffic is that trains must stop and start often, and
therefore, to "make fast time," it is essential to start quickly. Few persons
realize the great amount of force which must be exerted to start any object
suddenly. A cannon-ball, for example, will fall through 16 feet in a second
with no other resistance than the atmosphere. The impelling force in that
case is the weight of the ball. If we want it to fall 32 feet during the first

second, the force exerted on it must be equal to double its weight, and for
higher speeds the increase of force must be in the same proportion. This law
applies to the movement of trains. To start in half the time, double the force
must be exerted. For this reason, trains which start and stop often require
engines with a great deal of weight on the driving-wheels. In accordance
with these conditions a class of engines has been designed which carry all,
or nearly all, the weight of the boiler and machinery, and sometimes the
water and fuel, on the driving-wheels. For suburban traffic, the speed
between stops must often be quite rapid, and consequently the engine must
have a long wheel-base for steadiness, as well as considerable weight on the
wheels for adhesion. Four-wheeled engines (Fig. 14) have all their weight
on the driving-wheels, but the wheel-base is short.

Fig. 31.—Decapod Locomotive. By the Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia.

To combine the two
features, engines have
been built with the
driving-wheels and
axles arranged as in
Figure 32. The frames
are then extended
backward, and the
water-tank and fuel are

Fig. 32.—"Forney" Tank Locomotive. By the Rogers Locomotive
placed on top of the
and Machine Works, Paterson, N. J.
frames, and their weight
is carried by a truck underneath. This arrangement leaves the whole weight
of the boiler and machinery on the driving-wheels, and at the same time
gives a long wheel-base for steadiness. This plan of engine was patented by
the author of this article in 1866, and has come into very general use—since
the expiration of the patent. In some cases a two-wheeled truck is added at
the opposite end, as shown in Figure 33. For street railroads, in which the
speed is necessarily slow, engines such as Figure 13 (p. 110) are used. To
hide the machine from view, and also to give sufficient room inside, they
are enclosed in a cab large enough to cover the whole machine.
The size and weight of locomotives have steadily been increased ever
since they were first used, and there is little reason for thinking that they
have yet reached a limit, although it seems probable that some material
change of design is impending which will permit of better proportions of
the parts or organs of the larger sizes. The decapod engines built at the
Baldwin Locomotive Works, in Philadelphia, for the Northern Pacific
Railroad, weigh in working order 148,000 pounds. This gives a weight of
13,300 pounds on each driving-wheel. Some ten-wheeled passenger
engines, built at the Schenectady Locomotive Works for the Michigan
Central Railroad, weigh 118,000 pounds, and have 15,666 pounds on each
driving-wheel. Some recent eight-wheeled passenger locomotives for the
New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad weigh 115,000 pounds, and have
19,500 pounds on each driving-wheel. At the Baldwin Works, some
"consolidation" engines have recently been built which are still heavier than
the decapod engines.
The following table gives dimensions, weight, price, and price per pound
of locomotives at the present time. If we were to quote them at 8 to 8¼
cents per pound for heavy engines and 9 to 22¼ for smaller sizes, it would
not be much out of the way.

Dimensions, Weights, and Approximate Prices of Locomotives.

Type. Cylinders. Diameter Weight of Weight of Approximate Price
of engine in engine and price. per
working tender pound.

driving- order, without
wheel. exclusive water or
of tender fuel.
Diam. Stroke. Inches. Pounds. Pounds. Cents.
"American" 62 to
8 24 92,000 110,000 $8,750 7.95
Passenger 68
50 to
19 24 96,000 116,000 9,500 8.19
"Mogul" Freight 56
"Ten-wheel"
19 24 0 to 58 100,000 118,000 9,750 8.26
Freight
"Consolidation"
20 24 50 120,000 132,000 10,500 7.95
Freight
"Decapod"
22 26 46 150,000 165,000 13,250 8.03
Freight
Four-wheel Tank
15 24 50 58,000 47,000 5,500 11.70
Switching
Six-wheel
Switching, 18 24 50 84,000 98,000 8,500 8.89
with tender
"Forney" N.Y.
11 16 42 42,000 34,000 4,500 13.23
Elevated
$3,500 to $4,000 19.44
Street-car Motor
10 14 35 22,000 18,000 according to to
Locomotive
design 22.22

Fig. 33.—"Hudson" Tank Locomotive. By the Baldwin Locomotive Works.

The speed of locomotives, however, has not increased with their weight
and size. There is a natural law which stands in the way of this. If we
double the weight on the driving-wheels, the adhesion, and consequent
capacity for drawing loads, is also doubled. Reasoning in an analogous way,
it might be said that if we double the circumference of the wheels the
distance that they will travel in one revolution, and consequently the speed
of the engine, will be in like proportion. But, if this be done, it will require
twice as much power to turn the large wheels as was needed for the small
ones; and we then encounter the natural law that the resistance increases as
the square of the speed, and probably at even a greater ratio at very high
velocities. At 60 miles an hour the resistance of a train is four times as great
as it is at 30 miles. That is, the pull on the draw-bar of the engine must be
four times as great in the one case as it is in the other. But at 60 miles an
hour this pull must be exerted for a given distance in half the time that it is
at 30 miles, so that the amount of power exerted and steam generated in a
given period of time must be eight times as great in the one case as in the
other. This means that the capacity of the boiler, cylinders, and the other

parts must be greater, with a corresponding addition to the weight of the
machine. Obviously, if the weight per wheel is limited, we soon reach a
point at which the size of the driving-wheels and other parts cannot be
enlarged; which means that there is a certain proportion of wheels,
cylinders, and boiler which will give a maximum speed.
The relative speed of trains here and in Europe has been the subject of a
good deal of discussion and controversy. There appears to be very little
difference in the speed of the fastest trains here and there; but there are
more of them there than we have. From 48 to 53 miles an hour, including
stops, is about the fastest time made by our regular trains on the summer
time-tables.
When this rate of speed is compared with that of sixty or seventy miles
an hour, which is not infrequent for short distances, there seems to be a
great discrepancy. It must be kept in mind, though, that these high rates of
speed are attained under very favorable conditions. That is, the track is
straight and level, or perhaps descending, and unobstructed. In ordinary
traffic it is never certain that the line is clear. A locomotive-runner must
always be on the look-out for obstructions. Trains, ordinary vehicles, a
fallen tree or rock, cows, and people may be in the way at any moment. Let
anyone imagine himself in responsible charge of a locomotive and he will
readily understand that, with the slightest suspicion that the line is not clear,
he would slacken the speed as a precautionary measure. For this reason fast
time on a railroad depends as much on having a good signal system to
assure the locomotive-runners that the line is clear, as it does on the
locomotives. If he is always liable to encounter, and must be on the look-
out for, obstructions at frequent grade-crossings of common roads, or if he
is not certain whether the train in front of him is out of his way or not, the
locomotive-runner will be nervous and be almost sure to lose time. If the
speed is to be increased on American railroads, the first steps should be to
carry all streets and common roads either over or under the lines, have the
lines well fenced, provide abundant side-tracks for trains, and adopt
efficient systems of signals so that locomotive-runners can know whether
the line is clear or not.
In what may be called the period of adolescence of railroads there was a
very decided predilection on the part of locomotive engineers for large
driving-wheels. Figure 34 represents one of the engines built as early as

1848 for the Camden & Amboy Railroad, with driving wheels 8 feet in
diameter. Other engines with 6 and 7 feet wheels were not uncommon. In
Europe many engines with very large wheels were made and are still in use.
Here, as well as there, excessively large wheels have, however, been
abandoned, and six feet in diameter is now about the limit of their size in
this country.
So far as locomotives
are concerned, fast time,
especially with heavy
trains, is generally
dependent more upon the
supply of steam than it is
on the size of the wheels.
Without steam to turn
them, big wheels are
Fig. 34.—Camden & Amboy Locomotive, 1848. useless; but with an
abundant supply there is no
difficulty in turning small wheels at a lively rate. Speed, therefore, is to a
great extent a question of boiler capacity, and the general maxim has been
formulated that "within the limits of weight and space to which a
locomotive boiler must be confined, it cannot be made too big." But the
maximum speed at which a locomotive can run when an adequate supply of
steam is provided also depends on the perfection of the machinery. At 60
miles an hour a driving-wheel 5½ feet in diameter revolves five times every
second. The reciprocating parts of each cylinder of a Pennsylvania Railroad
passenger engine, including one piston, piston-rod, cross-head, and
connecting rod, weigh about 650 pounds. These parts must move back and
forth a distance equal to the stroke, usually two feet, every time the wheel
revolves, or in a fifth of a second. It starts from a state of rest at each end of
the stroke of the piston and must acquire a velocity of 32 feet per second, in
one-twentieth of a second, and must be brought to a state of rest in the same
period of time. A piston 18 inches in diameter has an area of 254½ square
inches. Steam of 150 pounds pressure per square inch would therefore exert
a force on the piston equal to 38,175 pounds. This force is applied
alternately on each side of the piston, ten times in a second. The control of
such forces requires mechanism which works with the utmost precision and
with absolute certainty, and it is for this reason that the speed and the

economical working of a locomotive depend so much on the proportions of
the valves and the "valve-gear" by which the "distribution" of steam in the
cylinders is controlled.

Fig. 35.—Interior of a Round-house.

The engraving (Fig. 36) on p. 133 represents the cab end of a locomotive
of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, looking forward from
the tender, and shows the attachments by which the engineer works the
engine.[12] This gives an idea of the number of keys on which he has to play
in running such a machine. There is room here for little more than an
enumeration of the parts which are numbered:

1. Engine-bell rope.
2. Train-bell rope.
3. Train-bell or gong.
4. Lever for blowing whistle.
5. Steam-gauge to indicate pressure in boiler.
6. Steam-gauge lamp to illuminate face of gauge.
7. Pressure-gauge for air-brake; to show pressure in air-reservoirs.

8. Valve to admit steam to air-brake pump.
9. Automatic lubricator for oiling main valves.
10. Cock for admitting steam to lubricator.
11. Handle for opening valves in sand-box to sand the rails.
12. Handle for opening the cocks which drain the water from the cylinders.
13. Valve for admitting steam to the jets which force air into the fire-box.
14, 14′. Throttle-valve lever. This is for opening the valve which admits steam to the
cylinders.
15. Sector by which the throttle-lever is held in any desired position.
16. "Lazy-cock" handle. A "lazy-cock" is a valve which regulates the water-supply to the
pumps and is worked by this handle.
17, 17′. Reverse lever.
18. Reverse-lever sector.
19, 19′, 19″. Gauge-cocks for showing the height of the water in the boiler; 19′ is a pipe for
carrying away the water which escapes when the gauge-cocks are opened.
20, 20. Oil-cups for oiling the cylinders. [13]
21. Handle for working steam-valve of injector.
22. Handle for controlling water-jet of the injector.
23. Handle for working water-valve of injector.
24. Oil-can shelf.
25. Handle for air-brake valve.
26. Valve for controlling air-brake.
27. Pipe for conducting air to brakes under the cars.
28. Pipe connected with air-reservoir.
29. Pipe-connection to air-pump.
30. Handle for working a valve which admits or shuts off the air for driving-wheel brakes.
31. Valve for driving-wheel brakes.
32, 32′. Lever for moving a diaphragm in smoke-box, by which the draught is regulated.
33. Handle for raising or lowering snow-scrapers in front of truck-wheels.
34. Handle for opening cock on pump to show whether it is forcing water into the boiler.
35. Lamp to light the water-gauge, 51, 51.
36. Air-hole for admitting air to fire-box.
37. Tallow-can for oiling cylinders.
38. Oil-can.
39. Shelf for warming oil-cans.
40. Furnace door.
41. Chain for opening and closing the furnace door.
42. Handles for opening dampers on the ash-pan.
43. Lubricator for air-pump.
44. Valve for admitting steam to the chimney to blow the fire when the engine is standing
still.

45. Valve for admitting steam to the train-pipes for warming the cars.
46. Valve for reducing the pressure of the steam used for heating cars.
47. Cock which admits steam to the pressure-gauge, 48.
48. Pressure-gauge which indicates the steam-pressure in heater pipes.
49. Pipe for conducting steam to the train to heat the cars.
50. Cock for water-gauge, 51.
51, 51. Glass water-gauge to indicate the height of water in the boiler.
52. Cock for blowing off impurities from the surface of the water in the boiler.

Besides being impressive as a triumph of human ingenuity, there is much
about the construction and working of locomotives which is picturesque. A
shop where they are constructed or repaired is always of interest. An
engine-house (Fig. 35) especially at night, is full of weird suggestions and
food for the imagination.

Fig. 36.—Cab End of a Locomotive and its Attachments.

Figure 37 (p. 135) is an illustration from a photograph taken in the
erecting shops of the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia; and
Figure 38 (p. 137) is a view of a similar shop of the Pennsylvania Railroad
at Altoona, which suggests at a glance many of the processes of

construction which go on in these great works. At Altoona are immense
travelling cranes resting on brick arches and spanning the shop from side to
side. These are powerful enough to take hold of the largest locomotive and
lift it bodily from the rails and transfer it laterally or longitudinally at will.
A large consolidation engine is shown in Figure 38, swung clear of the rails,
and in the act of being moved laterally. The hooks of the crane are attached
to heavy iron beams, from which the locomotive is suspended by strong
bars. Figure 39 (p. 138) is a view in the blacksmiths' shop of the Baldwin
Works, showing a steam hammer and the operation of forging a locomotive
frame.
It is quite natural that the engineers, or "runners," as they generally call
themselves, who have the care of locomotives should take a deep interest in
and acquire a sort of attachment for them. In the earlier days of railroading
this was much more the case than it is now. Then each locomotive had an
individuality of its own. It was rare that two engines were exactly alike.
Nearly always there was some difference in their proportions, or one engine
had some device in it which the other had not. Now, many locomotives are
made exactly alike, or as nearly so as the most improved machinery will
permit. There is nothing to distinguish the one from the other. Therefore
Bony Smith can claim no superiority for his machine which Windy Brown
has not the advantage of. In the old days, too, each engine had its own
runner and fireman, and it seldom fell into the hands of anyone else, and
those in charge of it took as much pride in keeping it bright as the character
in "Pinafore" did "in polishing up the handle of the big front door." On
many roads—particularly the larger ones—engines are not assigned to
special men. The system of "first in first out" has been adopted; that is, the
engines are sent out in the order in which they come in, and the men take
whichever machine happens to fall to their lot. This naturally results in a
loss of personal attachment to special engines.

Fig. 37.—View In Locomotive Erecting Shop.

Every change in the construction, alteration in the proportions, or
addition to the attachments of locomotives is a subject of intense interest to
the men and a topic of endless discussion at all times and places. The
theories which are propounded, and the yarns which are spun while sitting
around hot stoves in round-houses, or waiting for passing trains on side-
tracks, would fill many books. Jack never tires of telling what his engine
did when "she was going up Rattlesnake Grade," and Smoky Bill grows
excited when he describes how Ninety-six turned her wheels in making up
forty-nine minutes time in the down run with the "electric express."
Locomotive engineers and firemen read with avidity everything which is
explanatory of the construction or working of locomotives, but generally
have a contempt for things which have no practical bearing. They demand
"lucidity" in what they read with as much vehemence as Matthew Arnold
did, and some editors and college professors, whose writing and thinking

are foggy, would be greatly benefited by the criticisms of the Locomotive
Brotherhood.

Fig. 38.—Interior of Erecting Shop, Showing Locomotive Lifted by Travelling Crane.

Much might be written about the duties of locomotive-runners and
firemen, and the qualifications required. It is the general opinion of
locomotive superintendents that it is not essential that the men who run
locomotives should be good mechanics. The best runners or engineers are
those who have been trained while young as firemen on locomotives.
Brunel, the distinguished civil engineer, said that he never would trust
himself to run a locomotive because he was sure to think of some problem
relating to his profession which would distract his attention from the
engine. It is probably a similar reason which sometimes unfits good
mechanics for being good locomotive-runners.

Fig. 39.—Forging a Locomotive Frame.

It will perhaps interest some readers to know how much fuel a
locomotive burns. This, of course, depends upon the quality of fuel, work
done, speed, and character of the road. With freight trains consisting of as
many cars as a heavy locomotive can draw without difficulty, the
consumption of coal will not exceed from 1 to 1½ pounds of coal per car
per mile if the engine is carefully managed. It takes from 15 to 20 pounds of
coal per mile to move an engine and tender alone, the consumption being
dependent upon the size of the engine, speed, grades, and number of stops.
If this amount of coal is allowed for the engine and tender, and the balance
that is consumed is divided among the cars, it will reduce the quantity for
hauling the cars alone to even less amounts than those given above. In
ordinary average practice the consumption is from 3 to 5 pounds per
freight-car per mile, without making any allowance for the engine and
tender. With passenger trains, the cars of which are heavier and the speed

higher, the coal consumption is from 10 to 15 pounds per car per mile. A
freight locomotive with a train of 40 cars will burn 40 to 200 pounds of coal
per mile, the amount depending on the care with which it is managed,
quality of the coal, grades, speed, weather, and other circumstances.

AM E RI CAN CARS .

Peter Parley's illustration (p. 101) of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
represents one of the earliest passenger-cars used in this country. The
accuracy of the illustration may, however, be questioned. Probably the artist
depended upon his imagination and memory somewhat when he drew it.
The engraving below (Fig. 40) is from a drawing made by the resident
engineer of the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, and from which six coaches
were made by James Goold for the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad in 1831. It
is an authentic representation of the cars as made at that time. Other old
prints of railroad cars represent them as substantially stage-coach bodies
mounted on four car-wheels, as shown by Figure 41. The next step in the
development of cars was that of joining together several coach-bodies. This
form was continued after the double-truck system was adopted, as shown
by Figure 42, which represents an early Baltimore & Ohio Railroad car,
having three sections, united. It was soon displaced by the rectangular body,
as shown in Figure 43, which is a reproduction from an old print.

Fig. 40.—Mohawk & Hudson Car, 1831. Fig. 41.—Early Car.
(From the original drawing by the resident engineer.) (From an old print.)

Figure 44 is an illustration of
a car used for the transportation
of flour on the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad, while horses
were still used as the motive
Fig. 42.—Early Car on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
power. To show how nearly all
progress is a process of
evolution, it was asserted, in one of the trials of the validity of Winans'
patent on eight-wheeled cars with two trucks, that before the date of his
patent it was a practice to load firewood by connecting two such cars with
long timbers, which rested on bolsters attached by kingbolts to the cars. The
wood was loaded on top of these timbers, as shown in Figure 45. An old car
(Fig. 46), which antedated Winans' patent and was used at the Quincy
granite quarries for carrying large blocks of stone, was also introduced as
evidence for the defendants in that suit. Although Winans was not able to
establish the validity of his patent on eight-wheeled cars with two trucks, he
was undoubtedly one of the first to put it into practical form, and did a great
deal to introduce the system.

Fig. 43.—Early American Car, 1834.

The progress in the construction of cars has been fully as great as in that
of locomotives. If the old stage-coach bodies on wheels are compared with
a vestibule train of to-day the difference will be very striking. Most of us
who are no longer young can recall the days when sleeping-cars were
unknown, when a journey from an Eastern city to Chicago meant forty-
eight hours or more of sitting erect in a car with thirty or more passengers,
and an atmosphere which was fetid. Happily those days are past, although

the improvement in the ventilation of cars has been very slow, and is still
very imperfect.
Improvement has also lagged in the matter
of coupling cars. It has been shown by
statistics and calculations that some hundreds
Fig. 44.—Old Car for Carrying Flour of persons are killed and some thousands
on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. injured in this country annually in coupling
cars. The use of automatic coupling, by which
cars could be connected together without going between them, it has been
supposed, would greatly lessen, if it would not entirely prevent, this fearful
sacrifice of life and limb. To accomplish this end, though, it is essential that
some one form of coupler shall be generally adopted by all railroads. One
of the obstacles in the way of this has been the mechanical difficulty of
finding a mechanism which will satisfactorily accomplish the purpose for
which it was intended. After thirty or forty years of invention and
experiment, no automatic coupler has been produced, which has been
approved by competent judges with a sufficient degree of unanimity to
justify its general adoption. The patents on that class of inventions are
numbered by thousands, so that it is no light task to select the best one or
even the best kind. Besides this difficulty, there is the other equally
formidable one of inducing railroad men, of various degrees of knowledge,
ignorance, and prejudice regarding this subject, and who are scattered all
over the continent, to agree in adopting some one form or kind of automatic
coupler. Various cliques had also been organized on different roads in the
interest of some patents, and in such cases argument and reason addressed
to them were generally wasted. Public indignation was, however, aroused;
and the stimulus of legislation in different States compelled railroad officers
to give serious attention to the subject. After devoting some years to the
investigation, the Master Car-Builders' Association—which is composed of
officers of railroad companies, who are in charge of the construction and
repair of cars on the different lines—has recommended the adoption of a
coupler of the type represented by Figures 47 to 49, which has been already
applied to many cars and the indications are that it will be very generally
adopted for freight and probably for passenger cars. If it should be, it will
relieve railroad employees of the dangerous duty of going between cars to
couple them. Figure 47 shows a plan looking down on the couplers with

one of the latches, A, open; Figure 48 shows it with the two couplers partly
engaged; and Figure 49 shows them when the coupling is completed.

