National Republican., 1883-05-28
AZ rLEcTR1c RA1LwAY.
The Remarkable Road That Is Co Run
Under the Thames at London.

From The Philadelphia Times.
Tho prospectus of the Charing Cross and
Waterloo Electric Railway company repre-
sents one of those undertakings in which
science verges on the borders of romance.
he Thames tunnel, which used to be one
of the marvels of London, is as nothing COM
pared with the iron subway along which
passengers will be sped by lightning under
the bed of the Thames. Yet the famous
work of Brunei cost f46S,000, whereas the
contract for the electrical tunnel has been let
for GS0,000. Tho Thames tunnel, began
in 1926, was not finished until 1S43,
but the new tunnel, instead Of taking eight
cen years to construct will be completed in
eighteen months OF course the Charing
Cross tunnel will not be so large as the first
tunnel, which consists of two parallel arches
of masonry IA feet broad, 10 feet high, and
1900 feet long; but IL will be much wider
than the gloomy and unpleasant subway at
the tower, which, although 400 yards long, is
only feet in diameter, and was made in less
than n year, at a cost of 100000. The precise
dimensions of the new tunnel are not given
in the prospectus, although it is stated that
plans and specifications have been issued on
which the tender of the contractors has
been based. IL will be two-thirds of
a mile in length-that Is to say, IL will be
within fow yards of the length of the first
Thames tunnel and three times long as the
subway at the tower. There will be double
line of railways, along which the constant
stream of electrically driven cars will pass at
tho ratio of eleven miles an hour, completing
the journey from the Grand hotel to the loop
line station at Waterloo in three and u half
minutes. Each carriage will run separately
like an omnibus, and be driven by an elec-
trical current generated by steam driven
dynamos at Waterloo station, and conveyed
by means of q central rail to a dynamo in the
center of the carriage. The tunnel
will be composed Of iron caissons lined with
white bricks, and lighted, it is TO be hoped,
with incandescent lamps. The steel rails will
be laid upon continuous longitudinal sleepers
Of timber, embedded In the concrete floor so
that there will be no ballast or other moist
substance to produce any smell or feeling Of
dampness or mouldiness. The carriages will
be constructed entirely of steel and wood,
without any cloth or leather lining, similar
to those manufactured for the tramways by
Messrs. Stephenson, of New York. The
wheels will be under the center of the car
riage, with wheelbase of five feet. The
floor of the carriages will only be nine inches
above the rails, the floors of the terminal
platform being on the same level as the floor
of the carriages. The center of the carriage
being occupied by the dynamo machine, each
end will be devoted to passengers, one
compartment being for first and the other for
second class passengers, which Will be DIS
tinguished by different colored lamps. The
advantages of electricity as motor in tun-
nels are too obvious to need explanation. At
one stroke all the sulphurous fumes and the
sitting steam, which render the underground
railway so horrible, are avoided There is no
shrieking no putting and groaning, no dirt,
no damp; everything is clean and dry.
Whether it will be equally profitable is an
other matter.
Much, of course, will depend upon tho con-
veniencc of the starting point of the line, and
at present it is in the awkward position of
having no starting point. 1t is hoped to be
able to sink the shaft by which access will be
had to the platform near the premises of the
National Liberal club. But that at present
| is undecided.