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The National railroad is also building a line from Monterey to Matamoras, which will probably be completed within a few months. The building of this line will open up a rich territory, which will undoubtedly be settled by persons interested in agriculture and mining. The completion of this branch will connect with Brownsville, Tex., to which city two roads are being built from the North, and when this line is completed it will give Monterey another connection with the United States.

A Call for Stronger Passenger Cars. - The Pullman Company recently made the very significant statement that, during the year ending September 1, 1903, not a single passenger was killed or injured on a Pullman car in the State of New York. They also announced that although in the past three years the company had carried in all parts of the United States a total of 32,639,341 passengers, only six persons were killed (in two disastrous wrecks) and only four persons were seriously injured.

Compare these figures with the official statistics of railroad accidents in any given year, say for the year 1902, when 345 passengers were killed and 6,683 were injured. Of the thirty-two and a half million passengers that were carried in the three years in Pullman cars, only one in every three and a quarter million was killed or injured; but of the 640,000,000 passengers carried during the year 1902 in ordinary cars, over 7,000 passengers, or about one in every 92,000, were killed or injured. In other words, of two passengers who board a train together, he who enters a Pullman car has thirty-six chances of reaching the end of his journey in safety against one chance of his fellow passenger who enters an ordinary day coach.

Those of us who read between the lines in the accounts of railroad disasters, that appear with such shocking frequency in the columns of the morning papers, will not be at all surprised at these figures. The story of the smash-up, if it be a collision, may vary in details; but the general features will have a marked similarity. Thus the mail clerks will be killed outright, and the occupants of the smoker and first day coach, which in all probability will telescope into each other, will divide up the list of casualties pretty evenly between killed and injured; unless, indeed, a broken steam pipe is ac

countable for the parboiling of the whole mass of unfortunates; while incidentally the account will mention that the Pullman cars, after expending their momentum in crushing up the lighter first-class coaches, smokers, baggage cars, etc., came to rest, without any serious injury, and more often than not without even leaving the rails. Should they leave the rails and toll down an embankment, the passengers are pretty sure to escape with the conventional "bad shaking up."

Now, what do these results teach us? Just this-that if we can not make railway travel safe by installing the very best signal systems, and by the careful selection of enginemen and train hands, switchmen and operators; if we must forever go on having railway smashes, we can at least save the limb and the life of the passenger by building cars on the lines of the Pullman and rendering them practically accident-proof.

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The strength of the Pullman car lies in its very massive underframe, the heavy steel angles and plating that are worked into the vestibule ends, and the massive vertical vestibule frames, which prevent the platforms from riding one upon another and shearing their way through the structure of the adjoining car. There is no question that it would be possible greatly to increase the safety of ordinary passenger travel by constructing all railcars on the vestibule principle and building into the platforms that steel framing which is largely answerable for the immunity from destruction in bad railroad wrecks of the present Pullman car. railroad companies will naturally raise the objection that to give to all cars the strength of Pullman construction would so greatly increase the weight of trains that the engines would be unable to cope with the service. But it is a fact that the strength and indestructibility of the Pullman car could be imparted to the ordinary first-class coach without any serious increase in the weight of the latter. The Pullman car is loaded down with a lot of unnecessary weight, both in its structure and in its embellishments, which could be got rid of in the proposed type of car. A considerable saving of weight might be made by building the underframe, the sides below the sills, the platforms and the vestibules entirely of steel. This, indeed, has been done by the Illinois Central Railroad, to which too great credit can not be given for the advance that has been made in its new steel passenger cars.

The steel passenger car is not by any means a novelty. In fact, between thirty and forty years ago, one of this type was constructed in this country and formed the subject of illustration in the columns of the Scientific American, while in Europe not only are the underframes of all cars built of steel, but there is a large number of freight cars of various types of metal construction that have proved their durable qualities by nearly half a century of service. In a railway collision it is always the weakest element that gives way. When telescoping occurs it is the oldest car that is sliced in half by the platform of the adjoining car. With trains built entirely of steel cars, or cars with steel underframes, the injuries of a collision would be confined very largely to bruises and some broken limbs, due to the passengers being hurled violently for ward under their own momentum. But the horrible dismemberment, the wholesale crushing out of life, now due to the telescoping of cars, would be of very rare occurrence. Indeed, with steel cars it is questionable whether telescoping would extend, even in the most severe collisions, much beyond the first eight or ten feet in the car.

