Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-09-12
1 WOyDROUS INVENTION.
Il " v @1
,triyanee That Runs Trains by
water Power at an Incredible
Speed.
,., cam say What May Not Be Done ?

-,.. giew took place Of the so-called
-, lie Fer Cilissaut or 'Shde kall-
aS ~, +be Esplmade dies lnvaldes
W.. tb. exhibition. The new invention
-yl' .-;.-,.lIiarlv original contrivance for en-
A g-, mains to run by means OF water
- M speed hitherto undreamed OF.
~, there without any animation as
@s L.+a sliding railway might be, says
S@ ilrJsp News correspondent | at hrst
s# ;.+a1z IL for am oyeTgroWn sWltchoack'
mi ;4t tbe humps smoothed away
81 'rfs train consisted of four carriages
:s# r.~.Iinp 8tnale room for about 100 Pes
.sngars. m carriage had no wheels,
@ s;T., sup. red at the corner by blocks OF
;r[n IF "a Size somewhat larger than brick
@ which rested upon double me OF IRON
z# - Ina the middle of the line at reg
81 Mar intervals, lutted ont lrregulariy-shaPea
2 :II.~s the u,e of which was not yet appar-
# enf Having taken our seats ana the sig
"a ~ Laing given. we glIded along very
an 4. for the space of few yards, when
# ,JIsuiv we gathered speed: two or three
81 ,-.y we're felt and we were flying ON at
IA t5T mace of an ordinary train, but as
# .,rai+bly MS d boat on the river. There
# ,r5sa clicking noise ON the rail, but this.
:s ,,4s assured was due to a defect IN the
III obstruction of the slides, and would be
81 rama1ipd. The absence Of amy vibration,
q Jal-fpg or ''ta;l-mOtion was wonderful.
al .Iiaht Jerk there was at regular inter-
# vi. bnt then. again, | was told that 1t
n ,.ss dine merely to the shOrtness of the
a oorr-e. and the inability to get up proper
~ mace I'm a hydraulic train travelling at
81 hl spepd. that is to say, at the rate of l4O
81 M 3Ol ,ilometers. or 81 to ia miles an
III EoTr There would be almost no conscious
a mes. of motion. The journey down the
q iength of the Esplanade only occupied a
81 few seconds.
Tpon our safe return Mr.. Pilter, chair
81 man of the company which owns the In
N yqution, rave Il full account Of it, TIE
u Sliding railway was invented in 1865 by an
q pugiueer named Girard, who was killed In
N fine Frauco-German war, and 1t has been
q impr9yed to its present state by one Of his
Il assistant engineers, NJ. barre
b has already been mentioned the by
q dr.uIir carriages have no wheels these
n being replaced by hollow slides fttingupon
81 d Ratmd wide rail, and grooved on the
d inner surface. When it is desired to set
81 the carriage In motion water is forced into
81 the s.lde or skate of the carriage from a
u reservoir hv compressed air, and, seeking
q 10 escape ii spreads over the under surface
Il of the slide. which it raises for about a
u nails thickness above the rail. The slides
tim. resting. not on the rails but on
film Of water, are in a perfectly mobile
Il condition. in fact, the pressure Of the fore
finger Is sufficient to display a carriage
thus supported. The propelling force is
supplied bv the pillars which stand at reg
MAR intervals ou the line between the rails.
Running underneath every carriage is an
iron rack, about 6 inches wide, fitted with
paddles
VOW aus tie foremost carriage passes in
front of the pillar a tap on the latter is
opened automatically, and stream Of
water at high pressure directed ON the pad
dies 'Ihis drives the train on, and by the
time held-t carriage has gone past the tap
which then closes the foremost is in front
off the next tap the water S action thus
being continuous. The force developed is
almost incredible There is some splash
ing on the rails at the start, but this dimin-
-aes 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 i'm contact with the rails. the result
ing friction stops the carriage almost IN
simultaneously
"a water train running at over 100 miles
am hour could, ! was told, be pulled mp
within 80 yards. could climb up gradients
of n inches iu the yard descend them
with equal safety, and run on curves of
~ 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 reduced 10 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 ue "a third of one of the old plan,
w.ue IN the open country its cost would
Ne somewhat higher than the ordinary rail
Way. bUt Nj. Barre tells me the expense
would be In France an average Of 5000
pounds q mule Where no natural water
supply Is available, propelling machine
every twelve miles or so would be sufficient
10 keep trains going at full speed The
consumption of coal for each passenger
would ue oue-tenth only Of the usual guam
utT
The Importance Of this may be realized
ny considering the statement that the
fars-Ly0nS Company alone has an an
naaI Goa, lin of 100000 pounds Never
Ihe-e>s. i would be rash to predict the
genera. Introduction of the water system
"n railways One objection, for instance,
i..t occurs so me is its apparent insult
Hnlty for goods traffic N. persil, the
manager IF the "Chemins de Fer ellis
SAINT. believes that it viii all bat do away
wta The locomotive engine. Withrespect
t9 England he believes that the disadyan-
,"-e 1t the present slow method Of cross
'- tae Channel will become so apparent
lat al opposition to the tunnel will vanish.
am ready he said with enthusiasm,
10 aZar amy SUM that when the tunnel
d a'ae and OUR system has trial peo-
"i -. from London to Paris in two
hours
IIIr AnIxnNA r-rD1.r.n