Fig. 45.—Old Car for Carrying Firewood on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

One of the first problems which
presented itself in the infancy of
railroads was how to keep the cars
on the rails.
Fig. 46.—Old Car on the Quincy Granite Railroad.
Anyone who will stand close to a
line of railroad when a train is rushing by at a speed of forty, fifty, or sixty
miles an hour must wonder how the engine and cars are kept on the track;
and even those familiar with the construction of railroad machinery often
express astonishment that the flanges of the wheels, which are merely
projecting ribs about 11/8 inches deep and 1¼ inches thick, are sufficient to
resist the impetus and swaying of a locomotive or car at full speed. The
problem of the manufacture of wheels which will resist this wear, and will
not break, has occupied a great deal of the attention of railroad managers
and manufacturers.
Locomotive driving-wheels in this country are always made of cast-iron,
with steel tires which are heated and put on the wheels and then cooled.
They are thus contracted and "shrunk" on the wheel. The tread, that is, the
surface which bears on the rail, and the flange of the tire are then turned off
in a lathe, shown in Figure 25, on p. 121, made especially for the purpose.
For engine-truck, tender, and car-wheels, until within a few years, "chilled"
cast-iron wheels have been used almost exclusively on American railroads.
If the tread and flange of a wheel were made of ordinary cast-iron they
would soon be worn out in service, as such iron has ordinarily little capacity
for resisting the wear to which wheels are subjected. Some cast-iron,
however, has the singular property which causes it to assume a peculiar,

hard crystalline form if,
when it is melted, it is
allowed to cool and
solidify in contact with
a cold iron mould. The
iron which is thus
cooled quickly, or
"chilled," becomes very
hard, and resists wear
very much better than
iron which is not
chilled. Car-wheels
which are made of this
material are therefore
cast in what is called a
Fig. 47. Fig. 48. Fig. 49.
chill-mould. Figure 50 Janney Car Coupler, showing the Process of Coupling.
represents a section of
such a mould and flask in which wheels are cast.
A A is the wheel,
which is moulded in
sand in the usual way.
The part B B of the
mould, which forms the
rim or tread of the
wheel, consists of a
heavy cast-iron ring.
The melted iron is Fig. 50.—Mould and Flask in which Wheels are Cast.
poured into this mould
and comes in contact with B B. This has the effect of chilling the hot iron,
as has been explained. In cooling, the wheel contracts; and for that reason
the part between the rim C and the hub D is made of a curved form, as
shown in the section, so that if one part should cool more rapidly than
another these parts can yield sufficiently to permit contraction without
straining any portion of the wheels injuriously. For the same reason the ribs
on the back of the wheels, as shown in Figure 51, are also curved. As an
additional safeguard to the unequal contraction in cooling, the wheels are

taken out of the mould while they are red-hot, and placed in ovens where
they are allowed to remain several days so as to cool very slowly.
Figure 52, on p. 145, represents a section of the tread and flange of a
chilled wheel, showing the peculiar crystalline appearance of the chilled
iron.

Fig. 51.—Cast-iron Car Wheels.

In making cast-iron wheels the quality of the iron used is of the utmost
importance. The difficulty in making good wheels lies in the fact that most
iron which is ductile and tough will not chill, whereas hard white iron,
which has the chilling property in a very high degree, is brittle, and wheels
which are made of it are liable to break. There are some kinds of cast-iron
produced in this country which have the two qualities combined, in a very
remarkable degree; that is, they are ductile and tough, and will also chill.
Wheel-founders also mix different qualities of irons to produce wheels with
the required strength, and which will resist wear; that is, they use a certain
amount of hard white iron which will chill, with that which is ductile and
soft. By changing the proportions, any required amount of chill can be
produced. The danger is that iron which has little strength or ductility will
be fortified with hard chilling iron, and a very weak wheel will thus be the
result. Thousands of such wheels have been bought and used because they
are cheap, and many lamentable accidents are undoubtedly due to this

cause. To guard against this, car-wheels should always be subjected to rigid
tests and inspection.
In Europe wheels are made of wrought-iron, with tires which were also
made of the same material before the discovery of the improved processes
of manufacturing steel, but since then they have been made of the latter
material. Owing to the breakage of a great many cast-iron wheels of poor
quality, steel-tired wheels are now coming into very general use on
American roads under passenger-cars and engines. A great variety of such
wheels is now made. The "centres" or parts inside the tires of some of them
are cast-iron, and others are wrought-iron constructed in various ways.
What is known as the
Allen paper wheel is
used a great deal in this
country, especially
under sleeping-cars. A
section and front view
of one of these wheels
is shown by Figure 53.
It consists of a cast-iron
hub, A, which is bored
out to fit the axle. An
annular disk, B B, is Fig. 52.—Section of the Tread and Flange of a Car Wheel.
made of layers of paper-
board glued together and then subjected to an enormous pressure. The disk
is then bored out to fit the hub, and its circumference is turned off, and the
tire C C is fitted to it. Two wrought-iron plates, P P, are then placed on
either side of it, and the disk, plates, tire, and hub are all bolted together.
The paper, it will be seen, bears the weight which rests on the hub of the
axle and the hub of the wheel.
Steel tires have the advantage that when they become worn their treads
and flanges may be turned off anew, whereas chilled cast-iron wheels are so
hard that it is almost impossible to cut them with any turning tool. For this
reason machines have been constructed for grinding the tread with a rapidly
revolving emery-wheel. In these the cast-iron wheel is made to turn slowly,
whereas the emery-wheel revolves very rapidly. The emery-wheel is then
brought close to the cast-iron wheel, so that as they revolve the projections

on the latter are cut away, and the
tread is thus reduced to a true
circular form. These machines are
much used for "truing-up" wheels
which have been made flat by
sliding, owing to the brakes being
set too hard.
It would require a separate article
to give even a brief description of
the different kinds of cars which are
Fig. 53.—Allen Paper Car Wheel.
now used. The following list could
be increased considerably if all the different varieties were included.
Baggage-car, Drop-bottom car, Inspection-car, Postal-car,
Boarding-car, Dump-car, Lodging-car, Refrigerator-car,
Box-car, Express-car, Mail-car, Restaurant-car,
Buffet-car, Flat or platform car, Milk-car, Sleeping-car,
Caboose or Gondola-car, Oil-car, Sweeping-car,
conductor's car, Hand-car, Ore-car, Tank-car,
Cattle- or stock-car, Hay-car, Palace-car, Tip-car,
Coal-car, Hopper-bottom car, Passenger-car, Tool or wrecking car,
Derrick-car, Horse-car, Post-office car, Three-wheeled
Drawing-room car, Hotel-car, Push-car, hand-car.

The following table gives the size, weight, and price of cars at the present
time. The length given is the length over the bodies not including the
platforms.

Length, feet. Weight, lbs. Price.

Flat-car 34 16,000 to 19,000 $380

Box-car 34 22,000 to 27,000 $550
Refrigerator-car 30 to 34 28,000 to 34,000 $800 to $1,100

Passenger-car 50 to 52 45,000 to 60,000 $4,400 to $5,000
Drawing-room car 50 to 65 70,000 to 80,000 $10,000 to $20,000

Sleeping-car 50 to 70 60,000 to 90,000 $12,000 to $20,000
Street-car 16 5,000 to 6,000 $800 to $1,200

Fig. 54.—Modern Passenger-car and Frame.

Some years ago the master car-builders of the different railroads
experienced great difficulty in the transaction of their business from the fact
that there were no common names to designate the parts of cars in different
places in the country. What was known by one name in Chicago had quite a
different name in Pittsburg or Boston. A committee was therefore appointed
by the Master Car-Builders' Association to make a dictionary of terms used
in car-construction and repairs. Such a dictionary has been prepared, and is
a book of 560 pages, and has over two thousand illustrations. It has some
peculiar features, one of which is described as follows in the preface: "To
supply the want which demanded such a vocabulary, what might be called a
double dictionary is needed. Thus, supposing that a car-builder in Chicago
received an order for a 'journal-box'; by looking in an alphabetical list of
words he could readily find that term and a description and definition of it.
But suppose that he wanted to order such castings from the shop in Albany,
and did not know their name; it would be impracticable for him to
commence at A and look through to Z, or until he found the proper term to
designate that part." To meet this difficulty the dictionary has very copious
illustrations in which the different parts of cars are represented and

numbered, and the names of the parts designated by the numbers are then
given in a list accompanying the engraving. An alphabetical list of names
and definitions is also given, as in an ordinary dictionary. The definition
usually contains a reference to a number and a figure in which the object
described is illustrated. In making the dictionary the compilers selected
terms from those in use, where appropriate ones could be found. In other
cases new names were devised. The book is a curious illustration of a more
rapid growth of an art than of the language by which it is described.
The following table, compiled from "Poor's Manual of Railroads," gives
the number of locomotives and of different kinds of cars in this country,
beginning with 1876, and for each year thereafter. If the average length of
locomotives and tenders is taken at 50 feet, those now owned by the
railroads would make a continuous train 280 miles long; and the 1,033,368
cars, if they average 35 feet in length, would form a train which would be
more than 6,800 miles long.
Statement of the Rolling Stock of Railroads in the United States; from
"Poor's Manual" for 1889.
Passenger-train cars.

Miles of Baggage, Freight
Year. Locomotives. mail, Total.
railroad. Passenger. cars.
and
Express.
1876 76,305 14,562 — — 358,101 358,101
1877 79,208 15,911 12,053 3,854 392,175 408,082
1878 80,832 16,445 11,683 4,413 423,013 439,109
1879 84,393 17,084 12,009 4,519 480,190 496,718
1880 92,147 17,949 12,789 4,786 539,255 556,930
1881 103,530 20,116 14,548 4,976 648,295 667,819
1882 114,461 22,114 15,551 5,566 730,451 751,568
1883 120,552 23,623 16,889 5,848 778,663 801,400
1884 125,152 24,587 17,303 5,911 798,399 821,613
1885 127,729 25,937 17,290 6,044 805,519 828,853
1886 133,606 26,415 19,252 6,325 845,914 871,491
1887 147,999 27,643 20,457 6,554 950,887 977,898
1888 154,276 29,398 21,425 6,827 1,005,116 1,033,368

The number of cars, it will be seen, has more than doubled in ten years,
so that if the same rate of increase continues for the next decade there will
be over two millions of them on the railroads of this country alone. Beyond
a certain point, numbers convey little idea of magnitude. Our railroad
system and its equipment seem to be rapidly outgrowing the capacity of the
human imagination to realize their extent. What it will be with another half-
century of development it is impossible even to imagine.

F OOT NOT E S :
[9] An engraving of a team and of a "Conestoga" wagon—which was used in
this traffic—taken from a photograph of one which has survived to the present
day, is given opposite (Fig. 1).
[10] It was not really the first train, as the Baltimore & Ohio and the South
Carolina roads were in operation earlier.
[11] The truck was first applied by Mr. Jervis to an engine built by R.
Stephenson & Co., of England.
[12] It should be mentioned that this is not one of the most recent types of
engines. The arrangement of parts in the cab has been somewhat simplified in
later locomotives.
[13] This engine had two different appliances for oiling the cylinders, a pair of
oil-cups, 20, 20, and an automatic oiler, 9.

RAILWAY MANAGEMENT.
By E. P. ALEXANDER.

Relations of Railway Management to all Other Pursuits—Developed by the Necessities of a
Complex Industrial Life—How a Continuous Life is Given to a Corporation—Its
Artificial Memory—Main Divisions of Railway Management—The Executive and
Legislative Powers—The Purchasing and Supply Departments—Importance of the Legal
Department—How the Roadway is Kept in Repair—The Maintenance of Rolling Stock—
Schedule-making—The Handling of Extra Trains—Duties of the Train-despatcher—
Accidents in Spite of Precautions—Daily Distribution of Cars—How Business is Secured
and Rates are Fixed—The Interstate Commerce Law—The Questions of "Long and Short
Hauls" and "Differentials"—Classification of Freight—Regulation of Passenger-rates—
Work of Soliciting Agents—The Collection of Revenue and Statistics—What is a Way-
bill—How Disbursements are Made—The Social and Industrial Problem which Confronts
Railway Corporations.

he world was born again with the building of the first
locomotive and the laying of the first level iron roadway.
The energies and activities, the powers and possibilities
then developed have acted and reacted in every sphere of
life—social, industrial, and political—until human
progress, after smouldering like a spark for a thousand
years, has burst into a conflagration which will soon leave
small trace of the life and customs, or even the modes of thought, which our
fathers knew. But, in it all, the railroad remains the most potent factor in
every development. By bringing men more and more closely together, and
supplying them more and more abundantly and cheaply with all the varied
treasures of the earth, stored up for millions of years for the coming of this
generation, it adds continually more fuel to the flame it originated. And as it
is necessarily reacted upon equally by every new invention or discovery,
and by all progress in other departments of human activity, the demands
upon it, and its points of contact with everyday life, are still increasing in
geometrical progression.
Hence, in the practical management of railroad affairs, problems are of
constant occurrence which touch almost every pursuit to which men give

themselves, whether of finance, agriculture, commerce, manufactures,
science, or politics; and the methods, forms, and principles under which
current railroad management is being developed (for it is by no means at a
stand-still) are the result of the necessities imposed by these multiplying
problems acting within the constraints of corporate existences.
For while the life of a corporation is perpetual, its powers are
constrained, and the individuals exercising them are constantly changing. It
is but an artificial individual existing for certain purposes only, and, as it
lacks some human qualities, all its methods of doing business are
influenced thereby. The business affairs of an individual, for instance, are
greatly simplified by his memory of his transactions from day to day and
from year to year. But a corporation having no natural memory, all of its
transactions and relations must be minutely and systematically noted in its
archives. Every contract and obligation must be of record, all property
bought or constructed must go upon the books, and, when expended or used
up, must go off in due form; and especially must an accurate system of
checks guard all earnings and expenditures, and a comprehensive system of
book-keeping consolidate innumerable transactions into the great variety of
boiled-down figures and statistics necessary for officers and stockholders to
fully understand what the property is doing.
Under such circumstances, then, our railroads and their systems of
organization and management, like the Darwinian Topsy, have not "been
made" but have "growed."
Naturally, both the direction and extent of the development have varied
in different localities and under different conditions. Within the limits of
this article it would be impossible to give anything like an exhaustive or
complete account of the organization, distribution of duties, systems of
working, and of checks in the various departments of even a single road.
Most roads publish more or less elaborate small volumes of regulations on
such subjects for the use of their various employees. The task would also be
endless to describe technically the variations of practice and of
nomenclature in different sections and on different systems. The shades of
difference, too, between managers, superintendents, or masters;
comptrollers, auditors, book-keepers, and accountants; secretaries, cashiers,
treasurers, and paymasters in different localities would be tedious to draw.
A technical account of them would be almost a reproduction of the volumes

above-mentioned. I can only attempt to outline and illustrate very briefly
the general principles which underlie the present practice, and are more or
less elaborated as circumstances may require.
The principal duties connected with the management of a railroad may be
classified as follows:
1. The physical care of the property.
2. The handling of the trains.
3. The making rates and soliciting business.
4. The collection of revenue and keeping statistics.
5. The custody and disbursement of revenue.
The president is, of course, the executive head of the company, but in
important matters he acts only with the consent and approval of the Board
of Directors, or of an executive committee clothed with authority of the
board, which may be called the legislative branch of the management. More
or less of the executive power and supervision of the president may be
delegated to one or more vice-presidents. Often all of it but that relating to
financial matters is so delegated, but, as their functions are subdivisions of
those of the president, they have no essential part in a general scheme of
authority.
Of the five subdivisions of duties indicated above, the first four are
usually confided to a general manager, who may also be a vice-president,
and the fifth is in charge of a treasurer, reporting directly to the president.
The special departments under charge of the general manager are each
officered by trained experts:
A superintendent of roadway or chief engineer has charge of the
maintenance of the track, bridges, and buildings.
A superintendent of machinery has charge of the construction and
maintenance of all rolling stock.
A superintendent of transportation makes all schedules, and has charge of
all movements of trains.

A car accountant keeps record of the location, whereabout, and
movements of all cars.
A traffic manager has charge of passenger and freight rates, and all
advertising and soliciting for business.
A comptroller has charge of all the book-keeping by which the revenue of
the company is collected and accounted for. All statistics are generally
prepared in his office.
A paymaster receives money from the treasurer and disburses, under the
direction of the comptroller, for all expenses of operation.
All dividend and interest payments are made by the treasurer, under
direction of the president and board.
There are, besides the above, two general departments with which all the
rest have to do, to a greater or less extent—the legal department and the
purchasing department. The quantity and variety of articles used and
consumed in the operation of a railroad are so great that it is a measure of
much economy to concentrate all purchases into the hands of a single
purchasing agent, rather than to allow each department to purchase for
itself. This agent has nothing to do but to study prices and markets. His
pride is enlisted in getting the lowest figures for his road, and the large
amount of his purchases enables him to secure the best rates. And last, but
not least, in matters where dishonesty would find so great opportunities, it
is safer to concentrate responsibility than to diffuse it.
As I shall not again refer to this department, what remains of interest for
me to say about it will be said here. As an adjunct to it, storehouses are
established at central points in which stocks of articles in ordinary use are
kept on hand. Whenever supplies are wanted in any other department—as,
for instance, a bell-cord and lantern by a conductor—requisitions are
presented, approved by a designated superior. These requisitions state
whether the articles are to be charged to legitimate wear and tear, and if so,
whether to the passenger or the freight service, and of which subdivision of
the road; or whether they are to be charged to the conductor for other
articles not properly accounted for. Without going into further detail, it can
be readily seen how the comptroller's office can, at the end of each month,
from these requisitions, have a complete check upon all persons responsible

for the care of property. The purchasing agent, too, from his familiarity with
prices, is usually charged with the sale of all condemned and worn-out
material.[14]
Before returning to a more detailed review of the operating departments
of a railroad, its legal department requires a few words. Not only is a
railroad corporation, being itself a creation of the law, peculiarly bound to
conform all its actions to legal forms and tenets, but it is also a favorite
target for litigation. The popular prejudice against corporations, it may be
said in passing, is utterly illogical. The corporation is the poor man's
opportunity. Without it he could never share in the gains and advantages
open to capital in large sums. With it a thousand men, contributing a
thousand dollars each, compete on equal terms with the millionaire. Its
doors are always open to any who may wish to share its privileges or its
prosperity, and no man is denied equal participation according to his means
and inclinations. It is the greatest "anti-poverty" invention which has ever
been produced, and the most democratic. But, for all that, instead of
possessing the unbounded power usually ascribed to it, no creature of God
or man is so helpless as a corporation before the so-called great tribunal of
justice, the American jury. It may not be literally true that a Texas jury gave
damages to a tramp against a certain railroad because a section-master's
wife gave him a meal which disagreed with him, but the story can be nearly
paralleled from the experience of many railroads. Hence settlements outside
of the law are always preferred where they are at all possible, and an
essential part of an efficient legal organization is a suitable man always
ready to repair promptly to the scene of any loss or accident, to examine the
circumstances with the eye of a legal expert on liabilities.
But the management of claims, and of loss and damage suits, though a
large part, is by no means all of the legal business connected with a railroad.
Every contract or agreement should pass under scrutiny of counsel, and in
the preparation of the various forms of bonds, mortgages, debentures,
preferred stocks, etc., which the wants of the day have brought forth, the
highest legal talent finds employment. For, as development has multiplied
the types of cars and engines to meet special wants, so have a great variety
of securities been developed to meet the taste and prejudices of investors of
all nations. There is, in fact, a certain fashion in the forms of bonds, and the

conditions incorporated in mortgages, which has to be observed to adapt
any bond to its proposed market.
We shall now
return to the
operating
departments
under their
respective heads,
and glance briefly
at the methods
and detail pursued
in each. On roads
of large mileage
the general
manager is
assisted by general or division superintendents in charge of roadway,
motive power, and trains of one or more separate divisions; but for our
purposes we may consider the different departments without reference to
these superintendents.

The superintendent of roadway or chief engineer
comes first, having charge of track, bridges, and
buildings. In his office are collected
maps of all important stations and
junction points, kept up to date with
changes and additions; scale
drawings of all bridges and trestles,
of all standard depots, tanks,
switches, rails, fastenings, signals,
and everything necessary to secure
uniformity of patterns and practice
over the entire road. Under him are
supervisors of bridges and
supervisors of road, each assigned
to a certain territory. The
supervisors of bridges make
frequent and minute examinations

of every piece or member of every bridge and trestle, report in advance all
the repairs that become necessary, and make requisition for the material
needed.

A Type of Snow-plough.

Under the bridge supervisor are organized "bridge gangs," each
consisting of a competent foreman with carpenters and laborers skilled in
bridge work and living in "house" or "boarding" cars, and provided with
pile-drivers, derricks, and all appliances for handling heavy timbers and
erecting, tearing down, and repairing bridges. These cars form a movable
camp, going from place to place as needed, and being side-tracked as near
as possible to the work of the gang. Long experience begets great skill in
their special duties, and the feats which these gangs will perform are often
more wonderful than many of the more showy performances of railroad
engineering. It is an every-day thing with such gangs to take down an old
wooden structure, and erect in its place an iron one, perhaps with the track
raised several feet above the level of the original, while fifty trains pass
every day, not one of which will be delayed for a moment.

A Rotary Steam Snow-shovel in Operation.
(From an instantaneous photograph.)

Each of the supervisors of road has his assigned territory divided into
"sections," from five to eight miles in length. At a suitable place on each
section are erected houses for a resident section-master and from six to
twelve hands. These are provided with hand- and push-cars, and spend their
whole time in keeping their sections in good condition. Upon many roads
annual inspections are made and prizes offered for the best sections. At least
twice a day track-walkers from the section-gangs pass over the entire line of
road. To simplify reports and instructions, frequently every bridge or
opening in the track is numbered, and the number displayed upon it; and
every curve is also posted with its degree of curvature and the proper
elevation to be given to the outer rail.
The work of the section-men is all done under regular system. In the
spring construction-trains deliver and distribute ties and rails on each
section, upon requisitions from supervisors. Then the section-force goes
over its line from end to end, putting in first the new ties and then the new

rails needed. Next the track is gone over with minute care and re-lined, re-
surfaced, and re-ballasted, to repair the damages of frost and wet, the great
enemies of a road-bed. Then ditches, grass, and the right-of-way have
attention. These processes are continually repeated, and especially in the
fall in preparation for winter. During the winter as little disturbance of track
is made as possible, but ditches are kept clean, and low joints are raised by
"shims" on top of joint ties. Essential parts of the equipment of any large
road are snow-ploughs (pp. 154–5–6) and wrecking cars, with powerful
derricks and other appliances for clearing obstructions. When wrecks or
blockades occur these cars, with extra engines, section-hands, bridge gangs,
and construction-trains, are rushed to the spot, and everything yields to the
work of getting the road clear.
We come next to the
superintendent of machinery,
whose duty it is to provide and
maintain locomotives and cars
of all kinds to handle the
company's traffic. His
department is subdivided
between a master mechanic, in
charge of locomotives and
machine-shops, and a master
car-builder, in charge of car-
shops.
The master mechanic
selects and immediately
controls all engine-runners
and firemen, and keeps
performance sheets of all
locomotives, showing miles
run, cars hauled, wages paid, Railway-crossing Gate.
coal and oil consumed, and
other details giving results accomplished by different runners and firemen,
and by different types of engine, or on different divisions or roads.
Premiums are often paid the runners and firemen accomplishing the best
results.

Report of Performance of Engines, Repairs, and all other Costs Incident
thereto, for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1888.

[Key for column headings. Column A has been repeated in each Part.]

