The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1871-01-05
Iron VS.. Wooden Railway Cars.

| Some day, wehope not many years hence, pas
senger cars Of iron will be the rule rather than
exception: and managers will find that this
class of rolling stock combines more elements
of safety and eventual economy than anything
that is now in use The extra weight of iron
has been the principal reason why our railway
managers have looked with so little favor upon
the different devices for using that metal for
cars; but this reason is growing of less impor-
tance year by year as the weight of wooden cars
is increased. At. present, many of the eight
wheel passenger cars weigh eighteen or twenty
tons each, and the new styles of cars demanded
by modern luxurious taste, such as sleeping,
palace and compartment cars, weigh fully one
half as much more, and it is within few days
we have read description of one of these just
finished for S Western road that weighed thirty
two TONS Most certainly it looks as though
railway managers are getting to pay much less
regard to the question of weight OF. rolling
stock than they used to do, and will now look
with much more favor upon the efforts OF in
vent6rs to produce passenger car that COM
bines great comparative safety to passengers,
and stability in its best sense. With the i'm
proved character of the permanent way and su-
perstructure, and the improved devices for re-
lieyiDg the movements of rolling stock from
the effects of jars and conclusions incident to
rapid locomotion, a greater weight upon each
wheel is rendered practicable, that is, without
perceptibly increasing the cost of hauling, or
shortening the life of the rolling stock or the
rail. Modern practice and experience show
this to be the fact, and if managers continue to
err in this direction let us hope that they will
take the best means for utilizing the extra
weight so as to give the passenger reasonable
assurance of safety from the dire effects of COL
lsions where each broken piece of wood be-
comes an instrument of suffering and death,
and in case of fire where the wood, oil, paint
and yarnish, become funeral pile for the un-
wary. We believe in iron passenger cars be-
cause they can be made to last twice or thrice
as long as the wooden cars do. While we have
assumed that iron cars will weigh more than
wooden ones, we by no means grant the fact.
Because the first one or two iron cars, rough
and uncouth in design, contained an undue
amount of material and therefore of weight, it
by no means follows that improvement can not
be made upon those designs, and we believe
that if the combined railway managers should
offer liberal sum for the best design for an
iron passenger car, competition among inven-
tors would soon produce device combining
the best elements of strength, safety and econ
omy. We know no reason why Improvement
in this direction is not just as possible as in
any Otler DraDcQ OF IueCudulCili
and when railway managers get over the notion
that an iron railway car must of necessity be
exceptionally heavier because it is made of that
metal, and are willing to look with favorable
eyes upon the effort to make light and strong
iron car, we shall find the battle in favor of
greater safety and eventual economy more than
half gained. Rusty prsjadics; is the greatest
foe Sf all improvements in railway devices, and
has been ever since George Stephenson sue
cessfully combatted it by the success of the To-
comotive. Meanwhile, let not railway mana
gers forget to use and adapt the best safety de-
vices for wooden cars Let them see that these
cars are strongly framed and guarded by all
we'll proved improvements calculated to resist
the effects of the hard service to which they
are exposed. The next thing to having bet
ter article is to make the best use of that which
we have, and wooden passengers cars can be
made comparatively safe, if managers are will
ling TO pay fair price for the skill and labor
necessary to make them so.