In view of the shameful slaughter that has lately been going on upon our railroads in a series of accidents that is nothing short of a national disgrace, it becomes the duty of legislation to stipulate that for all new passenger cars a certain minimum standard strength and excellence of construction shall be specified. By the mandate of the Government we have the automatic coupler and the train brake; the time has now come for the Government to demand for every passenger on the railroad the same immunity from maiming and death as is shown by the Pullman Company, in their statement of only ten persons killed or wounded out of thirty-two and a half million passengers. Scientific American.

Single-Track Working with Few Train Orders. -On a short section of the Norfolk and Western Railway, between two doubletrack sections, trains are run under the telegraph block system, combined with dispatcher's orders, issued to operators, in a way which seems to be nearly as simple as the electric staff, and we are informed that this practice has been in vogue at that place about four years. There are from 20 to 25 trains each way daily. Previous to the double-tracking of long

sections of the road this plan was used at a number of other places. The usual methods of procedure are described by an officer of the road as follows:

There is a section of single track from A eastward to B, the ends of two sections of double track. In order to move trains without orders, we govern their movement as follows: All eastbound trains (eastbound trains having right of track) proceed from A to B when block signal indicates clear.

Westbound trains are advanced from B to A only by "31" orders. These orders are issued to the operator, instead of to conductors and enginemen, and such trains have right of track over all opposing trains when the block signal indicates clear.

Copies of orders received are not to be delivered to trains, except that if an eastbound train or trains arrive at A before a westbound train which has been given right to the single track has cleared the operator at A delivers a copy to the first one of such trains, and operator at B delivers copy of order only to last train given right of track thereby, when the order includes more than one train.

A conductor of a westbound train receiving a copy of such an order at B will deliver it, without stopping train, to operator at A from rear car; and operator at A will not display a clear signal for eastbound trains until the order has been delivered to him as indicated, and he has compared it with order he has, requiring him to hold all eastbound trains, and in addition, has personally observed that all trains mentioned therein have cleared. For example:

"To operator at A and B."

"Operator at B will permit train No. , engine, to go to A."

Under this order the operator at B, provided the block is clear of all trains in the same and the opposite direction, will give the train a signal indicating clear block; and operator at A will display block signal indicating "stop," and in addition will display a red flag, or a red lantern light by night on semaphore signal mast (which can be removed only by hand), and hold all eastbound trains until the train named has cleared.

Work extras in either direction between A and B move only under protection of flag, according to rule. When the block is not occupied by an opposing train or by a passenger train in same direction, operator may give the work train a clearance card reading, "I have no orders for

your train," or "no further orders" (as the case may be), "signal is out for block not clear."

Should the telegraph wires fail, preventing communication between A and B, operators and trainmen are to be governed in accordance with time-table rules Nos. 11 and 13, which are, in effect, move according to train rules and time-table rights, or by special orders that may hold, and without regard to the block, until a telegraph office is reached where block is operated. Under the system here explained all eastbound trains are given a clear signal and moved under absolute block, except when a westbound train is advanced.-Railroad Gazette.

A Mono-Rail System. The Austrian engineer, F. A. Lehmann, has just proposed to the Hungarian government to build a single rail or mono-rail railroad on entirely new principles. On this road he will use passenger cars accommodating fifty persons; the cars will be about seventy-six feet in length, and rest on two turn trucks, with two axles each. Two direct current motors, of fifty horsepower each, will be provided for each axle.

The principal feature of the new system consists of an overhead rail, which is to be used as a guide rail. The wheels of the cars run over one single rail, and in order to hold the cars on the track an overhead rail, supported by iron poles, is connected with the upper part of the car by means of a ball-sliding device. In other words, instead of using the ordinary two rails of a railway, one rail lays on the surface and the other one above the cars. The inventor claims that he can construct such a railroad about 25 per cent. cheaper than the ordinary system; he says that especially the construction of the roadbed will be much cheaper, and a considerable saving in the construction of the cars is said to be obtained by the fact that they need but one set of wheels. He also claims that the electric energy required for driving cars on such a system will be considerably smaller than that for any electric road constructed thus far.

The new system is attracting great attention in the engineering world of the European continent, especially because of the fact that quite a number of mono-rail railroads, on the suspended system, have been prepared for several European cities. -International Railway Journal.