A. Number of Engine.
B. Passenger
C. Freight.
D. Gravel or Construction.
E. Switching.
F. Total.
G. Eighth Cords of wood.
H. Bushels Coal.
I. Cost of Fuel.
[Table—Part 1 of 4]

Miles Run. Fuel.

A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I.

1 — 12,084 4,253 64 16,401 118 10,699 $1,090.25
2 — 2,672 11,779 954 15,405 193 10,913 1,131.77
3 5,402 14,471 408 120 20,407 189 10,590 1,101.08
4 28,643 4,168 — — 32,811 297 11,875 1,212.20
5 28,275 4,490 — 72 32,837 301 12,961 1,335.31
6 — — — 32,370 32,370 33 10,360 1,042.26
8 3,229 11,799 4,779 — 19,807 150 13,233 1,356.30
9 1,050 23,203 — — 24,253 155 16,344 1,663.41
10 874 24,729 — 96 25,699 158 17,039 1,741.67
11 — — — 23,609 23,609 205 7,661 811.00
12 1,527 — 4,369 12,060 17,956 142 8,875 918.75
30 41,345 — — — 41,345 237 17,702 1,821.37
31 37,450 — — — 37,450 215 16,695 1,716.56
32 4,233 13,516 — 120 17,869 115 10,918 1,117.10
34 13,742 5,217 — 1,224 20,183 149 6,691 704.07
165,770 116,349 25,588 70,695 378,402 2657 182,556 $18,768.13

A. Number of Engine.
J. Gallons of Engine Oil.
K. Signal Oil.
L. Head-Light Oil.
M. Lbs. of Cyl. Oil.
N. Car Grease.
O. Waste.
P. Packing.
Q. Gallons Kerosene.
[Table—Part 2 of 4]

Oil, Waste and Other Stores.

A. J. K. L. M. N. O. P. Q.

1 124 10 29 59½ 45 347 72 –
2 121½ 13½ 35½ 69½ 69 466 102 2
3 132½ 10½ 38 74½ 69 350 61 –
4 258 14 49 125 106 659 76 –
5 256 12 39 99½ 75 622 82½ –
6 30½ 12½ 188½ 111¼ — 298 160½ –
8 134 10½ 41 65¼ 60 327 98 –
9 135 12½ 45½ 73 70 374 87 –
10 131½ 13½ 63 69 70 372 96 –
11 136 1¾ 96 81 40 354 81 2
12 105 9¼ 58 95½ 20 360 75 –
30 223 23¾ 44½ 69 106 726 51 –
31 243 15¼ 46 92 110 660 68 1
32 138 10½ 41 71½ 130 361 63 7
34 186 10 32 71 75 409 43 2
2,554 179½ 846 1,226½ 1045 6685 1214 14

A. Number of Engine.
R. Cost of Stores.
S. Wages of Engineer and Fireman.
T. Cost of Cleaning.
U. Labor.
V. Material.
W. Total Cost of Repairs.
X. Total Expenses and Repairs.
[Table—Part 3 of 4]

Cost of Repairs.

A. R. S. T. U. V. W. X.

1 $ 87.64 $ 1,293.80 $ 115.00 $ 223.40 $ 66.32 $ 289.72 $ 2,876.41
2 106.85 1,646.90 82.50 69.65 75.14 144.79 3,112.81
3 93.85 1,489.65 187.50 178.25 63.61 241.86 3,113.94
4 171.85 1,719.55 212.50 203.95 100.13 304.08 3,620.18
5 144.86 1,628.80 202.00 240.55 114.98 355.53 3,666.50
6 173.92 1,884.50 10.00 172.35 63.65 236.00 3,346.68
8 97.34 1,593.05 150.00 110.75 106.69 217.44 3,414.13
9 108.53 1,625.80 200.00 139.80 175.48 315.28 3,918.02
10 108.38 1,669.55 205.00 207.55 109.78 317.33 4,041.93
11 111.83 1,126.75 5.00 413.95 89.76 503.71 2,558.29
12 106.31 1,405.10 25.00 37.45 27.17 64.62 2,519.78
30 142.71 1,719.56 212.50 144.50 77.52 222.02 4,118.15
31 152.16 1,554.55 205.00 642.50 432.86 1,075.36 4,703.66
32 108.40 1,186.40 172.00 1,729.70 438.40 2,168.10 4,752.00
34 108.40 1,186.40 137.00 1,522.10 781.64 2,303.74 4,313.48
1,823.80 22,603.45 2,121.00 6,036.45 2,723.13 8,759.58 54,075.96

A. Number of Engine.
Y. Bushel Coal.
Z. Gal. Engine Oil.
AA. Pound of Tallow.
BB. Repairs.
CC. Fuel.
DD. Stores.
EE. Wages E. and F.
FF. Cleaning.
GG. Total.
HH. Car Mileage.
[Table—Part 4 of 4]

M'ls run to one. Cost per Mile Run For.

A. Y. Z. AA. BB. CC. DD. EE. FF. GG. HH.

1 1.5 122.3 34.5 01.76 06.64 00.53 07.89 00.61 17.43 177,659
2 1.1 126.8 27.7 00.94 07.34 00.69 10.69 00.53 20.19 197,203
3 0.9 77.7 17.4 02.32 10.58 00.90 14.31 02.04 30.15 182,402
4 2.7 127.2 32.8 00.92 03.69 05.23 05.24 00.64 15.72 139,422
5 2.5 128.2 41.2 01.08 04.06 00.44 04.96 00.61 11.15 135,780
6 3.1 140.4 36.3 00.72 03.22 00.53 05.82 00.03 10.32 —
8 1.5 147.8 37.9 01.09 06.84 00.49 08.04 00.76 17.22 305,024
9 1.4 150.0 48.5 01.30 06.88 00.40 06.70 00.82 16.10 383,682
10 1.5 195.4 46.5 01.23 06.77 00.31 06.49 00.79 15.59 409,035
11 3.0 173.6 36.4 02.13 03.43 00.47 04.77 00.02 10.82 —
12 2.0 171.0 23.5 00.36 05.11 00.59 07.82 00.14 14.02 66,834
30 2.3 185.4 74.9 00.53 04.40 00.34 04.15 00.51 09.93 231,554
31 2.2 154.1 50.8 02.87 04.58 00.40 04.15 00.54 12.54 202,289
32 1.6 129.5 31.2 12.11 06.25 00.60 06.64 00.96 26.56 184,083
34 3.2 108.5 35.5 11.41 03.48 00.54 05.29 00.67 21.39 107,060
2.5 148.1 38.5 02.31 04.98 00.48 05.97 00.55 14.29 2,722,027

The master car-builder has charge of the shops where cars are built and
repaired, and of the car-inspectors who are stationed at central and junction
points to prevent defective cars being put into the trains.
Formerly each railroad used its own cars exclusively, and through
freights were transferred at every junction point. This involved such delay
and expense that railroads now generally permit all loaded cars to go
through to destination without transfer, and allow each other a certain sum

for the use of cars. Usually this is about three-quarters of a cent for each
mile which the car travels on a foreign road. This involves a great scattering
of cars, and an extensive organization to keep record of their whereabouts
and of the accounts between the companies for mileage.[15] This
organization will be referred to more fully in connection with the
department of transportation. But the joint use of each other's cars makes it
necessary that there should be at least enough similarity in their
construction and their coupling appliances to permit their indiscriminate use
upon all roads. And conventions of master car-builders have recommended
certain forms and dimensions as standards, which are now in general use.
There is much convenience in this, but one disadvantage. It requires
almost unanimous action to introduce any change of form or of
construction, however advantageous it may be. And to secure unanimous
action in such matters is almost as hard as it would be to secure unanimity
in a change in the spelling of English words. Still there is progress, though
slow, toward several desirable reforms, the most important of which is the
adoption of a standard automatic coupler (see p. 142).
Having shown how the property of all kinds is kept in efficient condition,
we next come to its operation. This is called "conducting transportation,"
and the officer in charge is usually called the superintendent of
transportation. All train-despatchers, conductors, train-men, and telegraph
operators are under his immediate control. He makes all schedules and
provides all extra and irregular service that the traffic department makes
requisition for, himself calling upon the superintendent of machinery for the
necessary locomotives, switching engines, and cars. It is his especial
province to handle all trains as swiftly as possible, and to see that there are
no collisions. It is impossible to detail fully the safeguards and precautions
used to this end, but the general principles observed are as follows:
First, a general time-table or schedule is carefully made out for all regular
trains upon each division, showing on one sheet the time of each train at
each station.
This schedule is all that is needed so long as all trains are able to keep on
time, and there are no extras. Trouble begins when regular trains cannot
keep on schedule, or when extra trains have to be sent out, not provided for
on the schedule. A diagram, or graphic representation of this schedule, upon

a board or large sheet of paper, is an important feature of the office
regulating train-movements. Twenty-four vertical lines divide the board into
equal spaces representing the twenty-four hours of the day, numbered from
midnight to midnight. Horizontal lines at proportionate distances from the
top represent the stations in their order between the termini, represented by
the top and bottom lines of the diagram. The course of every train can now
be plotted on this diagram in an oblique line joining the points on each
station line corresponding to the time the train arrives at and leaves that
station. The cut on the opposite page will illustrate. It represents a road 130
miles long from A to N, with intermediate stations B, C, D, etc., at different
distances from each other, and six trains are shown as follows:
A passenger train, No. 1, leaving A at 12 midnight and arriving at N at
4.05 A.M. A fast express, No. 2, leaving N at 12.45 and arriving at A at 3.30.
A local passenger train, No. 4, which leaves N at 1.15, runs to E by 4 A.M.,
stops there until 4.10, and returns to N by 7 A.M.; being called No. 3 on the
return, as the direction is always indicated by the train-number's being odd
or even. No. 5 is a way freight, leaving A at 12.05 and making long stops at
each station. No. 6 is an opposing train of the same character.

Diagram Used in Making Railway Time-Tables.

The diagram shows at a glance
how, when, and where all these
trains meet and pass each other, and
where every train is at any moment.
Should it be desired to send an
extra train at any time, a line drawn
or a string stretched on the board
will indicate what opposing trains
must be guarded against. For
instance, to send an extra through in
three hours, leaving A between 1
and 2 A.M., a trial line will show
that Nos. 5, 2, 4, and 6 must all be
met or passed, and as (on a single-
track road) this can only be done at
stations, the extra must leave at

A lamp swung across the track is the signal to stop. 1.35 A.M., pass No. 5 at E, meet No.
2 at F, No. 4 at I, and No. 6 at J. A
dotted line on the diagram indicates its run, and that No. 2 is held at F for 5
minutes to let it pass. If the road is double-tracked, only trains going in the
same direction need be regarded.[16]
But the more usual way of handling
extra trains, when circumstances will
permit, is to let them precede or follow a
regular train upon the same schedule. The
train is then said to be run in "sections,"
and a ten minutes' interval is allowed
between them. That opposing trains may
be informed, the leading section (and when
there are more than two all but the last)
wears on its locomotive two green flags by
day and two green lights by night,
indicating that a train follows which is to
be considered as a part of the train leading,
and having the same rights.

A lamp raised and lowered vertically is
the signal to move ahead.

So far the rules are very simple,
and they would be all that is
necessary if all trains could
always be kept exactly on time.
But as that cannot be, provision
must be made for all the
complications which will result.
The first and most important rule
is that no train must ever, under
any circumstances, run ahead of
time. The next is that any train
making a stop not on its schedule

A lamp swung vertically in a circle across the track, must
immediately send out
when the train is standing, is the signal to move back.
flagmen with red flags, lights, and
torpedoes to protect it. This rule is a very difficult one to enforce without
rigid discipline, and its neglect is the cause of a large percentage of the
accidents "that will happen." The flagman who must go to the rear, often a
half-mile, at night, across trestles and in storms, must frequently be left
behind, to take his chances of getting home by being picked up by a
following train. There is no one to watch him, and he will often take
chances, and not go as far back or as fast as he should; and if all goes well
no one is ever the wiser.
Now, when a train is prevented
from arriving on time at its meeting-
point, we must have some rules by
which the opposing train may
proceed, or all business on the road
would be suspended by the delay of
a single train. Only the general
principles of these rules can be
stated within limits. They are as
follows:
1. All freight trains must wait
indefinitely for all passenger trains.
2. When one train only is behind
time, the opposing train of the same
class will wait for it a specified
time, usually ten minutes, and five A lamp swung vertically in a circle at arm's length
across the track, when the train is running,
minutes more for possible variation is the signal that the train has parted.
of watches, then go ahead, keeping
fifteen minutes behind its schedule.
3. But should such a train, running on delayed time, lose more time, or in
any other way should both trains get behind time, then the one which is
bound in a certain direction—for instance, north—has the right to the track,
and the other must lie by indefinitely.

The General Despatcher.

These principles, duly observed, will prevent collisions, but they will
often cause trains to lose a great deal of time. The train-despatcher,
therefore, has authority to handle extra and delayed trains by direct

telegraphic order. Every possible precaution is taken to insure that such
orders are received and correctly understood. As there are great advantages
following uniformity of usages and rules among connecting roads, after
years of conference, in conventions and by committees, approved forms of
all running rules and signals have recently been adopted and are now in
very general use over the United States. Yet, in spite of all possible
precautions, accidents will sometimes happen. Richard Grant White gave a
name to a mental habit which, in train-despatchers, has caused many fatal
accidents. It is "heterophemy," or thinking one thing while saying, hearing,
or reading another. A case within my knowledge, which cost a dozen lives,
was as follows: Two opposing trains were out of time, and the train-
despatcher wished to have them meet and pass at a certain station we will
call "I," as Nos. 1 and 2 are represented as doing on the diagram (see
diagram of schedule board, p. 161). So he telegraphed the following
message, to be delivered to No. 1 at "H" and to No. 2 at "J": "Nos. 1 and 2
will meet at 'I.'" This message was correctly received at "J" and delivered to
No. 2. But at "H" the operator had just sold a passenger a ticket to "K," and,
getting this name in his head, he wrote out the message: "Nos. 1 and 2 will
meet at 'K.'" But the mistake was not yet past correction. The operator had
to repeat the message back to the despatcher, that the latter might be sure it
was correctly understood. He repeated it as he had written it—"K." But the
despatcher was also "heterophemous." He saw "K," but he thought "I," and
replied to the operator that the message was O. K.

Entrance Gates at a Large Station.

So it was delivered to No. 1, and that train left "H" at full speed,
expecting to run thirty-five miles to "K" before meeting No. 2. There was
no telegraph office at "I," and there were no passengers to get off or on, and
it passed there without stopping, and three miles below ran into No. 2 on a
curve.
By one of those strange impulses which seem to come from some
unconscious cerebration, the train-despatcher meanwhile had a feeling that
something was wrong, and looked again at the message received from "H"
and discovered his mistake. But the trains were then out of reach. He still
hoped that No. 2 might arrive at "I" first, or that they might meet upon a
straight portion of road, and as the time passed he waited at the instrument
in a state of suspense which may be imagined. When the news came he left
the office, and never returned.
Double tracks make accidents of this character impossible; but introduce
a new possibility, that a derailment from any cause upon one track may
obstruct the other track so closely ahead of an opposing train that no
warning can be given.

Central Switch and Signal Tower.

Where trains become
very numerous additional
safeguards are added by
multiplying telegraph
stations at short intervals,
and giving them conspicuous signals of semaphore arms and lanterns,
until finally the road is divided into a number of so-called "blocks" of a
few miles each; and no train is permitted to enter any block until the train
preceding has passed out. And in the approaches to some of our great
depots, where trains and tracks are multiplied and confused with cross-
overs and switching service, all switches are set and all movements
controlled by signals from a single central tower. Sometimes, by very
expensive and complicated apparatus, it is made mechanically impossible
to open a track for the movement of a train without previously locking all
openings by which another train might interfere. The illustrations on pages
169, 171, and above will serve to give some general idea of these
appliances.[17]

Mantua Junction, West Philadelphia, showing a Complex System of Interlacing Tracks.

There remains one other branch of the duties of the master of
transportation—the proper daily distribution of cars to every station
according to its needs, and the keeping record of their whereabouts. And
now that the gauges of all roads are similar, and competition enforces
through shipments, roads are practically making common property of each
other's cars, and the detail and trouble of keeping record of them become
enormous.

Interior of a Switch-tower, showing the Operation of Interlocking Switches.

The records are made up from daily reports, by every conductor, of every
car, home or foreign, handled in his train, and from every station-agent of
all cars in his yard at certain hours. From these returns the car accountant
reports to their respective owners all movements of foreign cars and gives
the transportation department information where cars are lying. The honesty
of each other's reports concerning car movements is generally relied upon
by railroads, but "lost car agents" are kept travelling to hunt up estrays, and
to watch how the cars of their roads are being handled.

It has been suggested that a great step in advance would be to have all the
roads in the United States unite and put all cars into a common stock and let
them be distributed, record kept of movements, and mileage paid through a
general clearing house. This would practically form a single rolling-stock
company owned by the roads contributing their cars to it. It could gradually
introduce uniform patterns of construction, improved couplers, and air-
brakes, and could concentrate cars in different sections of the country in
large numbers as different crops required movement, thus avoiding the
blockades which often occur in one section while cars are superabundant in
another. Consolidations usually render more efficient and cheaper service
than separate organizations can do, and this may come about in the course
of time.[18]
We have now seen how the road is maintained and its trains safely
handled. The next step in order is to see how business is secured and the
rates to be charged are fixed. This department may be controlled by a traffic
manager, with two assistants—the general freight agent and the general
passenger agent—or the officers may report directly to the general manager
without the intervention of a traffic manager. But it would be a more
accurate expression to say, not that these officers "fix" the rates, for if they
did few railroads would ever fail, but that they accept and announce the
rates that are fixed by conditions of competition between different markets
and products, and between different railroads and water lines. Among these
complex forces a railroad freight agent is nearly as powerless to regulate
rates as a professor of grammar is to regulate the irregularities of English
verbs. He can accept them and use them, or he may let them alone, but the
irregularities will remain, all the same. There is no eccentricity, for
example, more idiotic or indefensible to the ordinary citizen than a habit
railroads have of sometimes charging less money for a long haul than they
charge for a shorter haul. Yet I believe there is not a railroad line in the
United States which will not be found guilty of this apparent folly of
charging "less for the long haul" if its rates to distant points are followed far
enough. For if followed far enough we shall come to the ocean, and find the
railroad accepting business between two seaports. For instance, all railroads
running westward from New York through some of their connections finally
reach San Francisco, and compete for freight between these ports. But the
rates they are able to obtain are limited by steamers using the ocean for a
highway, and sailing vessels using the wind for motive power, and able to

carry heavy freights at one-tenth the average cost to railroads across
mountains and deserts. This average cost must fix the average rates charged
by the railroads to intermediate points, such as to Ogden, in Utah. So the
railroad must either charge less for the long haul to San Francisco, or leave
that business to be done solely by water. Yet it may be profitable to the
railroad to accept the business at such rates as it can obtain; for, as in all
business ventures, manufacturing or mercantile, new business can be
profitably added at less than the average cost. And if profitable to the
railroad its tendency is beneficial, even to the intermediate points which pay
higher rates, as promoting better service, besides being advantageous to the
whole Pacific Coast in tending to keep down the rates by water.
But it would lead too far from our subject to follow this and several other
questions which are suggested by it. Only it may be said briefly that the
original Interstate Commerce Bill, introduced by Mr. Reagan, absolutely
prohibited "less for the long haul." The Senate amended by adding "under
similar circumstances and conditions," and the Interstate Commerce
Commission has held that "water competition" makes dissimilar
circumstances and thus legalizes it.
And in this connection it may be added that the other Senate amendment
to the Reagan bill, creating an Interstate Commerce Commission, was, next
to the above amendment, the wisest measure of the bill. It forms a body of
experts whose opinions and decisions must gradually educate the public, on
the one hand, to a better understanding of transportation problems, and
restrain the railroads, on the other, from many of the abuses incident to
unchecked competition among them. For, however theorists may differ as to
the advantages or disadvantages of competition in manufactures and
commerce, either absolutely unchecked or checked only by high or low
tariffs, I think all will agree that unchecked railroad competition is a great
evil, because it results in fluctuating rates and private rebates to large
shippers. The rebates, to be sure, are forbidden by law, but they can be
disguised past recognition. I have known a case, for instance, where a
receipt was given for 75 barrels of whiskey, when only 73 were shipped.
The shipper was to make claim for two barrels lost and be paid an agreed
value as a rebate on his freight bill. In another case, a road agreed with a
certain shipper to pay his telegraph bills for a certain period in order to

control his shipments. Understating the weight or class of the shipment is
another common device for undercharging or rebating.
In nearly every foreign country there is either a railroad pool or a division
of territory, to prevent this sort of competition, which is only pernicious. A
merchant needs to feel assured that rates are stable and uniform to all, and
not that he must go shopping for secret rates, in order to be on an equality
with his competitor. In the United States the railroads had largely resorted
to pools before the Interstate Commerce Law forbade them. The result of
this prohibition has generally been very advantageous to the best lines,
which, under the pool, really paid a sort of blackmail to the poorer lines to
maintain rates. If the penalties of the law can restrain such lines from
rebating and under-billing, to be rid of the pool will be a great blessing to
the well-located roads. If not, then the roads will be driven into
consolidation, for the end of fighting will be bankruptcy and sale.
Fortunately consolidation has already gone so far in many sections of the
country that the difficulties of abolishing rebates have been greatly reduced.
And as far as it has gone it has proved of much advantage both to the public
and to the stockholders.
Fortunately, too, the other results attendant upon consolidation have been
sufficiently demonstrated to remove any intelligent fear of extortion in rates
or deterioration of service. Who would to-day desire to undo the
consolidations which have built up the Pennsylvania Railroad or the New
York Central, and call back to life the numberless small companies which
preceded them? The country has outgrown such service as they could
render, and the local growth and development along the lines of these
consolidated companies certainly indicates improved conditions. In this
connection, too, the improvement in cost and character of service is
instructive. In 1865 the average rate per ton per mile on the principal
Eastern lines was about 2.900 cents; in 1887 it was 0.718 for a service twice
as speedy and efficient.
There are many other live issues of great interest and importance in
transportation suggested by this subject, such as "re-billing" or "milling in
transit," and "differentials," but space forbids more than an explanation of
the meaning of these two especially prominent ones.

