Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-09-10
A MARVELLOUS INVENTION.
q New Sort Of Railway That IL Cheap.
Fast and Safe Beyond Comparison.

A press view took place yesterday
Of the so called "Chemin de Fer Glis.
SAINT" or slide Railway" on the Is.
pianade des Invalides, within the ex
hibition. The new invention is a sin
gularly original contrivance for en-
abling trains TO run, by means Of
water power. at a speed hitherto IN
dreamed of. Arriving there without
any intination as 70 what a sliding
railway might be. ! at first mistook il
for an overgrown switchback, with
the humps smoothed away.
The train consisted Of four carriages
affordlng room for about a hundred
passengers. The carriages had no
wheels, being supported at the corners
by blocks Of iron Of a size somewhat
larger than a brick. which rested upon
adouble line OF iron girders. In the
middle OF the line at regular intervals
Jutted out irregularly shaped pillars,
the use Of which was not vet appar.
ent Having taken our seats and the
signal being given, we glided along
gently for the space of a few yards,
when suddenly we gathered speed;
two or three tugs were felt and we
were flying on at a pace of an ordinary
train, but as smoothly as a boat on a
river. There was a clicking noise on
the rails, but this, ! was assured. was
due 10 a defect in the construction
of the slides, and would be remedied.
The absence of any vibration. shaking
mr. fnN FnAstan' N~a1 sra.IAf.l
slight jerk there was at regular inter
walls; but then, again, | was told that
II 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
al the rate Of lao 10 200 kilometers, or
81 10 l24 miles IN hour. there would
be almost no consciousness of motion.
The journey down the length of the
Esplanade only occupied q few sec
= onds.
Upon our safe return Mr.. Pilter,
chairman Of the company which owns
the invention, gave a full account Of
1t The sliding railway was invented
IN 1868 by an engineer named Girard,
who was killed in the Franco German
We. apdsit has been improved to its
present stale b. one of his assistant
tengineers, M. Barre.
' As has ALREADY been mentioned, the
hydraulic carriages have no wheels,
these being replaced by hollow slides
Citing upon a hat and wide rail, and
grooved on the inner surface. When
II is desired TO get the carriage in mo
ton water is forced into the slide or
skate OF the carriage from a reservoir
by compressed air, and seeking TO es-
cape. il spreads over the under sur
face 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 foreinger is sutfi.
cient 10 displace a carriage thus sup
ported. The propelling force is sup
piled by the pillars, which stand at reg
ular intervals on the line between the
rails. Running underneath every
carriage is an iron rack, about six
inches wide, fitted with paddles.
Now as the foremost carriage passes
in front Of the pillar a tap on the lat.
ter is opened automatically, and a
stream OF water at high pressure is d.
rected on the paddles. This drives
the train on, and by the time the last
carriage has gone past the tap (which
then closes)the foremost one is in front
of the next tap, the waters action thus
being continuous. The force develop
ed is almost incredible. There is
some splashing on the rails at the
start; but this diminishes 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
resulting friction stops the carriage al.
most lnstautaneously.
A water train running at over 100
miles an hour could, | vas told, be
pulled up within thirty yards. could
climb up gradients Of sixteen inches in
the yard. descend them with equal
safety. aud run on curves of forty
four yards radius. Thissystem would
seem peculiarly adapted for elevated
railways in cities. being light, noise.
less, smooth. without smoke, fast and
thoroughly under command The
danger Of running off the rails is re.
duced 10 a minimum, the center Of
gravity Of the carriages being scarcJ-
ly more than a couple of feet from
the rails The cost of a metropolitan
system would only be a third Of once on
the old plan, while in the open coun.
try It's cost would be somewhat higher
than the ordinary railway but NJ.
Barre tells me the expense Would be in
France an average Of $4,000 a mile.
Where no natural water supply is
available, a ~propelling machine every
twelve miles or SO would be sufficient
70 keep the trains going at full speed.
The consumption Of coal per pslssen.
ger would DO one-tenth only Of the
usual quantity,
The importance OF this may be real.
lied by considering the statement that
the Parls-Lyons company alone has
an annual coal bill Of two millions
sterling. Nevertheless, Il would DO
rash TO predict the general introduction
Of the water system on railways One
objection, for instance. that occurs 10
me is its apparent unsuitability for
goods traffic. N. Persil, the manager
Of the 'Chemins de Fer Glissants," be.
lieves it will all but do away with the
locomotive engine. With respect 10
Enpland lie believes that the disad-