Part 1

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

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THE AMERICAN RAILWAY

THE AMERICAN RAILWAY

_ITS CONSTRUCTION, DEVELOPMENT,_ _MANAGEMENT, AND APPLIANCES_

BY

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

FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.

_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

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.

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