Air Signals for the Bengal-Nagpur Railway.The enormous increase of goods traffic on the Bengal section of the Bengal-Nagpur Railway during the past twelve months, more especially since the opening of the Jherria coal fields to the company, has directed the attention of the management to the necessity of improving the ordinary system of manual signaling in their large yards at Kharagpur, Agra and Santragachi. The number of trains passing through the first named junction daily has been quadrupled since the increase in the coal traffic, and W. T. C. Beckett, the acting agent, anxious to maintain his company's reputation for up-to-dateness, as also to increase the efficiency of the working, addressed the home board in the fall of last year on the subject of introducing some power system of signaling, which had already been tried and proved successful on some great lines in England. The board admitted the justice of the agent's representation, and referred the matter to Sir John Wolfe Barry, the consulting engineer to the company in London, for early report.

The problem did not admit of easy and offhand solution. The difference in the conditions, climatic and industrial, of India and England, had to be taken into consideration, and more than six months were passed in careful consideration and investigation before Sir John Wolfe Barry made a final recommendation. While admitting the great advantage of power over manual systems, the consulting engineer did not think that the installation of the former on the BengalNagpur Railway was at present an absolute necessity; yet he was willing to concede that it might become so in the course of a few years, when the number and speed of fast passenger trains would be greatly increased. It also appealed to him that were a manual system erected in the first instance, the subsequent adoption of a power system hereafter would necessitate the scrapping of nearly the whole of the manual system machinery long before it was worn out. On these considerations, he commended the idea of a power system, pointing out that the greater initial cost would be compensated by efficiency and reduction of staff. this view the board have concurred, and have authorized the agent in Calcutta to apply to the government of India for sanction to equip the yards at Santragachi, Kharagpur and Agra with power systems of signaling.

In

The adoption of the best system for India was a matter of much consequence. Electricity is nowadays the great principle of power, and, as there are systems in operation at home in which it is used, Sir Wolfe Barry inspected the apparatus for operating points and signals, now under trial by the London and Northwestern Railway at Crewe, and the Westinghouse electro-pneumatic system, which is applied to the goods yards at Newcastle on the Northeastern Railway and at Bishopsgate goods yard on the Great Eastern Railway. He rejected both. The mechanism is elaborate and delicate, and with the comparatively rough treatment it would get from the ordinary Indian operator, it would soon get out of order, and possibly collapse. Besides, there is no electric installation at Agra or Santragachi, and its necessity might not arise for some years. Sir Wolfe Barry, therefore, fell back upon the purely pneumatic system which has given such good results at the important station at Salisbury on the London and Southwestern Railway. This system has the great merits of simplicity and strength, and can be maintained and repaired by the ordinary mechanic. Further, the air pressure being lower, there is less liability to loss of pressure from leakage due to the settlement of pipes or other causes. He accordingly recommended the adoption of the pneumatic system, selecting the tender of the British Pneumatic Company for approbation. The board has accepted the proposals, and advised their agent accordingly. The cost of installing the system at Kharagpur, Santragachi and Agra will be £29,250, or only about £5,000 more than the cheapest manual system. Considering the increase of efficiency the slight extra expenditure represents, we do not anticipate any opposition to the scheme on the part of the government of India.

Indian Engineering (India).

Senator and Conductor. - Senator Stewart, while traveling in Nevada, stood on the platform of the coach and was approached by a conductor.

"Senator," began the employe, touching his cap respectfully, "I dislike to remind you of Rule II, which requires passengers to ride inside the coaches."

"I own this road," replied the Senator gruffly. "But even if I didn't own it, am I not a privileged passenger by reason of being a prominent politician?"

"I believe that platforms are for politicians to get in on, but not to stand on," replied the conductor.

The Senator stepped through the door at once.-Railroad Men.

Power Signaling on British Railways.-British railways have lately installed a considerable number of power signaling and interlocking plants. The London and Northwestern Railway has installed all-electric interlocking at Crewe, and the Northeastern Railway has installed the same system at York, and the electro-pneumatic system at Tyne and on the Sunderland and North Shields line at Harton Colliery. At Bolton the Lancashire and Yorkshire road has installed electropneumatic apparatus, and the same system has been installed by the Great Eastern Railway at Bishopsgate street, London. The pneumatic low-pressure system has been installed by the London and Southwestern Railway, while it is announced that the Northeastern Railway has also arranged for an installation of the low-pressure pneumatic signaling, in order to arrive at the relative merits of the three systems of power signaling on the market. The Great Central Railway Company, which is about to equip its Woodhead tunnel with the "Miller" electric signals, has recently placed a contract with the British Pneumatic Signaling Company for the installation of pneumatic signaling in the neighborhood of Manchester. Their installation will extend over a large area and will be the largest power signaling plant in Great Britain, and second only to that now in working at the South Terminal Station at Boston, Mass., which is electro-pneumatic. It is also stated that the Caledonian Railway Company has arranged for the experimental installation of electric signaling with a view to determine the precise system to be adopted in the operation of its enlarged new central station at Glasgow.-Railway and Engineering Review.

