Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1879-09-29
9Vlonth's Column.
THE RAILROAD IN THE AIR.

side, where ships come from all parts of
the world close up to the edge of the
town. Now, where the ships are the
merchants want to be ; and so it happens
that very great number of people want
to do business in a very small space.
The land is thickly covered with stores
and offices and manufactures. When
the city was small this was all right,
and folks lived near their stores and
contingencies quite comfortably. But
more and moro people came to live in
New York and the place became very
crowded. The rivers kept them in on
each side, and to get room they made
new streets farther and father to the
north, up the island. Then people said
they must have cars to take them up and
down town from their homes to the |
stores. They laid tracks on the streets
and used horses to move the cars. This
was all very good for few years; but,
more and more people came there to live.
They found the horse-cars too slow and
they began to build tall tenement-houses
and to put dozens of poor families under
one roof Then the people said: "This
will not do, we must have railroads with
good eugines 70 take US far up town
toward the country"
OF course these railroads could not be
laid in the streets, for locomotives can
not run fast through crowds of wagons
and people. And so they at first thought
they might make underground railroads.
like those in London, or they might tear
down low row of houses and make
lane through the town where the tracks
could be laid. Either plan would cost
a great deal of money; so, after many
trials and great deal of talking, they
decided to build high iron platforms
through the broad streets and on top to
place the tracks for railroad.
A locomotive is curious animal. He
likes good level road with no bad hills
to climb. If you try to make him climb
steep hill he may stop short and refuse
to stir wheel. The land to the west
Of Central Park is exceedingly hilly,
and the railroad must be made to please
these iron horses. So it happens that
where the ground is low the iron sup.
ports Of the railroad are very high
Some of the posts that support the
railroad are ffty-seven feet high anC
as they are all hollow until filled
with cement, some curious work coul(
be seen here while the building wa
going On,-men on high platforms pour
ing the stuff into the hollow posts.
This matter of running steam rail
road through city, in such way a
not to intefere with the traffic, was
difficult and puzzling business. In Lon
don, as have said, the city railroad
are placed in tunnels under the street
and houses. In Paris, there is raj
road in an open cutting" or deep ravint
with bridges over it at all the street
that cross it. In many English cite
the railroads run over brick arches {
the level of the hOuse-tops. All of thes
methods answer a good purpose, br
they are very costly. In New York a
entirely different plan has been tried
these elevated railroads laid on ire
bridges through the streets.
These roads work admirably. The,
is a great traffic In the streets whe
they are built. There are horse.ca
and crowds of trucks and wagons goir
up and down all the time. The hors
railroads are decidedly in the way of q
other vehicles, and the cars often eau
blockades that delay the business pc
pie very much. Before the elevat,
railroad was built, the horse.railro;
was serious cause of trouble in stree
already crowded with carts and wagon
But now if we stand on the sidewal
and can look in both directions und
the iron bridges, we see that the vario
vehicles and horse.cars pass along pI
cisely as if there were no railroad thel
While we are examining these thing
two trains pass, one on each side of t
street,-in fact, one of them runs diret
ly over our heads. We might tell o
friends when we reach home that
were run over by railroad train al
that it didn't hurt bit.
We walk on downtown and come
narrower street, and here the railro
tracks come close together, and thou
the street is shaded by the iron brid
overhead, it is clear and unobstructt
Here is station with steps going up
the house overhead, and we hear ira
stop overhead and hear the conduct
call out the name of the street and op
and close the gates for the passenge
There is no loud ringing of bells
blowing of whistles, not even puff fir
the smoke.stack, or q rush of steam fir
the vacuum-brake. The bridge resour
somewhat, as you can easily lmagi
when such great mass of iron is shall
by the rapid motion of the heavy 10
motives and trains but the noise is