Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-09-12
A WONDROUS INVENTION,
A Continuance That Runs Trains by
Water Power at an Incredible
Speed.
who Can Say What May Not Be Done

"A A press view took place of the so-called
''Chemln de Fer Glissant +" or ..Slide Rail-
way, ON the Esplanade DIES Invahdes.
within the exhibition. The new invention
Is a slngularly original contrivance for en-
| ablng trains to run by means of wafer
power, at speed hitherto undrearned of
Arriving there without any intimation az
to what sliding railway might be. saws
the London News correspondent. | at first
mlstook 1t Tor an Overgrown switchback
with the humps smoothed away.
The train consisted of four carriaoes
| atfordlng ample room for about 100 mas
sengers. The carriage had no wheels.
beng supported at the corner by blocks of
| IRON OF a size somewhat larger than brick,
which rested upon a double line of iron
glrders. In the middle of the line at req
u!ar intervals, Jutted out rregularly-shaped
pillars, the use of which was not vet appar-
ent. Having taken our seats. and the sig
nal being given, we glided along very
gently for the space of a few yards. when
suddenly we gathered speed; two or three
tugs were felt, and we were fiying on at
the pace of an ordinary train, but as
smoothly as a boat on the river There
was clicking noise on the rail. but this,
L was assured, was due to defect in the
construction of the slides, and would be
remedled. The absence of any vibration,
shaking, or ''tail-motion' was wonderful.
slight jerk there was, at regular inter
walls, but then, again. was told that If
was due merely to the shortness of the
course, and the inability to get up a proper
pace. In a hydraulic train travelling at
full speed, that is to say, at the rate of 40
to 200 kilometerS, or 81 to 124 miles an
hour, there would be almost no conscious
ness of moGiOn. The journey down the
length of the Esplanade only occupied a
few seconds.
Upon our safe return Mr.. Pilter, chair
man of the company which owns the in
yention, gave full account of it. The
sliding railway was invented In 1868 by an
engineer named Girard, who was killed in
the Franco-German war, and it has been
improved to its present state by one of his
assistant engineers, M. Barre
As has already been mentioned, the hy-
draulic carriages have no wheels, these
being replaced by hollow slides fitting upon
a fiat and wide rail, and grooved on the
inner surface. When it is desired to set
the carriage In motion water is forced into
the slide or skate of the carriage from a
reservoir by compressed air, and, seeking
to escape, it spreads over the under surface
of the slide, which it raises for about a
nails thickness above the rail The slides
thus resting, not on the rails, but on a
film of water, are in a perfectly mobile
condition; in fact, the pressure of the fore.
finger is sufficient to display a carriage
thus supported. The propelling force is
supplied by the pillars which stand at reg
ular intervals on the line between the rails.
Pr,
iron rack, about inches wide, fitted with
paddles.
Now as the foremost carriage passes in
front of the pillar tap on the latter is
opened automatically, and stream of
water at high pressure directed ON the pad
dies This drives the train on, and by the
time the last carriage has gone past the tap
which then closes-the foremost is in front
of the next tap, the waters action thus
being continuous. The force developed is
almost incredible. There is some splash
ing ON the rails at the start but this dimin-
ishes the faster the train goes. To stop
the train the small stream of water that
feeds the slides is turned off, and the latter
coming in contact with the rails, the result
ing friction stops the carriage almost in
A water train running at over 100 miles
an hour could | was told, be pulled up
within 80 yards, could climb up gradients
of Is inches in the yard, descend them
with equal safety, and run on curves of
Al yards radius. This system would seem
peculiarly adapted for elevated railways In
cities, being light, noiseles, smooth with
out smoke, fast, and thoroughly under
command. The danger of running off the
rails is reduced to a minimum the center
of gravity of the carriages being scarcely
more than a couple of feet from the rails.
The cost of metropolitan system would
only be a third Of one of the old plan,
while In the open country its cost would
be somewhat higher than the ordinary rail-
way; but NJ Barre tells me the expense
would be in France an average of 5000
pounds mile. Where no natural water
supply is available, propelling machine
every twelve miles or so would be sufficient
to keep trains going at full speed. The
of coal for each passenger
would be one-tenth only of the usual guam
tity.
The importance of this may be realized
by considering the statement that the
Paris-Lyons Company alone has an an
nual coal bill of 1000, 900 pounds. Never
theless, it would be rash to predict the
general introduction of the water system
on railways. One objection, for instance,
that occurs so me is its apparent insult
ability for goods traffic. M. Persil, wthe
manager of the ''Chemins de Fer ellis
SAINTS believes that it will all but do away
with the locomotive engine. With respect
to England he believes that the disadyan-
tage of the present slow method Of cross
ing the Channel will become so apparent
that all opposition to the tunnel will vanish.
II am ready he said with enthusiasm,
s'to wager any sum that when the tunnel
is made and our system has trial, peo-
pie will go from London.to Paris in two
hours.