A Mule That Travels on Sundays.-The Southern Railway has issued a general order that freight trains must not run on Sunday between 9 a. m. and 5 p. m. The law forbids such running any time on Sunday until sunset, but is largely a dead letter. The law and the Southern Railway's order excepts freight trains carrying perishable products and live stock. That kills

the law and the order. It is said that the Southern Railway has an old, decrepit mule that it employs only to ride up and down the North Carolina Railroad so as to permit running of Sunday freights when desired. The mule has made so many trips that he is said to sway backward and forward when off the cars, to keep time to the motion of the running train. If any person should seek to "put the law" to the railroad for running trains on Sunday, they would point to the old, sway-back mule and say, "See, we are hauling live stock." As the mule is nearly dead with old age and continued travel, the question of whether the mule is really "live stock" might be raised, but as long as he can stand up and be hauled, a jury might say he came within the meaning of "live stock," though not a member of the jury would pay $10 for him. A mule is a very convenient animal, and has been used for offensive and defensive warfare, but it remained for the Southern Railway managers to make the conscience of a mule stand between them and the violation of the law and breaking the Sabbath day.-Raleigh (N. C.) News

and Observer.

Car Heating in France. The Eastern Railway of France has adopted a car-heating system in which a mixture of steam and compressed air is used. The ordinary system of steam heat was not found well adapted to trains of as many as twentyfour short cars, and it was found difficult to produce a circulation through so many units, and the traps would not work. Mr. Lancrenon, the superintendent of motive power of this line, devised a method of mixing compressed air with the steam and distributing it by a system of coil pipes in the compartments. A description of this system is found in the November number of the Revue Generale des Chemins de Fer. It was found that, by admitting a portion of compressed air, the rate of flow of steam was increased sufficiently to keep any water of condensation moving constantly toward the discharge end. It is possible, also, with the mixed air and steam system to heat long trains of cars more rapidly and to make traps operate with greater certainty. The system has worked so successfully that it has been adopted by the Eastern Railway of France for its suburban trains and for the Paris-Bordeaux line of the Orleans Railway.-Railway Age.

American Steel Rails for Turkish Railroads. -Under date of November 14, 1903, Mr. C. M. Dickinson, United States consulgeneral at Constantinople, says:

Mr. J. C. Turk, of the Pennsylvania Steel Company, who has been here since the 7th of September with plans for a new iron bridge across the Golden Horn, was today awarded the contract for 20,000 tons of steel rails, fish plates, and bolts for the Hedjaz Railway, he being the lowest bidder among Belgian, German, and other competitors. These rails will lay about 600 miles of the new railway from Haifa to Mecca. Mr. Turk hopes to secure the contract for the new bridge. The project has been under consideration for nearly two years, and the bridge builders of other countries are competing for the work.-Daily Consular Reports.

First Aid to Injured.-The trainmen of the Chicago and Eastern Illinois road are to be given a course of instruction regarding the best method of giving first aid to the injured in case of railway wrecks. The project was started at the recent annual banquet which the officials of the company tendered the surgeons of the entire system at the Great Northern Hotel, Chicago. The plan is to establish schools in the various division headquarters, and to require the trainmen to attend the lectures and demonstrations. Examinations will be held from time to time, and before many months one car in each Eastern Illinois train, both freight and passenger, will have an emergency box, well stocked with the necessary articles to use in accidents.-Railway World.

From Paris to Peking by Rail.-According to the Boersen Courier, a meeting was recently held in Vienna to arrange for direct service between western Europe and Peking, China. The meeting was attended by representatives of Russian, English, French, Bulgarian, Dutch and German railroads. It was decided to run a train de luxe from London and Paris via Berlin and Warsaw to the Chinese capital, beginning May, 1904. The Russian government will arrange to simplify passport and customs regulations for through passengers to minimize delays and formalities. It is the purpose of those participating in this movement to make it possible for passengers to book in London or Paris to China without

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