The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-10-02
ENGLISH RAILWAY TRAINS.

6N0IiS6 hallway thAtNSs
A Comparison Between the Insiguificant:y
Small English Locomotives and Car,
and the American Limited Express
Train.
| The first impression which an Ameri.
can who is experienced in railroad trav.
cling in his own country derives from
the exterior aspect Of an English train is
unfavorable. The car. as he must
necessarily call them. seem to be small;
they lack. apparently. the weight and
solidity of the American passenger
coach; the compartments are narrow,
the ceilings low, the ventilation appar-
emily doubtful. They stand upon two,
three. or more pairs of gaunt high
wheels. to the axles of which their
springs are directly geared. He misses
the little Independent vehicle, the truck,
or bogie. with Its four or six, small COM
pact. solid BLOCKING. wide Hanged wheels.
which sustans each end of the Ameri-
can car-that rolling gear which looks
strong. SO adapted to inequality of rail
=
and so complete in its equipment. The
cars are smaller-there is no doubt IF it,
They are narrower and they are short
er; and to the American eye they look
even shorter than they really are. be-
cause they have no projecting platform
at the ends, no Overhanging roof or
hood, but are buckled close up to each
other, and their contact controlled by
small metal buffers, the springs of
which allow play Of from eighteen
inches to two feet and a half between
car and car. The Miller platform the
Janney coupler, the link and pin-Of all
the familiar devices of the United States.
Their is not one to be seen. The brakes?
None visible. Nor, for the matter of
that, a brakeman. This influential and
numerous person has no existence in
England. There is not even a rudimen-
tary type of him. That you do not
find him is the first stern intimation you
receive that in English railrOading there
are no autOcrats. The wheels are fitted
with brakes, however. and the trained
eye notes rubber hose connection be-
tween the carriages, quite different in
its application to that known at home,
but which nevertheless betOkens the air.
brake. He takes account IF the dis
tinctions Of class, and reflects upon his
cOuntry's yelled progress i'm that regard
in the matter of parlOr cars and limited
express-trains. Then he finds that
there i, no bagga ge-master to watt the
volatile Saratoga TO its doom, rs his
own newspaper would express it. There
is perhaps luggage van or two, or there
are in the carriages themselves luggage
compartments according TO the way in
which the train is made up, the length
of journey it is to take, or the custom of
the particular line under observation.
His final contemplation is perhaps de-
voted to the engine. and if he has ever
given any of his attention to the Ameri-
can locomotive, it fills him with deep
concern. Herecalls the imposing SPLEEN
dor of the latter, its comfortable and
lofty cab of oiled and polished wood. its
gray brass bell, the sOul-stirring whistle,
the noble headlight and the cow destroy
ing pilot, the great cinder-consVRming
smOke-stack (unless it be hard-cOal
burner, in which case that feature
shrinks to moderate prOpOrtiOns), the
powerful drivers and compact cylinders,
the eccentric connecting rods and COM
pact cylinders, the cOnneciing-rods. and
all its parts radiant with the glitter of
polished steel or FURNISHED brass, or
decked with appropriated vermillion or
emerald green. In all these matters
the English locomotive compares with
it much as lawn-mower does with
New York fire-engine. II is a humble,
awkward green or monochromatic ma
chine. 1t has neither polish or decora-
ton about it. There is no cab. The en-
gineer and his iiyeman-that is to say,
engine driver and his stOker as they are
STYLED in England perform their duties
with only such shelter as is afforded by
a board screen in front of them. pierced
by two round apertures filed with stout
glass. technically known as "specta-
cles." The smoke-s:ack is short and
thick; there is an unsightly green hump
on the back of the boiler; the cylinders
are under the front of the latter instead
of on each side before the drivers; the
wheels are all large. and the body of
tire engine is perched high up above
them and looks top-heavy and danger
Gus. The whole thing is rigid and stiff.
and to the observer who has
had to do with the external aspects of 10.
it is unprrpossessing and I'M
lovely. The practical American engi-
neer whistles thoughtlessly as he sur
veys it, and wonders 10 himself how long
it would be before he would ditch his |
train if he had to run on a new Western
railroad WITH sueh an engine. Where
would he be on a sharp cure, or how |
would such running-gear adapt itself to |
an unevenly bsllasted track? The low |,
center of gravity Of the American loco \
motive. the weight distributed well down 4
between the wheels the play of the /
small broad flanges under the pilot |.
truck, and the external gearing of the 4
all give the American 4
engine an appearance of stability which \
impresses not merely the layman. but \
also the expert.-Harptr's Magazine.
A Slight Mistake.
met gentleman from Guatemala