Sharp County record., 1888-03-08
GAS ON RAlLRCACS.
The Natural Article to Suppian5 Coal ns
Fuel On Locomotives.


Within the past nine months more
improvements have been made in rail-
road equipment chan in any like period
IN the history Of the country. Per-
haps the most daring one now being
attempted IS he utilizing Of ua uraL
gas Is fuel for engines and to furnish
.ight l1d heat for the cars Several
master mechanics in the. country hold
.La5 his product can be confined and
used at will, and the master mechanic
Of the Fort Wayne. Cincinnati &
Louisville road has demoustrared his
belief so plainly that the officials Il
hat line have placed at his command
all the money, men, and material nee
assary to q thorough test. The route
of that road IS through the heart Of the
immense gas gIous Of Indiana. many
of the wells being of great pressure,
and flowing from 8 00Q0O0 to = 000 =
600 cubic feet every tweu5y-fQur hours
Several weeks ago the nlsssaeF. me-
chauic and superintendent had con-
strueted o vr0Urht-irOn cylinder
aighteeu feet long lnd two feet in
rffrrnIercr. Wi b heavy ends screwed I'M.
The cylinder WIS Injected TO he most
critical and scientific tests. lnd wa5
provided with Gaugcs to register the
/ pressure. tt was placed Oh board %
ear and transported 10 Montpelier
Ind, where here are located two
strong Gus wells. The cylinder WAS
attached to one Of them, which had a
rock pres sure OF +5O pounds to thg
square inch. When the r0s was
5urued on the -aure showed that #
was full in less than one minute. The
tank WAS then loaded on the cars and
taken to the shops l5 Fort Wayne
Here it WIS attached to the usual nat
GraL ras burning apparatus with
Regulator" 5La5 controlled be auOr-
nous pressure Of the ras sO.thaG it
flowed out Il % steady, regular current
of one and q half 0un Ces to- the square
uch the pressure ut which natural
gas ts burned. The gauge .howed
that the ras had lost but little Of tt1
pressure, and it supplied light in the
burners in the shors for several hours.
besiIes heating one large stove and
one forge.
So much Of . success WAS the first
test that others have been maia with
larger cylinders and the -as .rans-
ported poal yir,-4a --l a .l-i--ggce Of thirty
eli ghG miles. The officials a2l experts
are SO well satisfied with the Gl0eIL-
ment that orders have ueeu issued 10
equip the roadeugires with tanks. and .
he wUrzuen- I'm the shops lre now
making the necessary changes. Large F.
steel tanks or UCvIiuders somewhat aft er .
the PATTERN OF EHe >saHHard Oil
Company cars are being made. and
these will be attached to the engine In
the rear Of The tender. They viii have
Z capacity equal TO as many thousand
cubic feet Of gas Us viii represent
enough Of coal to make trip over the .
road. which IS about one hundred and
ten miles in length The attachment
to the fire lox Of the engine and stoves
in the cars viii be by means Of a
pipe leading from the tank. AMI VII
be regulated by shaud screw
The cost IS exceeuirGtv small IS an
engine can be supplied for about rven- /
tv cents q day.
The experiments made nc Fort
Wayne have been watched b~ expert
mechanics employed by the Erie and
Pennsylvania companies. and these
systems will also commence the con-
szruc5i0u Of -qs tanks for the same
purposes IN case the tests made l-
these companies are successfuf, t5 viii
be only 3 sh0r. time until he treL
problem on railways s s0lre4.-Et tJ-
as L5tg Times.
Sixty -I,,es can be comel {. .s
said. from the summIl0E Mount White
f1ce in the Adiruulac.zs. Wli.eiace
is over SOD teeG EiEh. and so ara
Mounts Seward MtLr5-re. anf sav-
eral others. bus -aa L.-Fa=t Ii N0I4t