Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-10-25
CURIOUS RAILWAYS.
TRACKS LAID ON TREE TOPS, OVER
ICE AND UNDERGROUND.


Through Forest With a Crosscut
saw-on IA Single RaiI-A Successful
Sailing Car.
In small book entitled Wonders and
Curiosities of the Railway" the author, Mr..
W s Kennedy, touches on the anomalous
and entertaining features Of his subject IN
chapters bearing such suggestive titles as
The Lightning HarneSSed,' The Loco
motive in Slippers" The LuNuries of
Travel. l." and a Handful of CuriostieS."
Ii appears that some time ago a locomotive
on sled runners WAS constructed IN Scotland,
and employed for drawing passengers and
freight over the ice between st. Petersburg
and CronStadt. The two driving wheels in
the rear were studded with sharp spikes,
whereas the front part Of the engine rested ON
IA slsl which was swiveled and turned to the
right or left 10y wheels working in connection
with All endless screw and a segment rack
From this locomotive, which Is said TO have
run eighteen miles an hour in any direction,
the transition is natural to railroads whose
ties and tracks have been laid on the frozen
surface Of rivers Mr. Kennedy tells us that
in 1879. when the mercury stood twenty
degrees below zero. n train Of the Northern
Pacific railroad passed over the Missouri
river OH ice three feet thick. The pressure
which the ice resisted may lie estimated from
the fact that the track was laid on twelve foot
ties. and that the cars carried over quantity
of railroad iron as well as a number Of
visitors About a wear after similar road
was uiIt across the river ST. Lawrence at
HoChelaga.
LAYING TIES ON TREE sTUMPs.
Even more novel is the idea Of grading for
a railruadthruugh "A forest with croSscut
saw, and laying the ties on the stumps Ihls
has actually been done in Sonoma county, III
this state. Here the trees were saved of and
levelcd, and the ties fastened on the stumpS,
two Of which were huge reiwoods, standing
side, by side. and sawed of seventy-hve feet
from the ground. So firm is this support
that CARS loaded with heavy logs can pass
over with perfect security. Several wooden
track RAILWAYS are actually operated In the
United States and Canada. One OF these, IN
the province of Quebec, is thirty miles long
ami Is used in the transportation OF timber
The rails ar,a of maple and trains are said to
run over them with remarkable smoothness
al the, rate of twenty five miles an hour.
Still more curious are what Mr.. Kennedy
would call the bicycle railways, where the
car wheels run on a single rail- One called
the steam caravan was begun in Syria, be
tween Alleppo and Alexandretta, but ap-
parently never finished. In the case Of this
exrariment the rail WAS raised on wall OF
masonry twenty-eight inches high and seven
teen and one-half inches broad On this one
rail were to travel the wheels Of the locomo-
five and the carriages attached, but it was
intended to brace the engine and the last car
in the train bv obliquely placed leather-cov-
cred wheels. running along the sides Of the
wall. which wheels were further to serve as
brakes. 4 single rail- or bicycle railroad,
has also been built in the United States, and
was in operation at Ph9nixyille, Pa, IN 1876.
Since that date twO-wheeled locomotive
has been made in Glocester, n. J., for an
elevated railroad iii Atlanta, Ga
BY ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
There is nothing specially new in the pro
ject of atmospheric railways, or, in other
words, Of propelling carriages along large
tube by producing a vacuum in front and
applying atmospheric pressure behind. This
device has not proved of much practical
value. though tubular road of this kind
u
CRYSTAL Palace, Sydenham. The tube in this
instance was Of brick, quarter of a mile
long. nine feet high and eight feet wide, and
the car within it was used only for the
of passengers The piS-
ton that propelled the car was rendered
almost air tight by means Of fringe Of
briStles, extending nearly to the surrounding
brick work of the tunnel and 10 its floor. A
fan, worked by steam engine, both ex
hausted and compressed the air. The motion
of the car was pleasant, and the ventilation
ample. In connection with this branch of his
subject Mr. Kennedy tells us that flying
was made to justify its name at the
exhibition in England, in 1865.
The engine weighed thirteen pounds, and was
made TO lift itself, with forty pounds in addi-
ton, to height of six inches in continuous
flight around the room But much more sue
cessrul sailing car was invented for the Kansas
Pacific railroad, and has been used for years
as hand car on that road. The mast is
eleven feet high, and :he triangular sail has
two boomS. On the plains a speed of forty
miles an hour has been attained by this car
with the wind right abeam, the sail close
hauled, and the road full of diSadvantageOuS
curves
1t will probably be news TO most persons
that in 1876, at Paris, one DR.. La Combe ex-
hibited the model of a submarine railway
which he proposed to lay on the bottom of
the channel between Dover and Calais. On
a roadbed of concrete three galvanized iron
rails were to be placed, two for the track
and one in the centre. To the central rail
the car was to be attached by rollers, in
order to prevent it being derailed by the
waves The boat car was to be air tight |
and driven by propeller screw worked 10y
air. Fresh air was to be sup
piled TO the occupants of the car by a tube
running up to the surface of the water, !
where it would be affixed TO buoy. Finally, !
a series of buoys on the surface would mark |
out the track of the car, which, in case Of |
any accident, could be cut loose below. |
whereuuon it would rise to the surface.
Chaucer says: For gold in phisike is a /
,Ordial." For all that suffer from hoarse-
less, cold in the chest, lung trouble or
DIR. Bulls Cough Syrup is golden
phisike.' Though worth its weight in !
yold, quarter will buy a bottle.
Mrs. Olive Thomas, aged SIS years, was
burned to death near Granville, o.
"For | am declined into the vale Of |
ears" she said little sadly. but indeed |
Ion't much mind it since | can get Saliva
ion Oil for 25 cents"
1t is claimed that the Lima, o., oil field |
: more fully developed than any other field
n the world.
Mrs. Cleveland.
He'Ve heard all that's Wholesome