A B C

Let A B and B C be two railroads connecting at B. Let the local rates A to
B be 10 cents per 100 lbs. on grain, and B to C also 10 cents. Let the
through rate A to C be 18, since longest hauls are usually cheapest per mile.
Let A be a large grain market, such as Chicago. Now a merchant at C can
save 2 cents per 100 lbs. by buying direct from A instead of buying from a
merchant at B. For the grain will pay less for the single long haul than for
the two short hauls. But perhaps the town of B has for many years enjoyed
the trade of C, and there are large mills and warehouses erected there. B
will then say it is "discriminated against," and will demand the privilege of
"re-billing" or "milling in transit." That is to say, when a merchant or miller
at B ships to C grain, or flour made of grain, which he received from A, the
two roads consent to make a new way-bill and treat the shipment as a
through shipment from A to C. The road B C charges but 8 cents, and the
road A B gives B C one cent from the 10 it originally collected. This
involves much trouble and a loss of revenue to the roads, and is, apparently,
a discrimination against the home products of B, but roads frequently do it
where there is competition at C by rival lines, and also at local points along
their lines to build up mills, distilleries, and factories of all kinds in
competition with those located elsewhere. As yet the Interstate Commerce
Commission has not pronounced upon this practice.
The question of differentials is as
follows: Suppose there are three lines,
B, D, and E, between the cities A and C
(Diagram, page 176). B, being the
shortest, will get most of the business
when rates are the same (10 cents, for instance) by each line. But D and E
insist upon participating, so they demand that B shall allow them to operate
lower or "differential" rates—that is, B must maintain his rate at 10 while
allowing D to charge only 8 and E 6 cents, on account of their
disadvantages. So that a differential is practically a premium offered for
business by an inferior line.
The foregoing will illustrate how the rivalry of railroads with each other
complicates the making of rates. But even more difficult to manage is the
rivalry of markets, and of products, and of new methods which threaten
property invested in old methods; as, for instance, the dressed-beef traffic

from the West threatens the investments in slaughter-houses and stock-yards
in the East.
As the roads have found it necessary to act together in establishing
running rules and regulations, so, in spite of all rivalries, there must also be
joint agreements reached in some way concerning rates. Usually the roads
serving a certain territory form an "association," and their freight agents
form "rate committees," which fix and publish joint rates. A tariff published
by one of the trunk lines from the Eastern cities forms a good example. As
the result of many long and bitter wars and many compromises, it has been
agreed among these roads that the rates from New York to Chicago shall
form a basis for all other rates, and a scale has been fixed showing the
percentage of the Chicago rate to be used as the rate to each important point
in the West. Thus Pittsburgh, Pa., is 60 per cent. of Chicago rate;
Indianapolis is 93; Vandalia, 116. The tariff above referred to gives an
alphabetical list of some 5,000 towns reached over these roads, and
opposite each town the figure showing its percentage of the Chicago rate.
The list begins with Abanaka, O., 90, and ends with Zoar, O., 74.
The tariff next gives what is called the "Trunk Line Classification,"
which is a list comprising every article known to commerce, in all the
different conditions, shapes, and packages in which it is offered for
transportation, and opposite each article is given its assigned "class." This
particular classification assigns every article to one of six regular, or two
special, classes, and the present rates to Chicago in cents per 100 lbs. are
given as 75, 65, 50, 35, 30, 25, 26, 21. The list of articles begins with
Acetate of Lime, in car-loads, 5th class; in less quantities, 4th; and ends
with Zinc, in various forms from 1st to 6th—comprising in all nearly 6,000
articles. From these tables any desired rate readily appears. Thus, 500
pounds of acetate of lime would cost, from New York to Zoar, O., 74 per
cent. of Chicago's 4th class rate, or 74 per cent. of 35—say, 26 cents per
100 lbs., or $1.30.
There is also given in the tariff pamphlet a list of some 300
manufacturing towns in New England, from each of which the same rates
apply as from New York. So, on the whole, the pamphlet gives rates on
about 6,000 articles from 300 points of origin to 5,000 destinations.

In different sections of the country different classifications are in use,
some of them embracing twenty or more classes, and allowing finer shades
of difference between articles according to their value, bulk, or many other
varying conditions which determine the class into which each article is put.
Great efforts have been made to bring about a uniformity of classification
over the whole United States, and the number of classifications in extensive
use has been reduced from a very large number to perhaps a dozen.
But absolute uniformity cannot be obtained under the widely different
conditions which prevail in different sections, without great loss and
sacrifices somewhere. A road, for instance, competing with a river or canal
must adjust the classification of the particular kinds of freight best adapted
to river or canal transportation so as to secure the traffic in competition with
boats. It must almost entirely disregard bulk, value, and all other conditions
upon which a road not affected by this particular kind of competition
arranges its classification. Uniformity would either force one of them to
lose a legitimate business, or the other to reduce reasonable rates.
These rates and classifications are the battle-ground for all the
innumerable rivalries of trade and commerce. Every city is here at war with
every other city, every railroad with every other road, every industry with
those which rival it, and every individual shipper is a skirmisher for a little
special rate, or advantage, all to himself. State legislatures and
commissions, Congress, and the Interstate Commerce Commission are the
heavy artillery which different combatants manage to bring into the contest.
On these rates probably a million dollars are collected every day, yet it is
very rarely that the positive rates are fought over or complained of. Their
average is considerably below that of the average rates of any other country
in the world, even though other nations have cheaper labor and denser
populations. Fifty cents for carrying a barrel of flour a thousand miles
cannot be called exorbitant, and, indeed, the retail prices paid for bread and
clothing would probably not be reduced in the slightest were the
transportation of all such articles absolutely free. But the battle is over the
comparative rates to different points, over different routes, and for different
commodities.[19]
Passenger rates are established in much the same manner as freight rates.
There are passenger-agents' associations and conventions, and they fight as

do the freight men over comparative rates and differentials, and
commissions to agents. The last within a few years has been a fearful abuse,
and is not yet entirely abolished. This will illustrate:
The road A B has two connections, C
and D, to reach E. It sells tickets over
each at the same rate, and stands neutral
between them. But C agrees with A's
ticket-seller that he will give him a dollar for every ticket he can sell over
C's line. D finds that he is losing travel, and offers, privately, a larger
commission. Neither knows what the other is doing. The ticket-seller gets
his regular salary from A, and from C and D often enormous sums as
commissions, and is interested, not in sending ignorant travellers over the
line which might suit them best, but over the one paying him the largest
secret commission. This should be held as against public policy, because it
tends to prevent reductions in rates to the public by robbing the roads of
much of their revenue, and it also demoralizes the officers who handle a
business which is practically but the giving away of large sums of money as
bribes.
There is another practice in the passenger business which is unfair at the
best and is the source of many abuses. It is charging the same to the man
with no baggage as to the man with a Saratoga trunk. If the baggage service
were specially organized as a trunk express, it could be more efficiently
handled and without any "baggage smashing," while the total cost of
travelling to persons with baggage would be no more than at present, and to
those without, much less.
As an illustration of the sort of abuses to which it is now liable, I may
cite a single case. I have known a merchant buy a lot of twenty trunks for
his trade, pack them all full of dry-goods, check them to a city 1,000 miles
away by giving a few dollars to baggage-men, and himself buy a single
ticket and go by a different route. The roads which handled that baggage
imagined that it belonged to their passengers, and were never the wiser.
While the baggage service is free, no efficient checks can be provided
against such frauds.
Essential parts of both freight and passenger departments are the
soliciting agents. They are like the cavalry pickets and scouts of an army,

scattered far and wide over the country and looking after the interests of
their lines, making personal acquaintances of all shippers and travellers,
advertising in every possible manner, and reporting constantly all that the
enemy—the rival lines—are doing, and often a great deal that they are not.
For the great railroad wars usually begin in local skirmishes brought on by
the zeal of these pickets when the officers in command would greatly prefer
to live in peace.
Besides their receipts from freight and passenger traffic, railroads derive
revenue also from the transportation of mails and express freight on
passenger trains, from the sleeping-car companies, and from news
companies for the privilege of selling upon trains. Of the total revenue
about 70 per cent. is usually derived from freight, 25 per cent. from
passengers, and 5 per cent. from mail, express, sleeping-cars, and
privileges. When it is considered that high speed involves great risks and
necessitates a far more perfect roadway, more costly machinery and
appliances, and a higher grade and a greater number of employees, the fast
passenger, mail, and express traffic hardly seems at present to yield its due
proportion of income.

We have now followed the line of organization and management through
the physical maintenance of the road and rolling stock, the safe handling of
the trains, the establishment of rates, and solicitation of business. It only
remains to show how the revenue is collected, how the expenses of
operation are paid, and all statistics of the business prepared. These duties
are usually united under charge of an officer called the comptroller, general
auditor, or some equivalent title. His principal subordinates, whose duties
are indicated by their titles, are the auditor of receipts, auditor of
disbursements, local treasurer, paymaster, and clerk of statistics.
The record of a single shipment of freight will illustrate methods, so far
as limits will permit. A shipper sending freight for shipment sends with each
dray-load a "dray ticket" in duplicate, showing the articles, weight, marks,
and destination. If he has prepaid the freight, or advanced any charges
which are to be paid at destination, it is also noted on the dray ticket. When
the drayman reaches the outbound freight depot with his load, he is directed

to a certain spot where all freight for the same destination is being collected
for loading. A receiving clerk checks off his load against the duplicate dray
tickets, keeps one and files it, and gives the drayman the other, receipted. In
case of any loss arising afterward, the original dray ticket, made by the
shipper himself, with his marks and instructions, becomes a valuable
record. When the entire shipment has been delivered at the loading point,
the shipper takes the dray tickets representing it to the proper desk, and
receives "a bill of lading." This bill of lading is made in triplicate. The
original and a duplicate are given to the shipper. He keeps the last and sends
the former to the consignee. It represents the obligation of the railroad to
transport and deliver the articles named on it to the person named, or his
assignee. It is negotiable, and banks advance money upon it. But the shipper
may still, by a legal process, have the goods stopped en route should
occasion arise, as, for instance, by the bankruptcy of the consignee. The
goods are also liable for garnishments in certain cases, and there is much
railroad and commercial law which it behooves the officials interested to be
well posted in. When the goods arrive at destination the possession of the
bill of lading is the evidence of the consignee's right to receive them.
Now we will return to the shipment itself and see how it is taken care of.
The whole structure of the system of collecting freight revenue, holding
accountable all agents who assess it and collect it, dividing it in the agreed
proportions between all the railroads, boats, bridges, wharves, and transfer
companies who may handle it in its journeys, even across the continent, and
the tabulating of the immense mass of statistics which are kept to show,
separately, the quantities of freight of every possible class and variety, by
every possible route, and to and from every possible point of destination
and departure—all this system, neither the magnitude nor the minute
elaboration of which can be adequately described within limits, is founded
upon a paper called the way-bill.
The theory of the way-bill is that no car must move without one
accompanying it, describing it by its number and the initials of the road
owning it, and showing its points of departure and destination, its entire
contents, with marks and weights of each package, consignors and
consignees, freight and charges prepaid or to be collected at destination, and
the proportion of the same due to each carrier or transfer in the line. And
not only must a way-bill accompany the car, but a duplicate of it must be

sent immediately and directly, by the office making the original, to the
office of the auditor of freight receipts. If the railroad is a member of any
association, as the Trunk Line Association in New York, another duplicate
is sent to its office, that it may supervise all rates, and see what each road is
doing. The sum of all the way-bills is the total of a road's freight business.
To facilitate taking copies they are printed with an ink which will give
several impressions on strong, thin tissue-paper, forming "soft copies,"
while the "hard copy," or original, goes with the freight to be checked
against it when the car is unloaded.
And while the original way-bill fulfils its important function of
conducting the freight to destination and delivery, the duplicate which was
forwarded directly to the auditor of freight receipts has no less important
purposes. It is the initial record that freight has been earned, and it shows
which agent of the company has been charged with its collection. Before
making any entries from it its absolute correctness must be assured. For this
purpose all its figures are first checked by a rate-clerk, who is kept
constantly supplied by the traffic department with all current rates,
classifications, and percentage tables by which through freights are divided.
These way-bills, coming in daily by hundreds and thousands, are then the
grist upon which the office of the auditor of receipts grinds, and from which
come forth the accounts with every agent, showing his debits for freight
received, and the consolidations showing the freight earnings of the road.
Agents remit the moneys they collect direct to the treasurer, who makes
daily reports of the credits due to each one. A travelling auditor visits every
station at irregular intervals and checks the agent's accounts, requiring him
to justify any difference between his debits and credits by an exhibit of
undelivered freight.
The passenger earnings are obtained from daily reports by all conductors
of their collections, and by all ticket-sellers of tickets sold. These reports are
also checked by a passenger rate-clerk, and the travelling auditor frequently
examines and verifies the tickets reported by agents as on hand unsold.
After the auditor of receipts has finished with the way-bills and ticket
reports, they go to the statistical department, where are prepared the great
mass and variety of statistics required by different officers to keep
themselves thoroughly posted on the growth or decrease of business of
every variety, and from and to every market reached by the road. Finally,

the way-bills are filed away for reference in case of claims for overcharges,
or lost or damaged goods.
The auditor of disbursements has supervision of all expenditures of
money, which is only paid out by the paymaster or treasurer upon vouchers
and pay-rolls approved by proper authority. The vouchers and pay-rolls then
form the grist upon which his office works, and from which are produced
the credits to be given all officers and agents who disburse money, and the
classified records of expenses, and comparison of the same with previous
months and years, and between different divisions.

I have thus outlined the skeleton of a railroad organization, and suggested
briefly the relations between its most important parts, and some of the
principles upon which its work is conducted. The scheme of authority is
outlined in the diagram on page 185. But space is utterly lacking to clothe
the skeleton with flesh and go into the innumerable details and adjustments
involved in the economical and efficient discharge of all of its functions.
It seems a very simple matter for a railroad to place a barrel of flour in a
car, to carry it to its destination, and to collect fifty cents for the service. It
is done apparently so spontaneously that even the fifty cents may seem
exorbitant, and I have actually heard appeals for free transportation on the
ground that the cars were going anyhow. So it also seems a very simple
matter for a man to pick up a stone and place it on a wall. But this simple
act involves in the first place the existence of a bony frame, with joints,
sinews, and muscles, sustained by a heart, lungs, and digestive system, with
eyes to see, a brain to direct, nerves to give effect to the will-power, and a
thousand delicate adjustments of organs and functions without which all
physical exertion would soon cease. Similarly, a railroad organized to
respond efficiently to all the varied demands upon it as a common carrier,
by the public, and as an investment by its owners, becomes almost a living
organism. That the barrel of flour may be safely delivered and the fifty
cents reach the company's treasury, and a part of it the stockholder's pocket,
the whole organization outlined in the diagram must thrill with life, and
every officer and employee, from president to car-greaser, must discharge
his special functions. All must be coordinated, and the organization must

have and use its eyes and its ears, its muscle, its nerves, and its brain. It
must immediately feel and respond to every demand of our rapidly
advancing civilization.
Each road usually has its own individuality and methods, and its
employees are animated with an esprit de corps, as are the soldiers in an
army. There is much about the service that is attractive, and, on the whole,
the wages paid railroad employees are probably in excess of the rates for
similar talent in any other industry, although labor in every other industry in
the United States is protected by high tariffs, while in this it is under the
incubus of legislation as oppressive as constitutional limits will permit.
President

Secretary and
General Manager
Treasurer General Counsel

—Auditor of Receipts
—Auditor of Disbursements
—Comptroller
—Travelling Auditor
————– ——
—Local Treasurers
—Local Paymasters
—Clerk of Statistics

—Purchasing
—Local Storekeepers
Agent—— ——
—Receiving Clerks and Laborers
—Loading Clerks and Laborers
—Billing Clerks
—Station Agents———— —Discharging Clerks and Laborers
—Delivery Clerks
—Superintendent
—Collectors —Yard Engines
of
—Yard Master
Transportation—— —Switchmen
————
—Brakemen
—Train Despatchers
—Train Master————— —Operators
—Conductors
—Trainmen
—Division
Superintendents
—————

—Engine Runners
—Firemen
—Foreman —Hostelers and
Machine Shop—— Cleaners
—Mechanics
—Laborers
—Superintendent
of
Machinery————— —Master Mechanic———
—Car Inspectors
—Foreman —Greasers
Car Shop———Mechanics
—Laborers

—Bridge Foremen
—Supervisors of —Watchmen
Bridges———Carpenter Gangs
—Superintendent
—Mason Gangs
of
Roadway——— —Road Master—————
—Section Foremen
—Gangs and Track
Walkers
—Supervisors of —Wood and Water
Road——— Tenders
—Floating Gangs
—Construction Trains
—Car Accountant
——— ———Lost Car Agents

—Travelling Agents
—General Passenger —Local Agents
Agent————Rate and Division Clerks

—Traffic Manager
—Claim Agent
——– ——
—Travelling Agents
—General Freight —Local Agents
Agent————Rate and Division Clerks

Diagram showing the Skeleton of a Railroad Organization, and Lines of Responsibility.

In Europe, where the pooling system practically prevails, the service is
much more stable than in the United States, and in many instances there are
pensions and insurances and disability funds, and regular rules for
promotion and retirement, and provision for the children of employees
being brought into service in preference to outsiders. Such relations

between a company and its employees as must result from arrangements of
this character are surely of great benefit to both. They are the natural
outgrowth of stability of business. Their most advanced form is found in
France, where each road is practically protected from dangerous
competition by means of a division of territory. In the United States we are
still in the midst of a fierce competition for territory and business, and, as
pooling is forbidden, the railroad companies will be in unstable equilibrium
until consolidation takes place. As that goes on, and large and rich
corporations are formed, with prospects of stability in management and in
business, we may hope to see similar relations established between our
companies and their employees. Already there is a beginning upon some of
the largest roads, such as the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania
Central. But the ground still needs preparation also on the employees' side,
for our American spirit is aggressive and is sometimes rather disposed to
resent, as interfering with its independence, any paternal relations with a
corporation. And as we have before found railroad management in intimate
contact with every problem of finance and commerce, it is here confronted
with the social and industrial questions involved in labor unions and
problems of co-operation. As to the results, we can only say that, as war is
destructive, no state of warfare, even between capital and labor, can be
permanent. Peaceful solutions must prevail in the end, and progress toward
stability, peace, and prosperity in railroad operation and ownership will be
progress toward the happy solution of many vexed social questions.

F OOT NOT E S :
[14] See "How to Feed a Railway," page 302.
[15] See "The Freight-car Service," page 275.
[16] Of course, this "stringing" of an extra train is not always done in actual
operation. Practice and experience will give as wonderful expertness to a train-
despatcher in handling trains "in his head" as to a mathematician in solving
problems, and often all trains on a road will be handled entirely "by order," or as
extras. But the example given illustrates the principle upon which expert practice
is based.
[17]
See "Safety in Railroad Travel," page 204.

[18] See "The Freight-car Service," page 288.
[19] An idea may be gained of the extent and minuteness of the classification,
and of the constant changes and adjustments, both of rates and classifications,
perpetually going on from the following partial list of subjects submitted to a
recent meeting of the Rate Committee of the Southern Railway and Steamship
Association.
Rates.—Watermelon rates; canned goods, Richmond to Atlanta; rates on cement
from Eastern cities to Association territory; rates on sulphuric acid from Atlanta;
rates from Atlanta, etc., to California and Transcontinental terminals; special iron
rates from Cincinnati, etc., to Carolina points; rates on earthenware, East
Liverpool to S. E. territory; rates on cotton bags to Memphis from Atlanta; rates
on fertilizers to Mobile, Ala.; beer rates; rates on special iron articles from
Chattanooga; rates from the West to Camden, S. C.; rates from Evansville and
Cairo, on business from points between Cairo, Evansville, and Chicago.
Classification.—Classification of paper twine; beer packages, empty returned;
old machinery returned for repairs; steel car springs; cotton softener; iron safes
or vaults weighing over 12,000 lbs.; toys, etc.; portable powder magazines;
coffee extract; empty lard tierces returned; bolts and nuts in barrels; box and
barrel material; glass oil bottles in tin jackets; cast-iron radiators; malleable iron
castings; dried beef; sausage; straw paper; burlaps; tobacco stems; hinges; straw
braids; lawn hose reels; excelsior; car-load rates.
Subjects not on the Regular List.—Demurrage rules; adjustment of rates as
per instructions from the Executive Board; rates from Cincinnati to Columbus,
Eufaula, Opelika, etc.; classification of iron tanks; classification of whiting; rates
to Eufaula, Ala., from East; rates to Milledgeville, Ga.; classification of cast-iron
cane mills; classification of locomotives and tenders.

SAFETY IN RAILROAD TRAVEL
By H. G. PROUT.

The Possibilities of Destruction in the Great Speed of a Locomotive—The Energy of Four
Hundred Tons Moving at Seventy-five Miles an Hour—A Look ahead from a Locomotive
at Night—Passengers Killed and Injured in One Year—Good Discipline the Great Source
of Safety—The Part Played by Mechanical Appliances—Hand-brakes on Old Cars—How
the Air brake Works—The Electric Brake—Improvements yet to be Made—Engine Driver
Brakes—Two Classes of Signals: those which Protect Points of Danger, and those which
Keep an Interval between Trains on the Same Track—The Semaphore—Interlocking
Signals and Switches—Electric Annunciators to Indicate the Movements—The Block
Signal System—Protection for Crossings—Gates and Gongs—How Derailment is
Guarded Against—Safety Bolts—Automatic Couplers—The Vestibule as a Safety
Appliance—Car Heating and Lighting.

n 1829, when Ericsson's little locomotive "Novelty,"
weighing two and a half tons, ran a short distance at the
rate of thirty miles an hour, a writer of the time said that "it
was the most wonderful exhibition of human daring and
human skill that the world had ever seen." To-day trains
weighing four hundred tons thunder by at seventy-five
miles an hour, and we hardly note their passage. We take
their safety as a matter of course, and seldom think of the tremendous
possibilities of destruction stored up in them. But seventy-five miles an
hour is one hundred and ten feet a second, and the energy of four hundred
tons moving at that rate is nearly twice as great as that of a 2,000-pound
shot fired from a 100-ton Armstrong gun. This is the extreme of weight and
speed now reached in passenger service, and, indeed, is very rarely attained,
and then but for short distances; but sixty miles is a common speed, and a
rate of forty or fifty miles is attained daily on almost every railroad in the
country. We cannot tell from the time-tables how fast we travel. The
schedule times do not indicate the delays that must be made up by spurts
between stations. The traveller who is curious to know just how fast he is
going, and likes the stimulus of thinking that he is in a little danger, may
find amusement in taking the time between mile-posts; and when these are

not to be seen, he can often get the speed very accurately by counting the
rails passed in a given time. This may be done by listening attentively at an
open window or door. The regular clicks of the wheels over the rail-joints
can usually soon be singled out from the other noises, and counted. The
number of rail-lengths passed in twenty seconds is almost exactly the
number of miles run in an hour.

