Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-06-01
The Triumph Of Art in Railroad Travel.

Year by year we note the footsteps
of progress in many directions. In
no direction is progress more palpa-
BILE than III the facilities offered the
railroad traveller of the present day.
Looking back but a few years, we
can see the toiling snail-like advance
made day by day by the emigrant's
wagon, as it was slowly but surely
drawn toward shutdown by the pa.
tent OK, or the slowly moving farm
horse; then came the old fashioned
stage coach; following closely we
had the canal packet; then the steam
Ell on the lakes and rivers; then the
locomotive engine and stage like
car. Now! the palatlal coach, and
more than palatial drawing room
and sleeping car. Yet, not satisfied
with these, that marvel of mammoth
western corporations, the Chicago &
Northwestern Railway, as we stat
ed some weeks ago, has developed
hotel cars that will, for elegance,
usefulness and real comfort, eclipse
everything of the kind that has been
hitherto placed in service on any
road. Some of our readers seem to
have some doubts about the merits
of hotel cars, or their superiority ov-
err the so-called dining car, that is
run tor few miles on some roads,.
81 am not so sure about that" said
one of our friends, as he had
finished reading our first article
about these hotel coaches that are
to be run on the Omaha and Cali
fornia line of the Chicago & North
Western Railway, 81 am not so sure
| would care to take my dinner in
any car, no matter how much like
palace, while it was running at the
rate of forty miles an hour" 1t is a
saying, "that the faster you run the
safer" Why, last June it will be re-
membered, that this road hauled
from Chicago to Council Bluffs, in
less than ten hours, the now cele-
brated "Jarrett and Palmer Train"
On that train was a hotel car, not as
large, with less wheels under it,
poorer springs, and in no way as
strong and easy for riding in as
these new cars are to be, and yet,
Mr.. Jarrett said "while on the Chica-
go & Northwestern line, running
at an average rate Of fifty miles an
hour, we took our breakfast as COM
fortably rs we could at Delmonico's,
in New York"
1t is well known that the Chicago
a. Northwestern Railway is built
over the most favorable line as to
grades that could be found between
Chicago and the Missouri River,
with but few curves; its track is
mostly of heavy steel rail, gravel
ballasted, with wide roadway, giving
it permanence and solidity-it is as
smooth as floor; all its cars strong,
with plenty of wheels under them,
and with springs SO adjusted that the
usual ''bouncips" and oscillation is
reduced to a minimum. We OBJ
served last week that in an ordinary
car the side motion and rising and
falling of the car was less than half
an inch, and sometimes scarcely per-
ceptible. We believe it will be
found that person will sit in these
hotel cars and eat or qcrite as com.
fortably as he could at his desk or
table at home. Mis re choose to can
the tripmph ofarti IN railacay tracel.
We leprn that this new line of ho-
tel cars is being pushed to compile
ton as fast as the full toroe Of work
men In the Pullman shops can do it.
We shall be certain to see them in
few weeks Cedar Rapids Repub-
Hcan FEB. 1877.