The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-12-07
eNeLlsH CARS AND LOCOMOTIVES
The Impression They Make Upon az
American Observer.

The Impression They Mako Upon az
American Observer.
lHarper's Aagazlne.J
The first impression which an Ameri
can who is experienced in railroad
travelling in his own country derives
from the exterior aspect of an English
train is unfavorable The cars, as he
must necessarily call them, seem to be
small; they lack, apparently, the weight
and solldity OF the American passen-
ger coach; the compartments are
narrow, the ceilings low, the
ventilation apparently doubtful. They
stand upon two, three or more
pairs OF gaunt high wheels, to
the axles of which their springs are di-
rectly geared. He misses the little in
dependent vehicle the truck, or boyle,
with its four or siX small, compact
solid looking, wide-fanged wheels
which sustain each end Of the car-that
rolling gear which looks so strong, so
adapted to inc quality of rail or curve
so resoureeful against disaster, and so
complete in its equipment.
The cars are smaller there is no
doubt of it. They are narrower and
they are shorter, and to the American
eye they look even shorter than they
really are, because they have no
projecting platforms at the ends,
no oyerhanging roof or hood
but are buckled up close to
each other and their contact CON
trolled by small metal buffers, the
springs of which allow a play of from
eighteen inches to two feet and a half
between car and car. The Miller plat
form, the Janney coupler, the link and
pin-of all the familiar devices of the
United States, there is not one to be
seen The brakes2 None visible. or,
for the matter of that, brakeman
This influential and numerous person
has no existence in England. There is
not even rudimentary type of him
That you do not find him is the Grsl
stern intlmation you receive that l..
English railroading there are no auto
Gratis. The wheels are fitted Wit;
brakes, however, and the trained ev
notes a rubber hose connection betw,.a
the carriages, quite different in its ri.
plication to that known at home, IL
which nevertheless betokens the air
brake.
He takes account of the distinctions
of class, and reflects upon his country's
yelled progress in that regard in the
matter of parlor cars and limited e.
press trains. Then he finds that ther.
are no baggage masters to watt the VIOLA
tile Saratoga to its doom, as his OWL
newspapers would express it. There is
perhaps, aluggage 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 observa-
ton. His final contemplation is perhaps
devoted to the engine, and, If he has
ever given any of his attention to the
American locomotive, it fills him with
a deep concern. He recalls the impos
ing splendor of the latter, it's comfOrta-
BILE and lofty cab of oiled and polished
wood, its gay brass bell, the soul stir
ring whistle, the noble headlight and
the COW destroying pilot, the great Gin
der consuming Smoke-stack (unlesS il
be a hard-coal burner, in which case
that feature shrinks to moderate pro
portions), the powerful drivers and
compact cylinders, the eccentric con
Meeting rods, all its parts radiant with
the glitter of polished steel or bur
nished brass, or decked with appropri-
ate yermilion or emerald green.
In all of these matters the English 10
connective compares with 1t much as a
Iawn-moWer does with New York fire
engine 1t is a humble, awkward, green
or monOchromatic machine. 1t has
There is no cab. The engineer and his
fireman that is to say, the engine
driver and his stoker, as they are styled
in England-pe 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 ''spectacles. "
The smoke-stack 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 the
engine is perched high up above them,
and looks top-heaYy and dangerous.
The whole thing is rigid and std
looking, and to the observer who has
had to do with the external aspects of
locomotives it is unprepossessing and
unloyely. The practical American en-
gineer whistles thoughtfulIy as he sur
veys it, and wonders to himself how
long it would be before he would ditch his
train if he had to run on new western
railroad with such an engine, Where
would he be on sharp curve, or how
would such running gear adapt itself to
an uneyenly balanced track2 The low
center of gravity of the American loco
motive, the weight distributed well
down between the wheels, the play of
the small, broad fanges under the pilot
truck, and the external gearing of the
driving wheels, all give the American
engine an appearance of stability which
impresses not only the layman, but also
the expert.
A Wonderful Pyrotechnic Display.
lLondon letter.
The largest pyrotechnic piece ever set