Danger Ahead!

But if one wants to get a lively sense of what it means to rush through
space at fifty or sixty miles an hour, he must get on a locomotive. Then only
does he begin to realize what trifles stand between him and destruction. A
few months ago a lady sat an hour in the cab of a locomotive hauling a fast

express train over a mountain road. She saw the narrow bright line of the
rails and the slender points of the switches. She heard the thunder of the
bridges, and saw the track shut in by rocky bluffs, and new perils suddenly
revealed as the engine swept around sharp curves. The experience was to
her magnificent, but the sense of danger was almost appalling. To have
made her experience complete, she should have taken one engine ride in a
dark and rainy night. In a daylight ride on a locomotive, we come to realize
how slender is the rail and how fragile its fastenings, compared with the
ponderous machine which they carry. We see what a trifling movement of a
switch makes the difference between life and death. We learn how short the
look ahead must often be, and how close danger sits on either hand. But it is
only in a night ride that we learn how dependent the engineer must be, after
all, upon the faithful vigilance of others. We lean out of the cab and strain
our eyes in vain to see ahead. The head-light reveals a few yards of
glistening rail, and the ghostly telegraph poles and switch targets. Were a
switch open, a rail taken up, or a pile of ties on the track, we could not
possibly see the danger in time to stop. The friendly twinkle of a signal
lamp, shining faintly, red or white, tells the engineer that the way is blocked
or is clear, and he can only rush along trusting that no one of a dozen men
on whom his life depends has made a mistake.
When one reflects upon the destructive energy which is contained in a
swiftly moving train, and sees its effects in a wreck; when he understands
how many minute mechanical details, and how many minds and hands must
work together in harmony to insure its safe arrival at its destination, he must
marvel at the safety of railroad travel. In the year 1887, the passengers
killed in train accidents in the United States were 207; those injured were
916. The employees killed were 406, and injured 890.[20] These were in
train accidents only, it must be remembered, and do not include persons
killed at crossings, or while trespassing on the track, or employees killed
and injured making up trains. As will be seen later, the casualties in these
two classes are much greater than those from train accidents. The total
passenger movement in 1887 was equal to one passenger travelling
10,570,306,710 miles. That is to say, a passenger might have travelled
51,000,000 miles before being killed, or 12,000,000 miles before being
injured. Or he might travel day and night steadily at the rate of 30 miles an
hour for 194 years before being killed. Mark Twain would doubtless
conclude from this that travelling by rail is much the safest profession that a

man could adopt. It is unquestionably true that it is safer than travelling by
coach or on horseback, and probably it is safer than any other method of
getting over the earth's surface that man has yet contrived, unless it may be
by ocean steamer. If one wants anything safer he must walk.

In considering the means that have
been adopted to make railroad travel
safe, it must be remembered that
there are very few devices in use that
are purely safety appliances. Nearly
everything used on a railroad has an
economic or mechanical value, and if
it promotes safety that is but part of
Stephenson's Steam Driver-brake. Patented 1833. its duty. The great source of safety in
railroad working is good discipline.
Of all the train accidents which have happened in the United States in the
last sixteen years, nearly ten per cent. were due to negligence in operation,
and seventeen per cent. were unexplained. Of these no doubt many were
due to negligence, and many that were attributed to defects of track and
equipment would have been prevented, had men done their duty. The value
of mechanical appliances for safety is perhaps as often overrated as
underrated. Undoubtedly the best, and in the long run the cheapest, practice
will be that which combines in the highest degree both elements—
disciplined intelligence and perfection of mechanical details.
First in importance among the mechanisms which demand attention here
is the brake. From the beginning of railroads the necessity for brakes was
apparent, and in 1833 Robert Stephenson patented a steam driver-brake (the
brake on the driving-wheels). This was but four years after the Rainhill
trials, which settled the question of the use of locomotives on the Liverpool
& Manchester Railroad. This early brake contained the principle of the
driver-brake, operated by steam or air, which has in late years come into
wide use. The apparatus is so simple that the cut representing it hardly
needs explanation. Admission of steam into the cylinder raised the piston,
which through a lever and rod raised the toggle-joint between the brake-

blocks and forced
them against the
treads of the
wheels.
Essentially the
same method of
applying the
retarding force
can now be seen
on most
passenger
engines, and
often, but not so
commonly, on
engines for
freight service. Driver-brake on Modern Locomotive.
For various
reasons Stephenson's driver-brake did not come into use.
Innumerable
devices for car-
brakes have been
invented, but
they divide
themselves into
English Screw-brake, on the Birmingham and Gloucester Road, about 1840.
two groups:
those in which the retarding force is applied to the circumference of the
wheel, and those in which it is applied to the rail. The class of brakes in
which the retarding force is applied to the rail has been little used, although
various contrivances have been devised to transfer a portion of the weight
of the car from the wheels to runners sliding on the rails. There are many
objections to the principle, and it will probably never again be seriously
considered by railroad men. The apparatus is necessarily heavy, the power
required to apply it is great, and its action is slow. When brought into action
it is not as efficient as the brake applied to the tread of the wheels, and the
transfer of the load increases the chance of derailment.

Many different
devices have been
used to apply the
brake-shoes to the
wheels, and various
sources of power. English Foot-brake on the Truck of a Great Western Coach, about 1840.
Hand-power brakes
have been used, worked by levers, or by screws, or by winding a chain on a
staff; or, in still other forms, springs wound up by hand are released and
apply the brakes by their pressure. The momentum of the train has been
employed to wind up chains by the rotation of the axles. This is the
principle of the chain-brake, very much used in England. This same source
of power has been utilized by causing the drawheads, when thrust in as the
cars run together, to wind up the brake-chains. Hydraulic pressure has been
used in cylinders under the cars; and finally air, either under pressure or
acting against a vacuum, has been found to be the most useful of all means
of operating train-brakes. Early forms of hand-brakes are seen in the
illustrations of some old English cars. The coach shows a hand-brake
operated by a screw and system of levers. By turning a crank the guard puts
in operation the system of levers which apply the brake with great force; but
the operation is slow. The common hand-brake of the United States is too
well known to need illustration. With this brake a chain is wound around
the foot of a staff, and the pull of this chain is transmitted by a rod to the
brake-levers. This apparatus is simple, and when a train is manned by a
sufficient number of smart brakemen it is capable of doing good service.
This simple form of hand-brake will probably be used in freight-car service
until it is replaced by air-brakes, and the various forms of chain and
momentum brakes do not appear likely to be much more used in the future
than they have been in the past. Therefore, no further space will be given to
them.
The expression, electric brake, is now often heard, and requires a word of
explanation. There are various forms of so-called electric brakes which are
practicable, and even efficient, working devices. In none of them, however,
does electricity furnish the power by which the brakes are applied; it merely
puts in operation some other power. In one type of electric brake the active
braking force is taken from an axle of each car. A small friction-drum is
made fast to the axle. Another friction-drum hung from the body of the car

swings near the axle. If, when the car is in motion, these drums are brought
in contact, that one which hangs from the car takes motion from the other,
and may be made to wind a chain on its shaft. Winding in this chain pulls
on the brake-levers precisely as if it had been wound on the shaft of the
hand-brake. The sole function of electricity in this form of brake is to bring
the friction-drums together. In a French brake which has been used
experimentally for some years with much success, an electric current,
controlled by the engine-driver, energizes an electro-magnet which forms
part of the swinging-frame in which the loose friction-pulley is carried. This
electro-magnet being vitalized, is attracted toward the axle, thus bringing
the friction-drums in contact. In an American brake lately exhibited on a
long freight train, a smaller electro-magnet is used, but the same end is
accomplished by multiplying the power by the intervention of a lever and
wheel. The other type of so-called electric brake is that in which the motive
power is compressed air, and the function of the electric device is simply to
manipulate the valves under each car, by which the air is let into the brake-
cylinder or allowed to escape, thus putting on or releasing the brakes. All of
these devices have this advantage, that, whatever the length of the train, the
application of the brakes is simultaneous on all the wheels, and stops can be
made from high speed with little shock. Up to two years ago it seemed as if
this advantage might be a controlling one, and compel the introduction of
electric brakes for freight service. Since then the new "quick-acting" form
of the air-brake has been developed, by which the brakes are applied on the
rear of a fifty-car train in two seconds, and there is no longer any necessity
to turn to other devices. It is doubtful, therefore, if the additional
complication of electricity is widely introduced into brake mechanism for
many years, if ever.
It is now universally held that the brake, both for freight and for
passenger service, must be continuous; that is, it must be applied to every
wheel of every car of the train from some one point, and ordinarily that
point must be the engineer's cab. With the valve of an efficient continuous
brake constantly under his left hand, the engine-driver can play with the
heaviest and fastest train. Without that instrument his work is far more
anxious, and much less certain.
The continuous brake which to-day prevails all over the world, is the
automatic air-brake. In the United States much the largest part of the rolling

stock used in passenger service is equipped with the Westinghouse
automatic brake. A few roads peculiarly situated use the Eames vacuum-
brake. That brake is used on the elevated roads of New York, and on the
Brooklyn bridge roads. The Westinghouse brake is also largely used in
England, on the Continent of Europe, in India, Australia, and South
America. In the United States it is being rapidly applied to freight cars also.
This brake, therefore, being the highest development of the automatic air-
brake, and the one most widely used, will be briefly described, as best
representing the most approved type of the most important of all safety
appliances.
The general diagram which is given on pages 196–97 shows all of the
principal parts as applied to a locomotive, a tender, and a passenger car. The
diagram is reduced from one prepared by Mr. M. N. Forney for a new
edition of his "Catechism of the Locomotive." In the plan view are shown
very clearly the hand-wheels, the chains, the rods, and the levers by which
the brake is applied by hand. In passenger service the hand-wheels are
rarely used, but they are retained for convenience in switching cars in the
yard, and for those rare emergencies in which the air-brakes fail. Under the
middle of the car the ordinary pull-rod of the old hand-brake is cut and two
levers are inserted. One lever is connected with the brake-cylinder, and the
other with the piston which slides in that cylinder. When air is admitted to
the cylinder the piston is driven out, and the brakes are applied exactly as
they would be were the chains wound up by turning the hand-wheels.
Compressed air is supplied to the cylinder from the reservoir near it, in
which pressure is maintained at from 70 to 80 pounds per square inch by a
pump placed on one side of the locomotive. The pump fills the main
reservoir on the engine, and also the car-reservoirs, by means of the train-
pipe which extends under all the cars. When the brakes are off there is a full
pressure of air in all of the car-reservoirs and train-pipes. It is a reduction of
the pressure in the train-pipes which causes the brakes to be applied.

Plan and Elevation of Air-brake Apparatus.—Reservoirs and piping in solid black; brake gear shaded.

This fact must be borne in mind, for it is on this principle that the
automatic action of the brakes depends. If a train parts, or if the air leaks out
of the train-pipe, the brakes go on. This automatic principle is a vital one in
most safety appliances, and it is secured in the case of the air-brake by one
of the most ingenious little devices that man ever contrived, that is, the
triple valve, which is placed in the piping system between the brake-
cylinder and the car-reservoir. This triple valve has passages to the brake-
cylinder, to the car-reservoir, to the train-pipe, and to the atmosphere.
Which of these passages are open and which are closed depends upon the
position of a piston inside of the triple valve, and the position of that piston
is determined by the difference in air-pressure on either side of it. Thus,
when the pressure in the train-pipe is greater than that in the car-reservoir,
the triple valve piston is forced over, say to the left, a communication is
opened from the train-pipe to the car-reservoir, and the air pressure in the
latter is restored from the main reservoir on the locomotive. At the same
time a passage is opened from the brake-cylinder to the atmosphere, the
compressed air escapes, the brake-piston is driven back by a spring, and the
brakes are released. If the pressure in the train-pipe is reduced, the triple-
valve piston is driven to the right (we will assume) by the pressure from the
car-reservoir, the passage to the atmosphere is closed, air flows freely from
the car-reservoir to the brake-cylinder, and the brakes are applied.
The function of the engineer's valve is to control these operations.
Naturally the runner's left hand rests on this instrument, which is fixed to
the back head of the boiler. To apply the brakes he turns the handle to such
a position as to allow air to escape from the train-pipe; to release, he turns it

to allow air to pass from the main or locomotive reservoir into the train-
pipe, and thence into the car-reservoir. It is hardly necessary to say that the
operation of the brake, which has been described for one car, is practically
simultaneous throughout the train. The brakes on the driving-wheels of the
engine are also automatically applied at the same time as those of the cars
and the tender.
In the plan on page 197 the several different positions of the handle of the
engineer's valve are indicated, and among them the service-stop and the
emergency-stop positions. The quickness of the stop can be to some degree
controlled by the rapidity with which the air-pressure in the train-pipe is
reduced. To make a stop in the shortest possible time, the runner moves the
throttle lever with his right hand and shuts off steam, and with his left hand
moves the handle of the engineer's valve to the emergency position, then
pulls the sand-rod handle to let sand down to the rails, and finally, if the
engine is not fitted with driver-brakes, he must reverse the engine and again
open the throttle. These movements must be made in order and with
precision; and to make them instantly and without mistake in the face of
sudden danger requires coolness and presence of mind. It sometimes
happens that an engine-runner reverses his engine before shutting off steam,
in which case the cylinder-heads will very likely be blown out and the
engine be instantly disabled. Then, if there are no driver-brakes, the
locomotive is worse than useless, for instead of aiding in making the stop,
its momentum adds to the work to be done by the train-brakes. Again, if the
air-pressure in the brake-cylinders is so high, and the adjustment of the
levers such that an instant application of the full pressure will stop the
rotation of the wheels, and cause them to slide on the rails, the stop will
take longer than if the wheels continued to revolve. The maximum braking
effect is obtained when the pressure on the wheels is as great as it can be
without causing them to slide, and it may happen that a quicker stop can be
made by putting the engineer's valve to the service-stop position than by
trying to make an emergency-stop. The runner must, therefore, be familiar
with the special conditions of his brakes, and must have that kind of mind
which can be depended upon to work clearly and quickly in a moment of
tremendous responsibility. Fortunately, such minds are not very rare. The
world is full of heroes who want only discipline, habit, and opportunity.

The pressure of air in the main reservoir and the train-pipe is maintained
by the air-pump on the locomotive, the speed of which is automatically
regulated by an ingenious governor. It is the throbbing of this vigilant
machine which one hears during short stops at stations. The air-pressure has
been reduced in applying the brakes, and the governor has set the pump at
work.
All of those parts of the air-brake apparatus which are shown in the
diagram (pp. 196–97) can be easily seen on a train standing at a station; but
the curious traveller must be careful not to mistake the gas-tank carried
under some cars for the car-reservoir. The gas-tank is about eight feet long;
the car-reservoir is about thirty-three inches.
Although the air-brake can almost talk, it is still not perfect. There are
several fortunes to be made yet in improving it. For instance, it is desirable,
in descending long and steep grades, that the brake-pressure should be just
sufficient to control the speed of the train, and should be steadily applied;
otherwise the descent will be by a succession of jerks which may become
dangerous. With the automatic the brakes must be occasionally released to
recharge the reservoirs, or when the speed of the train is too much reduced;
and it is difficult to keep a uniform speed. So far, the means devised to
overcome this difficulty and keep a constant and light pressure on the
wheels have been thought too costly or complicated for general use. With
hand-brakes long trains are controlled by the brakes of but a few of the cars
in any one train. It follows that in the descent of grades the braked wheels
must often run for miles with the pressure as great as it can be without
sliding the wheels. The rim of the wheel is rapidly heated by the friction of
the brake-shoe, and the unequal expansion of the heated and the unheated
parts of the wheel causes a fracture. This is why so many broken car-wheels
are found at the foot of grades—of all places the worst for such an accident
to happen. With "straight air," that is, with the pressure from the main
reservoir, or the air-pump, going directly to the brake-cylinder, the engineer
can apply the brakes to all the wheels of his train simultaneously, and with
great delicacy of graduation; and by turning a three-way cock which is
placed in the piping of each car, the air can be used "straight." This is
regularly done on some mountain-roads. At summits the trains are stopped
and the brakes are changed from "automatic" to "straight." This practice is
dangerous, however, and is not approved by the best brake-experts, for if a

hose bursts, or through some other accident the air in the train-pipe escapes,
the brakes are useless. The automatic arrangement by which a reduction of
air-pressure in the train-pipe applies the brakes, as previously explained, is
much preferred, although no entirely satisfactory means has yet been
devised for automatically regulating the air-pressure in the brake-cylinder.
There is not space here to enter into the history of the air-brake. It was
first practically applied to passenger trains in 1868. The first great epoch in
its subsequent development was the invention, by Mr. George
Westinghouse, Jr., of the triple valve. The introduction of the triple valve at
once reduced the time of full application of the brake for a ten-car train
from twenty-five seconds to about eight seconds. This means, at forty miles
an hour, a reduction by more than one thousand feet in the distance in which
a train can be stopped. The next great epoch in the history of the air-brake
was made by the celebrated Burlington brake-trials of 1886 and 1887.
These trials were undertaken by a committee of the Master Car-builders'
Association, to determine whether or not there was any power-brake fit for
freight service. For general freight service the brake must be capable of
arresting a very long train, with cars loosely coupled, running at a fair
average passenger speed, without producing objectionable shocks in the
rear of the train. The two series of trials were carried out in July, 1886, and
May, 1887. The competing brake-companies brought to the trials trains of
fifty cars each, equipped with their devices. Skilled mechanical engineers
from various railroad and private companies assisted both years. These
trials were most exhaustive, and have contributed more to the art of braking
than any that preceded or have followed them. The first year's trials
developed the fact that the air-brakes could not be applied on the rear of a
fifty-car train in less than eighteen seconds, whereas the head of a train
moving twenty miles an hour could be completely stopped in fifteen
seconds. The result was that disastrous collisions between the cars of any
one train were produced in the act of stopping. Men in the rear cars were
thrown down and injured, and much damage was done to the cars. At the
end of nineteen days the brake-companies went home to work another year
over the new problem. In 1887 they reappeared on the same ground, and in
eighteen days proved that no simple air-brakes, as then operated, could
prevent disastrous shocks in a long train; but it was shown that by bringing
in electricity to actuate the air-valves, the application of the brakes could be
made practically simultaneous throughout the train. Mr. Westinghouse,

however, during the summer following, made such modifications in the
triple valve and in the train-pipe that he succeeded in applying the brakes
throughout a fifty-car train in two seconds. That settled the matter. He at
once equipped a train of fifty cars, and in October and November, 1887,
that train made a journey of about three thousand miles, making exhibition
stops at various cities. The journey was a splendid and conclusive
demonstration that the air-brake is now a thoroughly efficient and reliable
contrivance for freight as well as for passenger service. The result has been
a very rapid application of the new quick-acting brake to freight cars. The
performance of this train was to railroad men most impressive. A freight
train of fifty cars is about one-third of a mile long. To see such a train,
running forty miles an hour, smoothly stopped in one-third of its own
length, without shock or fuss, was an object-lesson that no one could fail to
understand or to remember. Some of the stops made by this train will give a
fair notion of the relative power of hand- and air-brakes for quick stops. The
following figures are averages of stops made in six different cities. They
give the distances run in feet from the instant of applying the brakes till the
train was brought to a stand-still:
Feet.
Hand-brakes, 50 cars, 20 miles an hour 794
Air-brakes, 50 cars, 20 miles an hour 166
Air-brakes, 50 cars, 40 miles an hour 581
Air-brakes, 20 cars, 20 miles an hour 99

With twenty cars at twenty miles an hour even shorter stops were made
than those recorded above. In the Burlington trials the hand-brake stops,
with fifty-car trains at forty miles an hour, were made in from two thousand
five hundred to three thousand feet.
The air-brake is somewhat complicated, but the complicated mechanism
is strong, has little movement, and is securely protected from dirt and the
elements. It is therefore little liable to derangement. It is, however,
becoming better understood that brake-gear must be good, and employees
carefully instructed in the care and use of the air-brake to get its best results;
and in recent years two or three elaborate instruction-cars have been fitted
up for the education of the enginemen and trainmen.
Space does not permit more than an allusion to driver-brakes, which are
operated by steam and by air. The forms in constant use are made by the

Eames, the American, the Westinghouse,
and the Beals companies. Nor can much be
said here of the water-brake, used to some
extent on locomotives working heavy
grades. It consists of a simple arrangement
of admitting a little hot water, instead of
steam, to the cylinders. The engine is
reversed and the cylinder-cocks are opened
to the air. The cylinders then act as air-
pumps, and the retarding effect is due to
the back pressure. The use of the water is
to prevent overheating of the parts.

Dwarf Semaphores and Split Switch.
Semaphore Signal with Indicators.
(One arm governs several tracks. The number of the track
which is clear is shown on the indicator disk.)

If it is important to have efficient means
of stopping trains, it is scarcely less
important to have timely information of the
need of stopping them. To give such
information is the function of signals, which,
among safety appliances, must stand next
after brakes. Signals
fall naturally into two
great classes: Those
which protect points
of danger and govern
the movements of
engines in yards, and
those which keep an
interval of space
between two trains
running on one track.

For the protection of
switches, crossings,
junctions, and the
like, signals in immense variety have been used, and, unfortunately, are
still used; but in the last ten or fifteen years the semaphore signal has
become the general standard in the United States, as it long has been in
England. This consists of a board, called the blade or arm, pivoted on the
post, and back of the pivot is a heavy casting which carries a colored glass
lens, either green or red. On the post is hung a lantern. The danger position
is with the blade horizontal. In this position the lens is in front of the lamp,
and the light shows red or green, as the case may be. The safety position is
with the blade hanging about sixty degrees from the horizontal. In this
position the light of the lantern shows white. Red is the universal danger
color, and green the color of caution. Therefore, a semaphore signal at a
point of danger shows by day a blade painted red, with the end of the
blade cut square. At night it shows a red light. At a position some distance
from the point of actual danger, but where it is desirable to warn an
engine-runner that he is likely to find the danger signal against him, a
caution signal is placed. This is a semaphore blade painted green, with the
end notched in a V-shape, or, as it is called, a fish-tail. At night this signal
shows a green light. There is nothing very remarkable about a piece of
board arranged to wag up and down on a pin stuck through a post, but it is
wonderful how much of good brains and good breath have been expended
in getting these boards to wag harmoniously, and in getting railroad
officers to understand that a plain board, having two possible positions, is
a better signal than any more complicated form.

