The New York herald., 1878-12-05
RAPID TRANSIT.
THE METROPOLITAN ELEVATED RAILWAY CARS
TO BE HEATED BY OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES EX-
PERIMENTs-PRoGREss OF THE WORK ON THE

THE METROPOLITAN ELEVATED RAILWAY CARS
TO BE HEATED BY sTEAM-sATIsFAcToRY Ex-
pER1MENTs- PROGRESS OF THE WORK ON THE
EAST SIDE.
The HERALD having intimated desire to test the
preparations made for heating the of the Metro
politan Elevated Railway special train was placed
at the disposal Of HERALD reporter yesterday by the
directors. Several of the officers of the company
the tran which, receiving no passengers and
making no stops. completed the round trp-from Rec
tor Fifty street and backin little half
an hour. The cars heated by the process which
has been adopted by the road and although the day
too to feel the grateful effects of the heat
demonstrated that the system promises complete
and that the will be comfortably warmed
during freezing weather.
SYSTEM HEATING.
The system is follows:-Cast iron pipes, three
and half inches in diameter and half an inch thick
run under the seats, and for the thorough comfort
of the passengers the company have placed iron
plates these pipes between the cross seats in
order to afford protection to the dresses of ladies'
Between the cars the pipes are connected by rubber
hose sufficiently long and flexible to accommodate
itself to the sharp curving of the at Chambers
and Amity streets. The steam is supplied from the
dome of the engine and easily regulated by
passes down under tho floor OF the engine to the
on. and the steam passes through the hose into tn
pipe of the next car At the rear platform tn fcx-
ibe hose which has received the steam throu gh the
pipes on the right passes round to the left and thus
returns the steam to the tank
II is the companys intention in cold weather to
keep the warm all night. in order to prevent
freezing and also that the first starting out In the
morning may be comfortably heated. The tcmpera
ture to be maintained will BE- from 40 to 45 degrees
although II occasion should require It could be
the winter 1t was rs When the trains are over
crowded no heat will be supplied unless extremely
cold weather should render 1t necessary.
PASSENGERS DELIGHTED.
The system appeared to be most thoroughly studied
out and every contingency provided that the
be kept warm from either end, matter how
often the engines are changed. Among the passen
gers great satisfaction has been expressed at the
Corresponding grumbling is heard Ninth avenue
the stoves which have been put up in the of
the New York Elevated Road Mr.. Bishop. acting vice
president sale yesterday that in making the expert
mont of heating the cars by steam on Third avenue
the company had already assumed sufficiently large
risk and IL 1t should turn out successfully then next
winter the OF the Ninth avenue road would also
be heated by steam. The complaints are very EN-.
phatic that the stoves on the Ninth avenue road
roast the people at one end Of the car aud leave
them cold at the other. The cost of the heating
apparatus now provided all the cars of the Metro
politan Elevated Railway is $4,000. In addition the
company have put down rubber mating on the stair
ways Of some of the stations and the others will also
ne tooH Htt'u tHls great hgaifist
accumulation Of snow and ice. Mr.. Bishop promised
that rubber mating would be put down on the stair
ways t. the Third avenue stations. A to the cover
ing of their starways, suggested by the HERALD. he
thought that the steps uried more quickly when cx-
posed TO the sun An experiment would be made at the
Hanover square station. however, within forty or
fifty days TO protect the stairways and also the sides
by an iron covering.
THE EAST SIDE ROADS PROGRESS
The additional section 10 Eighty ninth street. on
Third avenue, will be opened next Monday, or
sooner II possible. The running time will be
tlrty-hve minutes, which is complained Of as
being far too slow. Tho running time to
Harlem has been fixed at forty-fivc minutes which
Is also a disappointment to the patrons of the road
II was generally thought that the running time to
Harlem would not be thirty or. at the utmost.
thrty-hve minutes. Mr. Bishop says that il may be
reduced TO forty minutes after the road is in thorough
running order. BY the 1st OF January the company
hope to have 1s5 ears and 90 engines for the east
side road, and the total equipment will be- 205
and 80 locomotives. This, maximum however. will
not be secured for some months to come.
The progress on the Chatham street branch is gen.
orally complained of being extraordinarily slow and
unsatisfactory for public work of such great impoi
tancc and so urgently needed by the people