The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1882-08-16
on Wheels '"o
Railroad 'Ristocrass Katie
Round

Round
President Stanford, of the Centra.
p.c;Sc Railroad. has ordered a palace cai
he hnilt for his wife, aud finished e1 a55
10 according to her suggestions, COS! ~
900 or $40. 900. Handsome as tnis W"
doubtless be. it will not be the mosl Ga
nens;ve private palace car in the county,.
T. Is said Mr.. William H. VanderpiI
oar Is the most expensive private Vehlo;o
80 lind in the world. Its cost Is salu
to he sac. 600. His car is named 'nt
Vanderbilt, and whereas the exteriols "
Ill othar nr;vate cars are modest IN Goiol
and s;mnfe in ornament, this Is ye'lowl,
and hears on each of its sides three On
na;ntipes in panels. One represents .no
Grand Central Depot, another the gu
tronce tn the Fort avenue sunken I[aoN,
another Niagara Falls, and others nign
Rr,dge and the Suspension Bridge:
longer than a Pullman car. and It's VIII
Joxs are wide and long. One,hali the
interior is a grand saloon. walled I'D ry
h;g Mate glass windows ta~stefully p
and furnished with q table and push
covered arm chairs and lounges; me
other half of the coach is subdlvlded lnlo
similar artments- kitchen aud panty
Together. a Baker heater In a closet W
itself with pipes running from 1t all arouno
the sides of the car, a passage way "
toilet room and a private sitting loUOm'
containing upholstered furniture; OnI
of the end platforms is very VIDE, auu
when the lids over the steps are spuI
down there is room upon 1t Ior se'eiau
arm chairs. in which Mr.. Vanderbilt ana
his guests may sit out OF doors ana geI al
unobstructed view Of the country IHeJ
may be passing through. 80.
Until very recently every private car
had an observation platform, as IL Is Can
ed, but it has been found that It's iooAS
promise more of enjoyment than 1t ylelos.
The rate of speed does not have to be ire
mendrOus to cause a dust-laden curren'
of air and a smoke-cinder weighted upper
current to curve in at the end OF the Cal
and be hurled upon that platform as
though the train were a pfodlglOus sue
ton pump and that was Its mouth. IfeI-
ty nearly all the coveted advantages OF the
observation car are gained IN the later
platform of private cars, by ndO Cna'
reach.tO the floor on either side OF the
back door. o.,
Mr.. Vanderbilt has inherited his faith
er's fondness for fast travelling, and In a
lesser degree, the old Commodore's par
tiality for what is known In railroad par
lance as going special" which Is trave
ling with a special engine, on special
time, and without regard to the trains ano
traffic of the road. Jim Fisk, Jr., was
noted for exercising his ability to travel
| in that royal way. He had an engine
hitched to his special car on the Erie
Railroad on two minutes notice. and pc
fore he stepped into the car 1t was his
custom to say Now, go as fast as you
can" Then, as now. 1t was "a sufbclent
evidence of %carefulness and judgment tor
an engineer to have earned "a place IN the
passengers service, and although Uncle
Green to day wears the gold badge that
Fisk gave him for putting the famous re
lief train through to Chicago in unprece-
denied time when that city had been
swept by fire, one passenger engineer Is
held to rank equally with another.
Less han . month ago Mr.. Vanderbilt
invited a few friends to go with him 10
his palace coach on a tour Of his roads
J by daylight. In distance the journey
was greater thar if Europe had been the
hotel ia some big city every night. and
was w wv $hNA vi IN dAbO NAy
run. The distance is GAO miles, yet, Mr..
Vanderbilt, although he did not leave
New York until nearly 8 O'Clock in the
morning, expected to make it by or be-
fore dark. 1t was after 10 o'clock that
night before be reached there, yet the
run was a remarkable one. The passen-
gers said that, though mile after mile
/ was made at the rate of a mile a minute,
on,3 Aftv nifoo Uara froOynptlv trovalAH
in an hour, they could not realize that
they were going at anything but an ordi-
nary rate Of speed. This they ex-
planned by the fact hat the car is mount
ed on paper wheels of extra size, is
strong, very heavy, and well balanced.
J Much depends on the engineer who, if
he slows a little on curves ond in stop
ping, starting and in altering the rate of
speed moves gradually, may deceive the
passengers with a comfortable, even
motion. If he is clumsy and thoughtless
I they will be all but thrown from their
seats on curves, and rendered half sick
by the tugging and j%olting of sudden
changes in speed. Sea sickness as
the porters of the private coaches call
the illness that rough riding in them
p%rovokes, is q common malady among
women in these excursion parties. In
the long journey Mr.. Vanderbilt's guests
enjoyed the speed told on the muscles,
which were taxed by the constant and
powerful backward pressure that pinned
every man to the back of his seat when
be sat down, and made equilibrium un
certain when he stood up.
President Jewett, of the Erie Rilroad.
) has the richest, most complete and most
, beautiful private car on any Eastern
railroad. The private car OF Henry VIII
lard, of the Oregon Railway is fitted
with electric lights. 1t had been cut
down in height in order to suit the re
quirements of atunnel between Provi-
dsnce and Boston that appears to prac
tically limit to its own height the rail
way at coaches of the continent 1t j,
, about seventy-two feet long, OF a little
t longer than a Pullman palace car.
A BARN DANCE.-In many of the Nor.