The arrangement of a group of signals and switches in such a way that
their movements are made mutually dependent one upon the other, and so
that it is impossible to make these movements in any but prearranged
sequences, is called, in railroad vernacular, "interlocking," and in this sense
the word will be used here. Interlocking has become a special art. The
objects which it is sought to accomplish by interlocking, and the admirable
way in which those objects are attained, may best be understood from an
actual example. For that purpose we shall take a double-track junction
completely equipped with signals, facing-point locks, and derailing
switches (p. 205).

A general view of an interlocking
frame was given on page 171 of this
volume. Two levers from such a
frame are here shown. The normal
position of the levers is forward, as
lever A. When pulled back, as lever
B, the lever is said to be reversed.
Let it be supposed that a main-
line train is to be passed eastward in
the direction of the arrow B. The
first movement of the signalman in
the signal-tower would naturally be
to lower signals 1 and 2. He
attempts to pull over lever 1, but
cannot move it, and, in spite of any
effort or ingenuity on his part, that
signal remains at danger. The reason
is that lever 2 when normal locks
Section of Saxby & Farmer Interlocking Machine. lever 1 normal. The logic of this will
(Showing two levers and locking mechanism.
A is normal, B is reversed.) be at once apparent. Clearing signal
1 is an indication to the engineer
that the way is clear, and that he may pass the junction at speed. So long as
this signal (which, it must be remembered, is a caution signal) stands at
danger he knows that he may pass it, but must be ready to stop before he
reaches No. 2, the home-signal. Therefore No. 1 must never be lowered till
all is arranged for passing the junction at speed. As the signalman cannot
lower signal 1, he attempts to lower signal 2. Again he finds that he cannot
budge the lever. It is locked by lever No. 3. This lever works a facing-point
lock, which must be described just at this point (p. 206).

Diagram of a Double-track Junction with Interlocked Switches and Signals.
A is the west-bound main line track; B, the east-bound; C and D are the west-bound and east-
bound branch-tracks. Nos. 1, 10, and 12 are distant signals; Nos. 2, 9, and 11, home signals; Nos. 3,
6, and 8, facing-point locks; and Nos. 4, 5, and 7 are switches. The levers which move all of these
parts are placed side by side in a frame in the signal-tower. It will be noticed that No. 7 is a switch
designed merely to derail an engine on track A. A similar switch is provided on track C, and is
worked by the same lever which works junction switch No. 5. In the sketch all levers are supposed to
stand in their "normal" position, all signals are at danger, and the switches are set for the main line.
The switches themselves are not locked in this position of the facing-point lock levers.

The front rod of the switch, that is, the rod which connects the points of
the two moving rails of the switch, is pierced with two holes placed a
distance apart just equal to the throw of the switch. In front of these holes is
a bolt which is worked by a lever in the signal-tower. After the switch is set
the lock-lever is reversed and the bolt enters one of the holes, thus securely
locking the switch in position. There is one other interesting feature of this
facing-point lock. It has happened very often that a switch has been thrown
under a moving train, splitting the train and derailing more or less of it. This
class of accidents is especially likely to happen when train movements are
very frequent, and may be prevented by the use of the "detector-bar." This is
a bar about forty feet long, placed alongside the rail, and carried on
swinging links, like those of a parallel ruler, in such a way that any effort to
move the bar lengthwise of the rail must raise it above the top of the rail.
This bar is moved by the same lever which moves the locking-bolt. So long
as there is a wheel on the rail above the detector-bar it cannot be moved,
therefore the locking-bolt cannot be withdrawn, and the switch cannot be
moved until the train has passed completely off it.

Split Switches with Facing-point Locks and Detector-bars.
(The rod on the right of the track is the mechanical connection to the lever in the signal-tower by
which the locks and detector-bars are moved.)

We left the signalman trying to lower signal No. 2; vainly, because No. 3
lever was still normal and the switch unlocked (Diagram, p. 205). Probably

he would not have begun his
operations in the bungling way that
has been supposed, but would have
first reversed lever 3. That locks the
switch by the facing-point lock, and
locks also switch-lever 4 in the
frame in the signal-tower and
releases lever 2. Then he reverses
lever 2. That locks lever 3 and
releases lever 1. Then he reverses
lever 1, which locks lever 2. Now
the way is made for a train to pass
east on the main line, and the signals
are clear. The last signal could not
Derailing Switch.
have been lowered until the chain of
operations was complete; none of
the levers can now be moved until lever 1 is again put normal and signal 1
made to show danger. There is one point of great danger in this particular
train-movement which has not been mentioned; that is, the crossing of
main-line east-bound track B by the branch-line west-bound track C. It will
be noticed that with the levers normal, derailing switch 5 is open, and it is
impossible for a locomotive to pass beyond it. Lever 5 is interlocked in the
tower with lever 4 in such a way that, before 5 can be reversed to let a train
pass west from C, lever 4 must be reversed to trap any train on B and turn it
down the branch D. It must not be understood that the use of "derailers" is
universal. In fact, they are not recommended by the best signal engineers,
except in special conditions. In the absence of derailer No. 5, signals 11 and
12 would be interlocked with switch 4, so that, so long as that switch stands
open for the main line a clear signal cannot be given to a train coming west
on C. It will be noticed that signal 2 carries two semaphores on one post.
The upper one is for the main line and the lower one for the branch. Both
are operated by one lever, 2, and whether reversing lever 2 lowers the main-
line signal or the branch signal depends on the position of the switch. The
switch is made to pick out its signal by an ingenious but very simple little
arrangement, called a selector, which is placed somewhere in the line of
ground connections.

It would be an interesting study, were there space, to follow the possible
and proper combinations of movements to pass trains over the various
tracks. It will be seen that, by concentrating the levers which move switches
and signals in one place and interlocking them, it is made mechanically
impossible for a signalman to give a signal which would lead to a collision
or a derailment within the region under his control. The only danger at such
points is that an engineer may overrun the signals. This description of the
objects and the capacity of the system of interlocking is no fancy sketch.
The system has been in use for many years, doing just what has been here
described, and more. A recent close estimate gave the number of interlocked
levers now in use in the United States as about eight thousand, and the
number is rapidly increasing. Recent official reports showed that in Great
Britain and Ireland there were thirty-eight thousand cases in which a
passenger line was connected with or crossed by another line, siding, or
cross-over. In eighty-nine per cent. of these cases the levers operating the
switches and protecting signals were interlocked.
The example of interlocking which has been given is one of the simplest;
the principle is capable of almost indefinite expansion, and any one lever
may be made to lock any one or more levers among hundreds in the same
frame. The greatest number of levers assembled in any one signal-tower in
this country is one hundred and sixteen, at the Grand Central Station in
New York. In the London Bridge tower there are two hundred and eighty
levers. This is probably the greatest number in any one tower in the world.
All of these levers may be more or less interlocked. The same principle is
applied to the locking of two levers at a single switch, and to the protection
of drawbridges and highway crossings.
The mechanism by which the interlocking is done is strong and
comparatively simple, but a detailed description of it seems out of place
here. Two levers from a Saxby & Farmer machine are shown on page 204,
with lever A normal and B reversed. The locking mechanism is in front of
the levers, and is actuated not by the levers themselves, but by their catch-
rods. It follows that it is not the actual movement of a signal which prevents
the movement of other signals, or of switches, but it is the intention to move
that signal. This principle of "preliminary locking" is one of great
importance.

Switches and signals are often worked at such distances from the tower
that it is impossible for the operator to know whether or not the movement
contemplated has taken place. The British Board of Trade does not permit
switches to be worked more than 750 feet away. In this country there is no
limit, but probably 800 feet is very rarely exceeded. Signals are worked in
England up to 3,000 or 3,500 feet very commonly, and they are even
worked a mile away, but not satisfactorily. This is with direct mechanical
connection, by rod or wire, from the levers. It is obvious that a break in the
connections between the lever and the switch or signal might take place,
and the lever be pulled over, without having produced the corresponding
movement at the far end. The locking mechanism in the tower would not be
affected by such an accident, and consequently conflicting signals might be
given. Even this contingency is provided against with almost perfect safety.
If a signal connection breaks, the signal is counter-weighted to go to danger.
The worst that can happen is to delay traffic. If a switch connection breaks,
the locking-bolt, in the latest form of facing-point lock, will not enter the
hole in the switch-rod, and consequently warning is given in the tower that
the switch has not moved. Electric annunciators are often placed in the
signal-tower, to show on a board before the operator whether or not the
movements of switches and signals have taken place.
Considerable work must be done in the movement of each lever. The
ground connections must be put down with great care, as nearly straight and
level as may be, well drained, and protected from ice and snow. All of these
difficulties have been overcome in a beautiful pneumatic interlocking
apparatus which has been introduced within the last two or three years. In
this system the motive power is compressed air. Near each switch is a small
cylinder, containing a piston which is attached directly to the switch
movement. Compressed air admitted to one side or the other of this piston
moves the switch one way or the other. But, as it would take some time for
the necessary quantity of air to flow from the signal-tower to a distant
switch, a small reservoir is placed near the switch, and the air from this
reservoir is admitted to one end or the other of the switch cylinder
according to the position of a valve. For transmitting the motion from the
tower to the valve compressed air might be used, but, as air is elastic, a
quicker movement is got by using in the pipes some liquid which does not
readily freeze, and which, being practically non-compressible, transmits an
impulse given at one end almost instantly to the other. The signals are

worked in essentially the same manner as the switches, except that the
pneumatic valves are moved by electricity. The tower apparatus of a
pneumatic system in the yard of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Pittsburg is
shown in the engraving opposite. In the front of the apparatus is seen a rank
of small handles, which can be turned from side to side with as much ease
as the keys of a piano can be depressed. Turning one of these handles
admits compressed air to the end of a pipe containing liquid. Instantly the
pressure is transmitted 500 or 1,000 feet to the valve at the switch to be
moved. The small levers are interlocked perfectly, and in that particular
perform the duties of the ordinary machine. A model of the tracks controlled
is placed before the operator, showing the switches and signals, and when a
movement is made on the ground it is at once repeated back by electricity
and duplicated on the model. This beautiful system is due to the same
genius that gave us the perfected air-brake and the triple valve, and is the
greatest improvement that has been made in interlocking in the last dozen
years.

Interlocking Apparatus for Operating Switches and Signals by Compressed Air, Pittsburg Yards,
Pennsylvania Railroad.
(A model of the track is shown above the levers, on which the movements of the switches and signals
are electrically indicated after they are completed.)

If the reader has grasped the
full significance of interlocking,
he understands that it makes it
impossible to give a signal that
would lead to a collision or to a
derailment at a misplaced switch.
The worst that a stupid, or
drunken, or malicious signalman
could do would be to delay
traffic, if the signals were obeyed.
Here comes in the failing case.
The brake-power may be
insufficient to stop a train after a Torpedo Placer.
danger signal is given. That is a (The torpedo is carried forward by the plunger
and exploded by the depression of the hammer shown
rare occurrence, but may happen. near the rail.)
The engineer may not see the
danger signal because of fog, or he may carelessly run past it. Provision
against a failure to see and to obey a signal may be made by placing on the
track a torpedo, which will explode with a loud report when struck by a
wheel. The use of hand-torpedoes in fogs, and for emergencies in places
unprovided with fixed signals, is very common. These are little disks filled
with a detonating powder, and provided with tin straps that are bent down to
clasp over the top of the rail. A simple and very efficient torpedo machine,
which has been used for some years on the Manhattan Elevated and
elsewhere, is here shown. This machine has a magazine holding five
torpedoes. It is connected to a signal-lever in such a way that, when the
signal is put to danger, one torpedo is placed in a position to be exploded by
the first passing wheel. When the signal returns to the clear position the
torpedo, if unexploded, is withdrawn to the magazine. If the torpedo is
exploded another one takes its place at the next movement of the signal-
lever. One of these machines on the Elevated Road moves about five
thousand times every day. In such a case a torpedo would soon be worn out
if it was not exploded or frequently changed. When this apparatus is in

operation, an unmistakable alarm is at once given to the engineer and to
others if a danger signal is passed. On the Manhattan Elevated lines an
engineman who overruns a danger signal and can show no good reason for
it is suspended for the first offence, and discharged for the second. The
torpedo makes it impossible for him to escape detection.

The second great class
of signals comprises
those which are intended
to keep fixed intervals of
space between trains
running on the same
track. These are block
signals. The block
system is used on a few
of the railroads of the
United States which
have the heaviest and
fastest traffic. Much the
most common practice in
this country, however, is
to run trains by time
intervals, and under the
constant control of the
train despatcher. In
England the block
system is almost
universal. About ninety
per cent. of all the
passenger lines of that
country are worked
under the absolute block Old Signal Tower on the Philadelphia & Reading, at Phœnixville.
system.

When the block system is not used, it is quite common to protect
particularly dangerous points, such as curves and deep cuts, by stationing
watchmen there with flags or with some form of fixed signal. The
watchman can notify an approaching engine-runner that a preceding train
has or has not passed beyond his own range of vision; or can notify him that
it has been gone a certain time. Travellers by the Philadelphia & Reading
must have noticed the queer structures, with revolving vanes on top,
looking like a feeble sort of windmill, which appear in positions to
command a view of cuts, curves, etc. These are examples of the devices for
local protection. The non-automatic block signal develops naturally from
the protection of scattered points. Instead of placing watchmen at points of
especial danger, they are placed at regular intervals of one mile, two miles,
or five miles. Instead of the watchman looking to see that a train has
disappeared from his field of vision before he lets another train pass, he
uses the eyes of the next watchman ahead, who telegraphs back that the
train has passed his station. Suppose A, B, and C to be three block-signal
stations placed at intervals of two miles. When a train passes A, the operator
at that point at once puts a signal to danger behind it. This signal stands at
danger until the train passes B, and the operator puts his signal to danger,
and telegraphs back to A to announce that train No. 1 has passed out of the
block A B, and is protected by the signal at B. Then, and not until then, the
operator clears the signal at A and allows train No. 2 to enter the block.
Meanwhile train No. 1 is proceeding through the block B C, its rear
protected at B; and the same sequence of events happens when it arrives at
C as happened at B. This is the simplest form of block signalling. In the
more elaborate form there are at each block-station three signals—the
distant, the home, and the starting. The signals are often electrically
interlocked, from one station to another, in such a way that it is
mechanically impossible for the operator at A to give a signal for a train to
pass that station until the signal at B has been put to danger behind the
preceding train.

A B C

It is seen that no two trains can be in the same block and on the same
track at the same time. If all run at a uniform speed, they will be kept just

the length of a block apart. If No. 2 is faster than No. 1, it will arrive at B
before No. 1 gets to C, but will have to wait there. The block system,
therefore, while it gives security, does not always facilitate traffic. The
longer the blocks the greater will be the delay to trains; but the shorter the
blocks, the greater the cost of establishment, maintenance, and operation.
Various systems have been contrived to have block signals displayed
automatically by the passage of trains. This, if it can be done reliably, will
do away with the wages of part of the operators, and will also eliminate the
dangers arising from human carelessness. But there are very great
objections to relying solely upon the automatic action of signals, and
automatic block signals are little used except as auxiliary to a system
employing operators also. So used, they are of decided advantage, as they
make sure that a danger signal is set behind every train in spite of the
operator, and that it cannot be again set to the all-clear position till the train
has passed out of the block. All this is accomplished by electricity.
Brakes, interlocking, and the apparatus of signalling have been
considered at length because they are very much the most important of all
the appliances which go to increase the safety of operating railroads. They
act chiefly to prevent collisions, but often prevent or mitigate accidents
from derailments and other causes. Of all train-accidents happening in the
last sixteen years, over one-third have been from collisions, and more than
one-half from derailments.

Crossing Gates worked by Mechanical Connection from the Cabin.

After brakes and signals, the devices next in importance as means of
saving life are those for the protection of highway crossings at the grade of
railroads. In years to come, as wealth increases and as traffic becomes more
crowded, we may suppose there will be few such crossings; but their
abolition must be slow, and meantime the loss of life at them is great. The

most accurate and complete statistics bearing on this matter are those
collected by the Railroad Commissioners of Massachusetts. In 1888, of all
those killed in the operation of the railroads of the State, seven per cent.
were passengers, thirty-three per cent. were employees, and sixty per cent.
were others. The others include trespassers, forty-seven per cent.; and killed
at grade crossings, eleven per cent. More trespassers were killed than any
other class; but the deaths at highway crossings considerably exceeded
those among passengers. The difficulty of preventing this class of accidents
is strikingly shown by the fact that, of all crossing accidents, forty-two per
cent. were due to the victims' disregard of warnings given by closed gates
or flags. It is evident that the efforts of the railroad companies to save
people's lives at crossings are largely nullified by the carelessness of the
public, and the lack of proper laws to punish those who venture upon
railroad tracks when they should keep off them. Still, it remains the duty
and the policy of the railroads to protect street crossings by all practicable
means. The best protection is afforded by gates with watchmen, and of all
forms of gate the most common, because it is the simplest and most
convenient to operate, is the familiar arm-gate. This is usually worked by a
man turning a crank, but it is also worked by compressed air. On this page
is shown a group of gates worked from an elevated cabin by a mechanical
connection. A bell fixed at a crossing, to be rung by an approaching train, is
a very useful auxiliary to gates and to watchmen with flags, and is
considerably used where the traffic does not warrant the expense of
maintaining a watchman. There are several good devices of this sort, either
electric or magneto-electric. One of the latter class has a lever alongside the
rail, which is depressed by each wheel that passes over it. This lever is
geared to a fly-wheel, which is set rapidly revolving and causes an armature
to revolve in the field of a magnet, and thus generates a current and rings a
gong, precisely as is done with the familiar magnetic bell used with the
telephone.

Some Results of a Butting Collision—Baggage and Passenger Cars Telescoped.

Wreck at a Bridge.

About thirteen per cent. of the train-accidents in the United States, in the
last sixteen years, were derailments due to defects of road. These include
not only defective rails, switches, and frogs, but bridge wrecks. There are,
however, few devices used in the track, other than those already mentioned,
that can be called safety appliances. This class of accidents is to be provided
against only by good material, good workmanship, and unceasing care.
Many so-called safety switches and safety frogs are offered to railroad
officers, but those actually in wide use are confined to a very few standard
forms. The split-switch, which is shown in the engravings on pages 206 and
207, has gradually replaced the old stub-switch, as well as most of the
"safety" switches that have been from time to time introduced; although the
stub-switch is still in considerable use in yards where movements are slow,
and in the main tracks of the less progressive roads. It consists of a pair of
moving rails the ends of which are brought opposite to the ends of the
main-line rails, or to those of the turnout, as the case may be. It follows that

but one of these tracks is continuous at any one time, and a train reaching
the switch by the other track must be derailed. The distressing accident
which happened at Rio, Wis., in 1886, where seventeen people lost their
lives, was a derailment of this sort. Since that time the railroad on which the
accident happened has taken out all stub-switches on thousands of miles of
main-line track. The split-switch provides against such derailments, for if
the switch is set for the turnout, and a train approaches it from the main line
in the "trailing" direction, the flanges of the wheels move the switch-rails to
make the track continuous. The terms "facing" and "trailing," as applied to
switches, are almost self-explanatory. If a train approaches toward the
points of the moving rails, the switch is said to be facing. If it runs through
the switch from the rear of the moving rails, the switch is said to be trailing.
This will be made clear by reference to the illustration on page 206. If a
train were coming from the bridge, the first switch reached by it would be a
trailing and the second a facing switch. In the newspaper reports an accident
will very often be assigned to one of two causes, failure of the air-brakes or
spreading of the rails. The chances are that it will be found on investigation
to be due to neither of these causes. Those interested to maintain the credit
of the air-brake or of the track department are not often on the ground when
the reporter gets his information, and the temptation is always great to shift
the responsibility to the shoulders of the absent. Probably the displacement
of the rail will have taken place after the derailment; but rails do sometimes
spread. Loose spikes and rotten ties allow the outer edge of the rail-flange
to sink into the wood, and the rail to roll outward enough to let the wheels
drop. Sound ties are the first safeguard against such accidents. Metal plates
under the rails are useful also; but one of the most efficient means of
preventing displacement of the rails is the interlocking bolt shown above.
These bolts cross in the timber, and slots cut in the two bolts engage with
each other in such a way that when the nuts are screwed down on the rail-
flange it is impossible to pull the bolts out. They can only be moved by
tearing through the wood contained in the angle between them. This bolt is
much used on bridges and trestles, where it is of vital importance that the
rails should be held in place and no part of the floor broken.

New South Norwalk Drawbridge. Rails held by safety bolts.

In 1853 an express train went through an open draw at South Norwalk,
Conn., and forty-six lives were lost. This, one of the most serious railroad
accidents that ever happened, is still remembered as an historical calamity.
The bridge which stands on the same site is shown opposite. In May, 1888,
a west-bound express train, consisting of an engine and seven cars, was
derailed just as it was entering the draw-span. The train ran three hundred
feet on the sleepers before it was stopped. Then it was found that all of the
driving-wheels of the engine had regained the rails, but all the other wheels
were off, except those of two sleeping-cars in the rear. This was a
remarkable escape from a bad accident, and much of the credit of it has

been given to the interlocking bolts with which the rails were fastened.
They are supposed to have prevented the rails being crowded aside, and
thus to have made possible the rerailing of the engine. Besides, they helped
the oak guard-timbers to hold the ties in place. The destruction of a bridge
in an accident frequently begins by the ties bunching in front of the wheels
and allowing the wheels to drop through and strike the floor-beams below.
For this reason guard-timbers, notched down over the ties, should always be
used.

Engines Wrecked during the Great Wabash Strike.

The traveller will have noticed, on all bridges of various roads, two rails
placed inside the track-rails, and curved to meet in a point at either end of
the bridge. These are known as inside guard-rails, and their function is to
keep derailed trucks in line till the train can be stopped. Besides the
bunching of the ties, there is danger in a bridge derailment that a truck may
swing around and strike one of the trusses. Then the bridge is very likely to

be wrecked. A further provision for the protection of bridges is the rerailing
frog invented by the late Charles Latimer, whose name is dear to railroad
men all over America. This consists of a pair of castings combined with
inside guard-rails, designed to raise the derailed wheels and guide them on
to the rails. There is no doubt that it has prevented several wrecks, although
it has never been widely used. The subject of bridges should not be left
without a word of explanation of the stout timber-posts often seen at either
end placed in line with the trusses. These are designed to stop any derailed
vehicle which might otherwise strike against and destroy a truss.

