Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1888-06-13
The Merits of the vestibuIe
Car.

From the New Y York Times, May 23d, 1888 i
Speaking of the injunction in favor of tho
Pullman Company. restraining tho Wagner
people from the use OF the vestibule attach
ment, q prominent railroad man said the
other day: 1.-The vestibule attachment /.
one Of the most important improvements of
the age toward tie perfection of absolute
comfort in passenger car construction.
Several years ago, when the dining car was
introduced and the practices OF preparing
and serving meals on railway trains inaug-
urated, it was found that timId people,
especially ladies and invalids, experienc ed
great difficulty in passing from their seats
in the sleeper TO the dinnirg car when the
train wa, running st q high rate OF speed
The open platforms between the cars form
ed gulf over which they feared to attempt
passage in fine weather and which IN wind
or storm. or both, was impossible TO people
with deliSate constitutions. Ii the dining
car system Was TO be q success, this objecti-
on must be overcome, and the Pullman
people set themselves the task of bridging
the chasm. In ord er TO accomplish this end
they cnvolved and developed the idea Of
the vestibule, and in bringing 1t into sue
cessful usage the railway companies, as we'll
as their PATRONS, fad that the original
difficulty has not only been completely
overcome, but that q great many other
marked advantages have been secured in
the introduction OF the vestibuie. One
striking feature is the additional strene b
created and distributed over the entire train
by the close fitting of the coaches to one
another and the consequently Increased
power to Withstand the shock of a collision
Teescoping is hardly possible in . we'll.
equipped yestibule train, from the simple
fact that the steel frames arrest the force
which wonld drive one car into another
The steadier motion with which the CLOSELY
united factors of ths train endowed will
be readily recognized as q most beneficial
result. This steadiness 10 noticeable at
once. but particularly perceptible to the
occupants of upper berfhs or those Who,
having tried to read or write in the ordinary
car, undertake TO do 30 in q ve.tibuIe train.
The vestibules, beside protecting the pas
sengers in passing from end to end of the
train, serve the purpose of storm doors ia
u residence, and prevent the sudden draft,
which the opening of an ordinary car door
always creates. Another feature, which i.
| prominent from . social stand point, 10 the
| deadening of the noise made by the rapid
| revolution of the wheels over tho rails, SC
that conversation may be carried on with
out in any way straining the voice
! 1.-The constructors of these cars sbuild cd
| wiser than they knew and succeeded II
dUonsHibS tuahF VI inc pctty annoy apCS
that best the railway traveller, even on tn,
best-equipped roads,"
s.These cars" he continued, "aro ss IA
superior TO the ordinary coach a. tho Pull
man Is to the old-fsshioned passenger car
They enhance in great degree the pleasur
and comfort of travel; and as learned judg
remarked in the decision above referred Z
they must have proved a startling an,
successful innovation or competin
company would not have been so promI
! in initiating them. The Pennsylvania'
New York and Chicago Limited Expres
; was the pioneer vestibule train, and th
enormous popularity 1t has won is the be.
evidence OF public appreciation of il
merits"