There is one track-fixture that has no duty or value except as it promotes
safety. It helps only one humble class of railroad employees. That device is
the foot-guard. At all places where two rails cross or approach each other, as
at frogs and guard-rails, dangerous boot-jacks are formed by the rail-heads.
The overhang of the heads of the rail makes it easy for one to so fasten his
foot in one of those boot-jacks that it is hard to get it out. If a man finds
himself in this position in front of an approaching train, he sometimes has
the alternative of standing up to be struck by the engine or lying down and
having his foot cut off. Fortunately this class of accidents is comparatively
rare; probably not more than two or three per cent. of all deaths and injuries
to passengers and employees is caused in this way. Nevertheless, the means
of guarding against accidents of this class is so cheap that it should be more
generally adopted than it is. It consists simply in partly filling the space
between the rail-heads by putting in wooden blocks or strips of metal, or
even packing with cinders, gravel, or any sort of ballast. Various wooden
and metal foot-guards have been patented. They are all too simple to require
description.

Of all accidents to employees the most numerous are those which arise in
coupling and uncoupling cars. In Massachusetts, in 1888, the employees
killed and injured were 391; of these casualties 154 occurred in coupling
accidents. The commissioners of other States, especially of Iowa, have for

years published statistics showing nearly
the same ratio. Fortunately accidents of
this class, although numerous, are not
proportionately fatal. Far the greater part
of them result in the loss of part of a hand;
but they are so frequent as to have caused
much discussion, legislation, and
invention. Several States have, one time
and another, passed laws requiring the use
of automatic couplers; and two or three
years ago there were on record in the
United States over four thousand coupler
patents. The laws have been futile because
Link-and-pin Coupler. impracticable; and most of the patents
have been worthless for the same reason. It
was obvious that the business of supplying couplers for the one million
freight cars of the country could not be put into the hands of some one
patentee unless his device was manifestly and pre-eminently superior to all
others. It became important, therefore, to select as a standard some type of
coupler general enough to include the patents of various men, and at the
same time so definite that all couplers made to conform to the standard
could work together interchangeably. Those who read Mr. Voorhees'
story[21] of the wanderings of a freight car will understand that any one
freight car in the United States or Canada should be prepared to run in the
same train with any other car. A few years ago a committee of the Master
Car-builders' Association was appointed to choose and recommend a type
of coupler to be adopted as the standard of the association. After prolonged
and careful study of the subject, the committee recommended the type of
which the Janney is the best known example, and that has now become the
standard of the association. This action does not give a monopoly to the
Janney company, as there are already half a dozen couplers which conform
to the type. This coupler is shown by diagrams in the article by M. N.
Forney, page 142. A perspective view is herewith given. This device
couples automatically, and thus does away with the necessity for the
brakeman going between the cars. It can also be unlocked by the rod shown
extending to the side of the car, and the locking device can be set not to
couple, to facilitate switching and yard work. The mechanical principles of

this coupler are a great and important improvement upon any form of link-
and-pin coupler; and the coupler question has now come to this point: A
type of coupler has been selected by a technical body representing most of
the railroads of the United States. It is general enough to avoid the evils of a
patent monopoly. It promises to be economical in operation, and will
certainly do away with the terrible loss of life and limb which results from
the use of the non-automatic coupler. The railroads are adopting it with
reasonable speed, perhaps, but not as rapidly as simple considerations of
humanity would dictate.
Closely related to the
coupler is the vestibule, which
within the last two years has
become so fashionable. The
vestibule is not merely a
luxury, but has a certain value
as a safety device.[22] The full
measure of this value has not
yet been proved. Occasionally
lives are lost by passengers
falling from or being blown
from the platforms of moving Janney Automatic Coupler applied to a Freight Car.
trains. Such accidents the
vestibule will prevent, and, further, it decreases the oscillation of the cars,
and thus to some degree helps to prevent derailment. It is also some
protection against telescoping. A few months ago a coal train on a double-
track road was derailed, and four cars were thrown across in front of a solid
vestibule train of seven Pullman cars approaching on the other track. The
engine of the vestibuled train was completely wrecked. Even the sheet-iron
jacket was stripped off it. The engineer and fireman were instantly killed,
but not another person on the train was injured. They escaped partly
because the cars were strong, and partly, doubtless, because the vestibules
helped to keep the platforms on the same level and in line, and thus to
prevent crushing of the ends of the cars.

Signals at Night.

The number of passengers burned in wrecks is greatly exaggerated in the
public mind; but that fate is so horrible that it is not wonderful that "the
deadly car-stove" should be the object of persistent and energetic attacks by
the press and in State legislatures. The result has been the development, in
the last three years, of the entirely new business of inventing and trying to
sell systems of heating by steam or hot water from the locomotive, and even
by electricity. In fact, the manufacture of such apparatus has already
become an industry of some importance, several thousand cars being
equipped with it. This whole matter of steam-heating is still in a somewhat
crude state, and it does not seem desirable to force it by legislation. It has
been demonstrated that it is the cheapest way of heating trains, and the most
easily regulated; and it has become a good advertisement to attract
passengers. Consequently the whole subject may be safely left in the hands
of the railroad companies, and allowed to develop itself naturally in a
business way. There is not yet any system of continuous heating so

perfected that a railroad company could without hardship be compelled to
adopt it for all its passenger equipment.
Fires in wrecked trains have originated probably quite as often from
kerosene lamps as from the stoves. The danger of fire from this source, and
the desire to give passengers the luxury of sufficient light, have led to
methods of lighting by gas and, more recently by electricity. Lighting by
compressed gas ceased years ago to be an experiment. In Germany it is
almost universal, but in this country it has been brought into use very
slowly. The system is almost absolutely safe, not unreasonably expensive,
and may be made to give satisfactory and even brilliant illumination; but
the ideal light for railroad trains will probably be found in electricity. It is
even safer than gas, and is the most adaptable of any known method of
lighting. Some sleeping-cars that have been recently put in service on the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway are provided with small electric
lamps in the sides of the car, between each two adjoining seats, so that the
occupants can read comfortably either when sitting in their seats or lying in
their berths.

It is not to be supposed that so large a subject as that of safety appliances
can be exhaustively treated within the limits of one article. It has been
thought best, therefore, to give most of the space available to the two or
three devices of greatest and most useful application. There remain various
others that are in daily use, and that have important offices, which have not
even been mentioned. If the reader has gleaned from these very incomplete
notes some clearer notions than he had before of the means by which the
power of the locomotive is guided into safe and useful paths, the writer's
object has been accomplished.

F OOT NOT E S :
[20] The statistics of train accidents used in this article are those collected and
published monthly for many years by the Railroad Gazette. In the nature of

things such statistics cannot be absolutely accurate, but no others are in existence
for the whole country. These are sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes.
[21] See "The Freight-car Service," page 267.
[22] See "Railway Passenger Travel," page 249.

RAILWAY PASSENGER TRAVEL.
By HORACE PORTER.

The Earliest Railway Passenger Advertisement—The First Time-table Published in America—
The Mohawk and Hudson Train—Survival of Stage-coach Terms in English Railway
Nomenclature—Simon Cameron's Rash Prediction—Discomforts of Early Cars—
Introduction of Air-brakes, Patent Buffers and Couplers, the Bell-cord, and Interlocking
Switches—The First Sleeping-cars—Mr. Pullman's Experiments—The "Pioneer"—
Introduction of Parlor and Drawing-room Cars—The Demand for Dining-cars—Ingenious
Devices for Heating Cars—Origin of Vestibule-cars—An Important Safety Appliance—
The Luxuries of a Limited Express—Fast Time in America and England—Sleeping-cars
for Immigrants—The Village of Pullman—The Largest Car-works in the World—Baggage-
checks and Coupon Tickets—Conveniences in a Modern Depot—Statistics in Regard to
Accidents—Proportion of Passengers in Various Classes—Comparison of Rates in the
Leading Countries of the World.

rom the time when Puck was supposed to utter his
boast to put a girdle round about the earth in forty
minutes to the time when Jules Verne's itinerant hero
accomplished the task in twice that number of days,
the restless ingenuity and energy of man have been
unceasingly taxed to increase the speed, comfort, and
safety of passenger travel. The first railway on which
passengers were carried was the "Stockton &
Darlington," of England, the distance being 12 miles. It was opened
September 27, 1825, with a freight train, or, as it is called in England, a
"goods" train, but which also carried a number of excursionists. An engine
which was the result of many years of labor and experiment on the part of
George Stephenson was used on this train. Stephenson mounted it and acted
as driver; his bump of caution was evidently largely developed, for, to guard
against accidents from the recklessness of the speed, he arranged to have a
signalman on horse-back ride in advance of the engine to warn the luckless
trespasser of the fate which awaited him if he should get in the way of a train
moving with such a startling velocity. The next month, October, it was
decided that it would be worth while to attempt the carrying of passengers,
and a daily "coach," modelled after the stage-coach and called the

"Experiment," was put on, Monday, October 10, 1825, which carried six
passengers inside and from fifteen to twenty outside. The engine with its
light load made the trip in about two hours. The fare from Stockton to
Darlington was one shilling, and each passenger was allowed fourteen
pounds of baggage. The limited amount of baggage will appear to the ladies
of the present day as niggardly in the extreme, but they must recollect that
the bandbox was then the popular form of portmanteau for women, the
Saratoga trunk had not been invented, and the muscular baggage-smasher of
modern times had not yet set out upon his career of destruction. The
advertisement which was published in the newspapers of the day is here
given, and is of peculiar interest as announcing the first successful attempt to
carry passengers by rail.

Stockton & Darlington Engine and Car.

The Liverpool & Manchester road was opened in 1829. The first train was
hauled by an improved engine called the "Rocket," which attained a speed of
25 miles an hour, and some records put it as high as 35 miles. This speed
naturally attracted marked attention in the mechanical world, and first
demonstrated the superior advantages of railways for passenger travel. Only
four years before, so eminent a writer upon railways as Wood had said:
"Nothing can do more harm to the adoption of railways than the

promulgation of such nonsense as
that we shall see locomotives
travelling at the rate of 12 miles an
hour."
America was quick to adopt the
railway system which had had its
origin in England. In 1827 a crude
railway was opened between Quincy
and Boston, but it was only for the
purpose of transporting granite for the Bunker Hill Monument. It was not
until August, 1829, that a locomotive engine was used upon an American
railroad suitable for carrying passengers. This road was constructed by the
Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, and the experiment was made near
Honesdale, Pa. The engine was imported from England and was called the
"Stourbridge Lion."
In May, 1830, the first division of the Baltimore & Ohio road was opened.
It extended from Baltimore to Ellicott's Mills, a distance of 15 miles. There
being a scarcity of cars, the regular passenger business did not begin till the
5th of July following, and then only horse-power was employed, which
continued to be used till the road was finished to Frederick, in 1832. The
term Relay House, the name of a well-known station, originated in the fact
that the horses were changed at that place.
The following notice, which appeared in the Baltimore newspapers, was
the first time-table for passenger railway trains published in this country:

RAILROAD NOTICE.

A sufficient number of cars being now provided for the accommodation of passengers, notice
is hereby given that the following arrangements for the arrival and departure of carriages have
been adopted, and will take effect on and after Monday morning next the 5th instant, viz.:
A brigade of cars will leave the depot on Pratt St. at 6 and 10 o'clock A. M., and at 3 to 4
o'clock P. M., and will leave the depot at Ellicott's Mills at 6 and 8½ o'clock A. M., and at 12½
and 6 P. M.
Way passengers will provide themselves with tickets at the office of the Company in
Baltimore, or at the depots at Pratt St. and Ellicott's Mills, or at the Relay House, near Elk
Ridge Landing.
The evening way car for Ellicott's Mills will continue to leave the depot, Pratt St., at 6
o'clock P. M. as usual.

N. B. Positive orders have been issued to the drivers to receive no passengers into any of the
cars without tickets.
P. S. Parties desiring to engage a car for the day can be accommodated after July 5th.

It will be seen that the word train was not used, but instead the schedule
spoke of a "brigade of cars."
The South Carolina Railroad was begun about the same time as the
Baltimore & Ohio, and ran from Charleston to Hamburg, opposite Augusta.
When the first division had been constructed, it was opened November 2,
1830.
Peter Cooper, of New York, had before this constructed a locomotive and
made a trial trip with it on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, on the 28th of
August, 1830, but, not meeting the requirements of the company, it was not
put into service.
A passenger train of the
Mohawk & Hudson Railroad
which was put on in October,
1831, between Albany and
Schenectady, attracted much
attention. It was hauled by an
Mohawk & Hudson Train.
English engine named the
"John Bull," and driven by an
English engineer named John Hampson. This is generally regarded as the
first fully equipped passenger train hauled by a steam-power engine which
ran in regular service in America. During 1832 it carried an average of 387
passengers daily. The accompanying engraving is from a sketch made at the
time.
It was said by an advocate of mechanical evolution that the modern steam
fire-engine was evolved from the ancient leathern fire-bucket; it might be
said with greater truth that the modern railway car has been evolved from
the old-fashioned English stage-coach.
England still retains the railway carriage divided into compartments, that
bear a close resemblance inside and outside to stage-coach bodies with the
middle seat omitted. In fact, the nomenclature of the stage-coach is in large
measure still preserved in England. The engineer is called the driver, the
conductor the guard, the ticket-office is the booking-office, the cars are the

carriages, and a rustic traveller may still be heard occasionally to object to
sitting with his back to the horses. The earlier locomotives, like horses, were
given proper names, such as Lion, North Star, Fiery, and Rocket; the
compartments in the round-houses for sheltering locomotives are termed the
stalls, and the keeper of the round-house is called the hostler. The last two
are the only items of equine classification which the American railway
system has permanently adopted.

English Railway Carriage, Midland Road. First and Third Class and Luggage Compartments.

America, at an early day, departed not only from the nomenclature of the
turnpike, but from the stage-coach architecture, and adopted a long car in
one compartment and containing a middle aisle which admitted of
communication throughout the train. The car was carried on two trucks, or
bogies, and was well adapted to the sharp curvature which prevailed upon
our railways.
The first five years of experience showed marked progress in the practical
operation of railway trains, but even after locomotives had demonstrated
their capabilities and each improved engine had shown an encouraging
increase in velocity, the wildest flights of fancy never pictured the speed
attained in later years.
When the roads forming the line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg,
Pa., were chartered in 1835, and town meetings were held to discuss their
practicability, the Honorable Simon Cameron, while making a speech in

advocacy of the
measure, was so
far carried away
by his enthusiasm
as to make the
rash prediction
that there were
persons within
the sound of his
voice who would
live to see a
passenger take his
breakfast in One of the Earliest Passenger Cars Built in this Country;
Harrisburg and used on the Western Railroad of Massachusetts (now the Boston & Albany).
his supper in
Philadelphia on the same day. A friend of his on the platform said to him
after he had finished: "That's all very well, Simon, to tell to the boys, but
you and I are no such infernal fools as to believe it." They both lived to
travel the distance in a little over two hours.
The people were far
from being unanimous in
their advocacy of the
railway system, and
charters were not
obtained without severe
struggles. The topic was
the universal subject of
discussion in all popular
Bogie Truck. assemblages. Colonel
Blank, a well-known
politician in Pennsylvania, had been loud in his opposition to the new means
of transportation. When one of the first trains was running over the
Harrisburg & Lancaster road, a famous Durham bull belonging to a Mr.
Schultz became seized with the enterprising spirit of Don Quixote, put his
head down and tail up, and made a desperate charge at the on-coming
locomotive, but his steam-breathing opponent proved the better butter of the
two and the bull was ignominiously defeated. At a public banquet held soon

after in that part of the State, the toast-master proposed a toast to "Colonel
Blank and Schultz's bull—both opposed to railroad trains." The joke was
widely circulated and had much to do with completing the discomfiture of
the opposition in the following elections.
Rail and Coach Travel in the White
Mountains.

The railroad was a decided
step in advance, compared with
the stage-coach and canal-boat,
but, when we picture the
surroundings of the traveller
upon railways during the first
ten or fifteen years of their
existence, we find his journey
was not one to be envied. He
was jammed into a narrow seat
with a stiff back, the deck of the
car was low and flat, and
ventilation in winter impossible.
A stove at each end did little

more than generate carbonic oxide. The passenger roasted if he sat at the end
of the car, and froze if he sat in the middle. Tallow candles furnished a "dim
religious light," but the accompanying odor did not savor of cathedral

incense. The dust was suffocating in dry weather; there were no adequate
spark-arresters on the engine, or screens at the windows, and the begrimed
passenger at the end of his journey looked as if he had spent the day in a
blacksmith-shop. Recent experiments in obtaining a spectrum-analysis of the
component parts of a quantity of dust collected in a railway car show that
minute particles of iron form a large proportion, and under the microscope
present the appearance of a collection of tenpenny nails. As iron
administered to the human system through the respiratory organs in the form
of tenpenny nails mixed with other undesirable matter is not especially
recommended by medical practitioners, the sanitary surroundings of the
primitive railway car cannot be commended. There were no double tracks,
and no telegraph to facilitate the safe despatching of trains. The springs of
the car were hard, the jolting intolerable, the windows rattled like those of
the modern omnibus, and conversation was a luxury that could be indulged
in only by those of recognized superiority in lung power. The brakes were
clumsy and of little service.

The ends of the flat-bar rails were cut diagonally, so that when laid down
they would lap and form a smoother joint. Occasionally they became sprung;
the spikes would not hold, and the end of the rail with its sharp point rose
high enough for the wheel to run under it, rip it loose, and send the pointed
end through the floor of the car. This was called a "snake's head," and the
unlucky being sitting over it was likely to be impaled against the roof. So
that the traveller of that day, in addition to his other miseries, was in
momentary apprehension of being spitted like a Christmas turkey.
Baggage-checks and coupon tickets were unknown. Long trips had to be
made over lines composed of a number of short independent railways; and at
the terminus of each the bedevilled passenger had to transfer, purchase
another ticket, personally pick out his baggage, perhaps on an uncovered
platform in a rain-storm, and take his chances of securing a seat in the train
in which he was to continue his weary journey.
After the principal companies had sent agents to Europe to gather all the
information possible regarding the progress made there, they soon began to
aim at perfecting what may justly be called the American system of
railways. The roadbed, or what in England is called the "permanent way,"
was constructed in such a manner as to conform to the requirements of the
new country, and the equipment was adapted to the wants of the people. In

no branch of
industry has the
inventive
genius of the
race been more
skilfully or
more
successfully
employed than
in the effort to
bring railway
travel to its
present state of
perfection.
Every year has
shown progress
in perfecting
the comforts
and safety of
the railway car.
In 1849 the
Hodge hand-
brake was
introduced, and
in 1851 the From an Old Time-table (furnished by the "A B C Pathfinder Railway Guide").

Stevens brake. These enabled
the cars to be controlled in a
manner which added much to
the economy and safety of
handling the trains. In 1869
George Westinghouse patented
his air-brake, by which power
from the engine was
transmitted by compressed air
Old Boston & Worcester Railway Ticket (about 1837). carried through hose and acting
upon the brakes of each car in

the train.[23] It was under the control of the engineer, and its action was so
prompt and its power so effectual that a train could be stopped in an
incredibly short time, and the brakes released in an instant. In 1871 the
vacuum-brake was devised, by means of which the power was applied to the
brakes by exhausting the air.
A difficulty
under which
railways suffered
for many years
was the method of
coupling cars. The
ordinary means Obverse and Reverse of a Ticket Used in 1838, on the New York &
consisted of Harlem Railroad.
coupling-pins
inserted into links attached to the cars. There was a great deal of "slack," the
jerking of the train in consequence was very objectionable, and the distance
between the platforms of the cars made the crossing of them dangerous. In
collisions one platform was likely to rise above that of the adjoining car, and
"telescoping" was not an uncommon occurrence.
The means of warning passengers against standing on the platform were
characteristic of the dangers which threatened, and were often ingenious in
the devices for attracting attention. On a New Jersey road there was painted
on the car-door a picture of a new-made grave, with a formidable tombstone,
on which was an inscription announcing to a terrified public that it was
"Sacred to the memory of the man who had stood on a platform."
The Miller coupler and buffer was patented in 1863, and obviated many of
the discomforts and dangers arising from the old methods of coupling. This
was followed by the Janney coupler[24] and a number of other devices, the
essential principle of all being an automatic arrangement by which the two
knuckles of the coupler when thrust together become securely locked, and a
system of springs which keep the buffers in close contact and prevent
jerking and jarring when the train is in motion.
The introduction of the bell-cord running through the train and enabling
conductors to communicate promptly by means of it with the engineer, and
signal him in case of danger, constitutes another source of safety, but is still

a wonder to Europeans, who cannot understand why passengers do not
tamper with it, and how they can resist the temptation to give false signals
by means of it. The only answer is that our people are educated up to it, and
being accustomed to govern themselves, they do not require any restraint to
make them respect so useful a device. Aside from the inconveniences which
used to arise occasionally from a rustic mistaking the bell-cord for a clothes-
rack, and hanging his overcoat over it, or from an old gentleman grabbing
hold of it to help him climb into an upper berth in a sleeping-car, it has been
singularly exempt from efforts to pervert it to unintended uses.
The application of the magnetic telegraph to railways wrought the first
great revolution in despatching trains, and introduced an element of
promptness and safety in their operation of which the most sanguine of
railroad advocates had never dreamed. The application of electricity was
gradually availed of in many ingenious signal devices for both day and night
service, to direct the locomotive engineer in running his train, and interpose
precautions against accidents. Fusees have also been called into requisition,
which burn with a bright flame a given length of time; and when a train is
behind time and followed by another, by igniting one of these lights, and
leaving it on the track, the train following can tell by noting the time of
burning about how near it is the preceding train. Torpedoes left upon the
track, which explode when passed over by the wheels of a following train
and warn it of its proximity to a train ahead, are also used.
In the early days more accidents arose from switches than from any other
cause; but improvement in their construction has progressed until it would
seem that the dangers have been effectually overcome. The split-rail switch
prevents a train from being thrown off the track in case the switch is left
open, and the result is that in such an event the train is only turned on
another track. The Wharton switch, which leaves the main line unbroken,
marks another step in the march of improvement. Among other devices is a
complete interlocking-switch system, by means of which one man standing
in a switch-tower, overlooking a large yard with numerous tracks, over
which trains arrive and depart every few minutes, can, by moving a system
of levers, open any required track and by the same motion block all the
others, and prevent the possibility of collisions or other accidents resulting
from trains entering upon the wrong track.[25]

The steam-boats on our large rivers had been making great progress in the
comforts afforded to passengers. They were providing berths to sleep in,
serving meals in spacious cabins, and giving musical entertainments and
dancing parties on board. The railroads soon began to learn a lesson from
them in adding to the comforts of the travelling public.
The first attempt to furnish the railway passenger a place to sleep while on
his journey was made upon the Cumberland Valley Railroad of
Pennsylvania, between Harrisburg and Chambersburg. In the winter season
the east-bound passengers arrived at Chambersburg late at night by stage-
coach, and as they were exhausted by a fatiguing trip over the mountains and
many wished to continue their journey to Harrisburg to catch the morning
train for Philadelphia, it became very desirable to furnish sleeping
accommodations aboard the cars. The officers of this road fitted up a
passenger car with a number of berths, and put it into service as a sleeping-
car in the winter of 1836–37. It was exceedingly crude and primitive in
construction. It was divided by transverse partitions into four sections, and
each contained three berths—a lower, middle, and upper berth. This car was
used until 1848 and then abandoned.
About this time there were also experiments made in fitting up cars with
berths something like those in a steam-boat cabin, but these crude attempts
did not prove attractive to travellers. There were no bedclothes furnished,
and only a coarse mattress and pillow were supplied, and with the poor
ventilation and the rattling and jolting of the car there was not much comfort
afforded, except a means of resting in a position which was somewhat more
endurable than a sitting posture.
Previous to the year 1858 a few of the leading railways had put on
sleeping-cars which made some pretensions to meet a growing want of the
travelling public, but they were still crude, uncomfortable, and
unsatisfactory in their arrangements and appointments.
In the year 1858 George M. Pullman entered a train of the Lake Shore
Railroad at Buffalo, to make a trip to Chicago. It happened that a new
sleeping-car which had been built for the railroad company was attached to
this train and was making its first trip. Mr. Pullman stepped in to take a look
at it, and finally decided to test this new form of luxury by passing the night
in one of its berths. He was tossed about in a manner not very conducive to
the "folding of the hands to sleep," and he turned out before daylight and

took refuge upon a seat in the end of the car. He now began to ponder upon
the subject, and before the journey ended he had conceived the notion that,
in a country of magnificent distances like this, a great boon could be offered
to travellers by the construction of cars easily convertible into comfortable
and convenient day or night coaches, and supplied with such appointments
as would give the occupants practically the same comforts as were afforded
by the steam-boats. He began experiments in this direction soon after his
arrival in Chicago, and in 1859 altered some day-cars on the Chicago &
Alton Railroad, and converted them into sleeping-cars which were a marked
step in advance of similar cars previously constructed. They were successful
in meeting the wants of passengers at that time, but Mr. Pullman did not
consider them in any other light than experiments. One night, after they had
made a few trips on the line between Chicago and St. Louis, a tall, angular-
looking man entered one of the cars while Mr. Pullman was aboard, and
after asking a great many intelligent questions about the inventions, finally
said he thought he would try what the thing was like, and stowed himself
away in an upper berth. This proved to be Abraham Lincoln.

The "Pioneer." First complete Pullman Sleeping-car.

In 1864 Mr. Pullman perfected his plans for a car which was to be a
marked and radical departure from any one ever before attempted, and that
year invested his capital in the construction of what may be called the father
of the Pullman cars. He built it in a shed in the yard of the Chicago & Alton
Railroad at a cost of $18,000, named it the "Pioneer," and designated it by
the letter "A." It did not then occur to anyone that there would ever be
enough sleeping-cars introduced to exhaust the whole twenty-six letters of

the alphabet. The sum expended
upon it was naturally looked upon as
fabulous at a time when such
sleeping-cars as were used could be
built for about $4,500. The
constructor of the "Pioneer" aimed to
produce a car which would prove
acceptable in every respect to the
travelling public. It had improved
trucks and a raised deck, and was
built a foot wider and two and a half
feet higher than any car then in
service. He deemed this necessary for
the purpose of introducing a hinged
upper berth, which, when fastened
up, formed a recess behind it for
stowing the necessary bedding in the
daytime. Before that the mattresses
had been piled in one end of the car,
and had to be dragged through the
aisle when wanted. It was known to
him that the dimensions of the
bridges and station-platforms would not admit of its passing over the line,
but he was singularly confident in the belief that an attractive car,
constructed upon correct principles, would find its way into service against
all obstacles. It so happened that soon after the car was finished, in the
spring of 1865, the body of President Lincoln arrived at Chicago, and the
"Pioneer" was wanted for the funeral train which was to take it to
Springfield. To enable the car to pass over the road, the station-platforms
and other obstructions were reduced in size, and thereafter the line was in a
condition to put the car into service. A few months afterward General Grant
was making a trip West to visit his home in Galena, Ill., and as the railway
companies were anxious to take him from Detroit to his destination in the
car which had now become quite celebrated, the station-platforms along the
line were widened for the purpose, and thus another route was opened to its
passage.

The car was now put into regular service on the Alton road. Its popularity
fully realized the anticipations of its owner, and its size became the standard
for the future Pullman cars as to height and width, though they have since
been increased in length.
The railroad company entered into an agreement to have this car, and a
number of others which were immediately built, operated upon its lines.
They were marvels of beauty, and their construction embraced patents of
such ingenuity and originality that they attracted marked attention in the
railroad world and created a new departure in the method of travel.
In 1867 Mr. Pullman formed the Pullman Car Company and devoted it to
carrying out an idea which he had conceived, of organizing a system by
which passengers could be carried in luxurious cars of uniform pattern,
adequate to the wants of both night and day travel, which would run through
without change between far-distant points and over a number of distinct
lines of railway, in charge of responsible through agents, to whom ladies,
children, and invalids could be safely intrusted. This system was especially
adapted to a country of such geographical extent as America. It supplied an
important want, and the travelling public and the railways were prompt to
avail themselves of its advantages.
Parlor or drawing-room cars were next introduced for day runs, which
added greatly to the luxury of travel, enabling passengers to secure seats in
advance, and enjoy many comforts which were not found in ordinary cars.
Sleeping and parlor cars were soon recognized as an essential part of a
railway's equipment and became known as "palace cars."
The Wagner Car Company was organized in the State of New York, and
was early in the field in furnishing this class of vehicles. It has supplied all
the cars of this kind used upon the Vanderbilt system of railways and a
number of its connecting roads. Several smaller palace-car companies have
also engaged in the business at different times. A few roads have operated
their own cars of this class, but the business is generally regarded as a
specialty, and the railway companies recognize the advantages and
conveniences resulting from the ability of a large car-company to meet the
irregularities of travel, which require a large equipment at one season and a
small one at another, to furnish an additional supply of cars for a sudden
demand, and to perform satisfactorily the business of operating through cars
in lines composed of many different railways.

Pullman Parlor Car.

Next came a demand for cars in which meals could be served. Why, it was
said, should a train stop at a station for meals any more than a steam-boat tie
up to a wharf for the same purpose? The Pullman Company now introduced
the hotel-car, which was practically a sleeping-car with a kitchen and
pantries in one end and portable tables which could be placed between the
seats of each section and upon which meals could be conveniently served.
The first hotel-car was named the "President," and was put into service on

the Great Western Railway of Canada, in 1867, and soon after several
popular lines were equipped with this new addition to the luxuries of travel.

Wagner Parlor Car.

After this came the dining-car, which was still another step beyond the
hotel-car. It was a complete restaurant, having a large kitchen and pantries in
one end, with the main body of the car fitted up as a commodious dining-
room, in which all the passengers in the train could enter and take their
meals comfortably. The first dining-car was named the "Delmonico," and
began running on the Chicago & Alton Railroad in the year 1868.
The comforts and conveniences of travel by rail on the main lines now
seemed to have reached their culmination in America. The heavy T-rails had
replaced the various forms previously used; the improved fastenings, the
reductions in curvature, and the greater care exercised in construction had
made the trip delightfully smooth, while the improvements in rolling-stock

had obviated the jerking, jolting, and oscillation of the cars. The roadbeds
had been properly ditched, drained, and ballasted with broken stone or
gravel, the dust overcome, the sparks arrested, and cleanliness, that attribute
which stands next to godliness, had at last been made possible, even on a
railway train.

Dining-car (Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad.)

The heating of cars was not successfully accomplished till a method was
devised for circulating hot water through pipes running near the floor. The
suffering from that bane of the traveller—cold feet—was then obviated and
many a doctor's bill saved. The loss of human life from the destruction of
trains by fires originating from stoves aroused such a feeling throughout the
country that the legislatures of many States have passed laws within the last
three years prohibiting the use of stoves, and the railway managers have
been devising plans for heating the trains with steam furnished from the
boiler of the locomotive. The inventive genius of the people was at once
brought into requisition, and several ingenious devices are now in use which
successfully accomplish the purpose in solid trains with the locomotive
attached, but the problem of heating a detached car without some form of
furnace connected with it is still unsolved.

But notwithstanding the high standard of excellence which had been
reached in the construction and operation of passenger trains, there was one
want not yet supplied, the importance of which did not become fully
recognized until dining-cars were introduced, and men, women, and children
had to pass across the platforms of several cars in order to reach the one in
which the meals were served. An act which passengers had always been
cautioned against, and forbidden to undertake—the crossing of platforms
while the train is in motion—now became necessary, and was invited by the
railway companies.
It was soon seen that a safe covered passageway between the cars must be
provided, particularly for limited express trains. Crude attempts had been
made in this direction at different times. As early as the years 1852 and 1855
patents were taken out for devices which provided for diaphragms of canvas
to connect adjoining cars and form a passageway between them. These were
applied to cars on the Naugatuck Railroad, in Connecticut, in 1857, but they
were used mainly for purposes of ventilation, to provide for taking in air at
the head of the train, so as to permit the car windows to be kept shut, to
avoid the dust that entered through them when they were open. These
appliances were very imperfect, did not seem to be of any practical
advantage, even for the limited uses for which they were intended, and they
were abandoned after a trial of about four years.
In the year 1886 Mr. Pullman went practically to work to devise a perfect
system for constructing continuous trains, and at the same time to provide
for sufficient flexibility in connecting the passageways to allow for the
motion consequent upon the rounding of curves. His efforts resulted in what
is now known as the "vestibuled" train.

Pullman Vestibuled Cars.

This invention, which was
patented in 1887, succeeded
not only in supplying the
means of constructing a
perfectly enclosed vestibule of
handsome architectural
appearance between the cars,
but it accomplished what is
even still more important, the
introduction of a safety
appliance more valuable than
any yet devised for the
protection of human life in
case of collisions. The elastic
diaphragms which are attached
to the ends of the cars have
steel frames, the faces or End View of a Vestibuled Car.
bearing surfaces of which are
pressed firmly against each other by powerful spiral springs, which create a
friction upon the faces of the frames, hold them firmly in position, prevent
the oscillation of the cars, and furnish a buffer extending from the platform
to the roof which precludes the possibility of one platform "riding" the other
and producing telescoping in case of collision. The first of the vestibuled

trains went into service on the Pennsylvania Railroad in June, 1886, and they
are rapidly being adopted by railway companies. The vestibuled limited
trains contain several sleeping-cars, a dining-car, and a car fitted up with a
smoking saloon, a library with books, desks, and writing materials, a bath-
room, and a barber-shop. With a free circulation of air throughout the train,
the cars opening into each other, the electric light, the many other increased
comforts and conveniences introduced, the steam-heating apparatus avoiding
the necessity of using fires, the great speed, and absence of stops at meal-
stations, this train is the acme of safe and luxurious travel. An ordinary
passenger travels in as princely a style in these cars as any crowned head in
Europe in a royal special train.
The speed of passenger trains has shown steady improvement from year
to year. In the month of June in our Centennial year, 1876, a train ran from
New York to San Francisco, a distance of 3,317 miles, in 83 hours and 27
minutes actual time, thus averaging about 40 miles an hour, but during the
trip it crossed four mountain-summits, one of them over 8,000 feet high.
This train ran from Jersey City to Pittsburg over the Pennsylvania Railroad,
a distance of 444 miles, without making a stop. In 1882 locomotives were
introduced which made a speed of 70 miles per hour.

Pullman Sleeper on a Vestibuled Train.

In July, 1885, an engine with a train of three cars made a trip over the
West Shore road which is the most extraordinary one on record. It started
from East Buffalo, N. Y., at 10.04 A.M., and reached Weehawken, N. J., at
7.27 P.M. Deducting the time consumed in stops, the actual running time was
7 hours and 23 minutes, or an average of 56 miles per hour. Between
Churchville and Genesee Junction this train attained the unparalleled speed

of 87 miles per hour, and at several other parts of the line a speed of from 70
to 80 miles an hour. The superior physical characteristics of this road were
particularly favorable for the attainment of the speed mentioned.
The trains referred to were special or experimental trains, and while
American railways have shown their ability to record the highest speed yet
known, they do not run their trains in regular service as fast as those on the
English railways. The meteor-like names given to our fast trains are
somewhat misleading. When one reads of such trains as the "Lightning," the
"Cannonball," the "Thunderbolt," and the "G—whiz-z," the suggestiveness
of the titles is enough to make one's head swim, but, after all, the names are
not as significant of speed as the British "Flying Scotchman" and the "Wild
Irishman;" for the former do not attain an average rate of 40 miles an hour,
while the latter exceed 45 miles. A few American trains, however, those
between Jersey City and Philadelphia, for instance, make an average speed
of over 50 miles per hour.

The
transportation of
immigrants has
recently received
increased facilities
for its
accommodation
upon the principal
through lines.
Until late years
economically
constructed day-
cars were alone
used, but in these
the immigrants
suffered great
Immigrant Sleeping-car (Canadian Pacific Railway.)
discomfort in long
journeys. An

immigrant sleeper is now used, which is constructed with sections on each
side of the aisle, each section containing two double berths. The berths are
made with slats of hard wood running longitudinally; there is no upholstery
in the car, and no bedding supplied, and after the car is vacated the hose can
be turned in upon it, and all the wood-work thoroughly cleansed. The
immigrants usually carry with them enough blankets and wraps to make
them tolerably comfortable in their berths; a cooking stove is provided in
one end of the car, on which the occupants can cook their food, and even the
long transcontinental journeys of the immigrants are now made without
hardship.
View of Pullman, Ill.

The manufacture of railway passenger cars is a
large item of industry in the country. The tendency
had been for many years to confine the building of
ordinary passenger coaches to the shops owned by
the railway companies, and they made extensive
provision for such work; but recently they have given
large orders for that class of equipment to outside
manufacturers. This has resulted partly from the large

demand for cars, and partly on account of the excellence of the work
supplied by some of the manufacturing companies. In 1880 the Pullman
Company erected the most extensive car-works in the world at Pullman,
fourteen miles south of Chicago; and, besides its extensive output of
Pullman cars and freight equipment, it has built for railway companies large

numbers of passenger coaches. The employees now number about 5,000,
and an idea of the capacity and resources of the shops may be obtained from
the fact that one hundred freight cars, of the kind known as flat cars, have
been built in eight hours. The business of car-building has therefore given
rise to the first model manufacturing town in America, and it is an industry
evidently destined to increase as rapidly as any in the country.

The transportation of baggage has always been a most important item to
the traveller, and the amount carried seems to increase in proportion to the
advance in civilization. The original allowance of fourteen pounds is found
to be increased to four hundred when ladies start for fashionable summer-
resorts.
America has been much more liberal than other countries to the traveller
in this particular, as in all others. Here few of the roads charge for excess of
baggage unless the amount be so large that patience with regard to it ceases
to be a virtue.
The earlier method, of allowing each passenger to pick out his own
baggage at his point of destination and carry it off, resulted in a lack of
accountability which led to much confusion, frequent losses, and heavy
claims upon the companies in consequence. Necessity, as usual, gave birth to
invention, and the difficulty was at last solved by the introduction of the
system known as "checking." A metal disk bearing a number and designating
on its face the destination of the baggage was attached to each article and a
duplicate given to the owner, which answered as a receipt, and upon the
presentation and surrender of which the baggage could be claimed. Railways
soon united in arranging for through checks which, when attached to
baggage, would insure its being sent safely to distant points over lines
composed of many connecting roads. The check system led to the
introduction of another marked convenience in the handling of baggage—
the baggage express or transfer company. One of its agents will now check
trunks at the passenger's own house and haul them to the train. Another
agent will take up the checks aboard the train as it is nearing its destination,
and see that the baggage is delivered at any given address.
The cases in which pieces go astray are astonishingly rare, and some
roads found the claims for lost articles reduced by five thousand dollars the
first year after adopting the check system, not to mention the amount saved

in the reduced force of employees engaged in assorting and handling the
baggage. Its workings are so perfect and its conveniences so great that an
American cannot easily understand why it is not adopted in all countries; but
he is forced to recognize the fact that it seems destined to be confined to his
own land. The London railway managers, for instance, give many reasons
for turning their faces against its adoption. They say that there are few losses
arising from passengers taking baggage that does not belong to them; that
most of the passengers take a cab at the end of their railway journey to reach
their homes, and it costs but little more to carry their trunk with them; that in
this way it gets home as soon as they, while the transfer company, or
baggage express, would not deliver it for an hour or two later; that the cab
system is a great convenience, and any change which would diminish its
patronage would gradually reduce the number of cabs, and these "gondolas
of London" would have to increase their charges or go out of business. It is
very easy to find a stick when one wants to hit a dog, and the European
railway officials seem never to be at a loss for reasons in rejecting the check
system.
Coupon tickets covering trips over several different railways have saved
the traveller all the annoyance once experienced in purchasing separate
tickets from the several companies representing the roads over which he had
to pass. Their introduction necessitated an agreement among the principal
railways of the country and the adoption of an extensive system of
accountability for the purpose of making settlements of the amounts
represented by the coupons.

In a Baggage-room.

Like every other novelty the coupon ticket, when first introduced, did not
hit the mark when aimed at the understanding of certain travellers. A United
States Senator-elect had come on by sea from the Pacific Coast who had
never seen a railroad till he reached the Atlantic seaboard. With a curiosity to

test the workings of the new means of transportation, of which he had heard
so much, he bought a coupon ticket and set out for a railway journey. He
entered a car, took a seat next to the door, and was just beginning to get the
"hang of the school-house" when the conductor, who was then not
uniformed, came in, cried "Tickets!" and reached out his hand toward the
Senator. "What do you want of me?" said the latter. "I want your ticket,"
answered the conductor. Now it occurred to the Senator that this might be a
very neat job on the part of an Eastern ticket-sharp, but it was just a little too
thin to fool a Pacific Coaster, and he said: "Don't you think I've got sense
enough to know that if I parted with my ticket right at the start I wouldn't
have anything to show for my money during the rest of the way? No, sir, I'm
going to hold on to this till I get to the end of the trip."
"Oh!" said the conductor, whose impatience was now rising to fever heat,
"I don't want to take up your ticket, I only want to look at it."

Railway Station at York, England, built on a curve.

The Senator thought, after some reflection, that he would risk letting the
man have a peep at it, anyhow, and held it up before him, keeping it,
however, at a safe distance. The conductor, with the customary abruptness,

jerked it out of his hand, tore off the first coupon, and was about to return
the ticket, when the Pacific Coaster sprang up, threw himself upon his
muscle, and delivered a well-directed blow of his fist upon the conductor's
right eye, which landed him sprawling on one of the opposite seats. The
other passengers were at once on their feet, and rushed up to know the cause
of the disturbance. The Senator, still standing with his arms in a pugnacious
attitude, said:
"Maybe I've never ridden on a railroad before, but I'm not going to let any
sharper get away with me like that."

Outside the Grand Central Station, New York.

"What's he done?" cried the passengers.
"Why," said the Senator, "I paid seventeen dollars and a half for a ticket to
take me through to Cincinnati, and before we're five miles out that fellow
slips up and says he wants to see it, and when I get it out, he grabs hold of it

and goes to tearing it up right before my eyes." Ample explanations were
soon made, and the new passenger was duly initiated into the mysteries of
the coupon system.
The uniforming of railway employees was a movement of no little
importance. It designated the various positions held by them, added much to
the neatness of their appearance, enabled passengers to recognize them at a
glance, and made them so conspicuous that it impressed them with a greater
sense of responsibility and aided much in effecting a more courteous
demeanor to passengers.

Boston Passenger Station, Providence Division, Old Colony
Railroad.

Many conveniences have been introduced which
greatly assist the passenger when travelling upon
unfamiliar roads. Conspicuous clock-faces stand in
the stations with their hands set to
the hour at which the next train is to
start, sign-boards are displayed with
horizontal slats on which the
stations are named at which
departing way-trains stop,
and employees are stationed
to call out
necessary
information and
direct passengers
to the proper
entrances, exits,
and trains. A
"bureau of
information" is
now to be seen in
large passenger-stations, in which an official sits and with a Job-like
patience repeats to the curiously inclined passengers the whole railway

catechism, and successfully answers conundrums that would stump an
Oriental pundit.
The energetic passenger-agent spares no pains to thrust information
directly under the nose of the public. He uses every means known to Yankee
ingenuity to advertise his regular trains and his excursion business, including
large newspaper head-lines, corner-posters, curb-stone dodgers, and placards
on the breast and back of the itinerant human sandwich who perambulates
the streets.

Railway accidents have always been a great source of anxiety to the
managers, and the shocks received by the public when great loss of life
occurs from such causes deepen the interest which the general community
feels in the means taken to avoid these distressing occurrences.
American railway officials have made encouraging progress in reducing
the number and the severity of accidents, and while the record is not so good
on many of our cheaply constructed roads, our first-class roads now show by
their statistics that they compare favorably in this respect with the European
companies.
The statistics regarding accidents[26] are necessarily unreliable, as railway
companies are not eager to publish their calamities from the house-tops, and
only in those States in which prompt reports are required to be made by law
are the figures given at all accurately. Even in these instances the yearly
reports lead to wrong conclusions, for the State Railroad Commissioners
become more exacting each year as to the thoroughness of the reports called
for, and the results sometimes show an increase compared with previous
years, whereas there may have been an actual decrease.
In 1880, the last census year, an effort was made to collect statistics of this
kind covering all the railways in the United States, with the following result:

Through Through their
To whom causes beyond own Aggregate. Total
happened. their control. carelessness. accidents.
Killed. Injured. Killed. Injured. Killed. Injured.
Passengers 61 331 82 213 143 544 687
Employees 261 1,004 663 2,613 924 3,617 4,541
All others 43 103 1,429 1,348 1,472 1,451 2,923