The Portland daily press., 1889-01-22
THE BoYNTON BICYCLE RAILWAY.
A Curious Locomotive and What Is
Expected of II.
In a Train of steel TWO Hundred
miles an Hour,
Is the Way the Coming Generation
May Ride.

Us the way the Coming Ceneraticn
May Ride.
They are skilled machinsts who are at
work during these short winter days upon
the unique and massive machine known as
the Boynton bicycle locomotive, which is
now more Il an half completed, at the Port
land Company's shops in this city. Yes, 1t
is curiosity. and it is well worth looking at
even if one is obliged to go long way to see
1t. That such locomotive is In the process
of construction, is now quite generally
known, but concerning it the public is, new
ertheless, quite ignorant E. Moody Boyn.
ton, of Newburyport, is the inventor, but
his idea of what will .revolutionize
modern railroading. is being materialized at
the expense of the Boynton Bicycle Rail-
way Company, of which Mr.. Boynton is at
the head, of New York city. Scores of peo-
pie visit the Portland Company's shops every
day to get glimpse of the new machine,
and the other day James G. Blaine, Jr., the
enthusiastic young machinist, came all the
way from Waterville to see it, and was very
much interested in examining the odd loco
motive. In a months time, perhaps less, the
machine will be ready for trial; already a
track about 800 feet long has been construct
ed on which to experiment with the locomo-
tive. This track extends from the engine
through the yard in westerly direction, and
was built by n. 5. Heseltine. superintendent
of the Portland Company's car shop. Spruce
posts, seven inches square, rest on ties IS
faa he oil
inches apart, and between them the locomo-
tive will go.
Resting on the top of the posts and extend
ing over the road bed are spruce timbers of
the same dimensions as the posts, which are
set at proper distances along the line of the
road Fastened underneath the centre of
these upper cross-timbers is a rail 6 X s
inches. Resting on the centre of the ties
and directly under the upper wooden rail is
fixed an ordinary steel railroad rail, and up
on this one rail all the weight of the locomo-
tive will be made to rest. From the top of
the steel rail to the under part of the upper
wooden rail is just feet, the height
of the locomotive. The posts are
braced and held firmly in place by
boards which are nailed in a man
ner to prevent the structure from spreading
or breaking in any way. OF course it is un-
derstood that this track is merely temper
airy one. for it is intended eventually to have
the tracks made wholly of iron and steel.
The track Is curved in one place, side track
some 60 feet long is made in
connective may be given trial in going
around curves and switching upon side
tracks; in short it is proposed to test the in
vention as 1t would be tested if in practical
use. The locomotive over all is about 45
feet long, the one driving wheel is eight feet
if, Aiof taafG mud flax.f 10 I'D
SO that the fianges of the wheel will drop
down on each side of the rail and thus pre-
vent the machine from running off the track !;
and under the tender there are two wheels,
each four feet In diameter and each grooved
like the driving wheel and made to run on
the same rail. These small wheels are close
together and with the giant driving
wheel are the only trucks under
the locomotive. To prevent the
machine from at once toppling over
iron trucks, which are made fast to the top
of the boiler directly over the driving wheel,
and others directly over the pony wheels on
the tender, are made to run on each side Of
the upper rail. A wheel being on each side
Of the upper rail prevents the locomotive
from swaying the least distance to either
side. These wheels ale twelve inches in di-
ameIer and four inches thick. That isn't
all. To make 1t absolutely impossible for the
locomotive to Jump the track" another
wheel, situated between the two small upper
wheels that run on each side of the rail, is
made to run on the under side of the upper
rail- and this prevents the machine from the
possibility OF being thrown upwards off the
lower rail.
II tell you," said an old machinist to the
PRESS reporter, 1T Is great invention.
do you think it will ever be in practical
w asssa IL the reporter, ts
1t Is going to do all that is claimed for it. 1t
will revolutionize railroading. Everything
has been done to make it practicable; moth
ing has been omitted that would make it
people come here and look at it, shake their
heads-eyen laugh outright and declare the
folly of the undertaking. 1t never will
work they say. but say it will. The posts
that support the upper rail are made fast to
the ties on which the lower. rail
frost will be the same on both rails. If an
axle on the locomotive should break no
other damage would result, because an iron
safeguard Is arranged close to the rail and
when the axle broke the machine could drop
but very little distance, and then it would
slide along on the track until it stopped. So
you see everything has been provided, every
precaution taken. The extreme width of
the locomotive and cars is 80 inches. They
are made in this manner so that common
track for the bicycle train. The smoke
stack OF the locomotive is just under the
upper rail, and a shield is arranged In the
top OF the smokestack in manner to divide
the volume of smoke, sending half on one side
OF the upper rail and half on the other. The
cars will be between 4Ox5O feet long. and will
carry about 100 passengers each. They will
be two stories high. The lower story will be
divided into compartments like the English
cars, and each compartment will be made to
accommodate six persons. The lower story
OF the car will carry "a persons. The upper
story will contain chairs but will not be di-
vided into compartments. We will make
one car OF wood. but 1t is intended eventual
ly to make them of steel. The cars will have
two two-wheeled trucks under them, and
Pullman cars weigh from % to so tons, and
few OF them make load
for an ordinary locomotive. Then
there is a swaying motion to the ordinary
train. and that must be overcome. Light
cars, no swaying motion. almost perfect safe
ty, Tar greater speed, and less expense are
some Of the improvements that will be en-
joyed In the bicycle train. had rather ride
100 miles per hour in this bicycle train, when
It Is completed, than to ride 20 miles per hour
In our modern railroad train, so far as safety
Is concerned"
"Do you consider this locomotive perfect? ?"
On, no: We are making more perfect
and smaller one now. The new bicycle To-
connective Will have an upright
boiler instead of a horizontal
one; the driving wheel will be but six feet in
diameter; 1t will be but one story high, and
the small wheels will go in front instead of
after the driving wheel. The cars will be
two stories high, however. The first loco
motive was designed by Mr.. Charles Carr of
Boston, BUT the new one was designed by
our own draughtsmen. You see the Boynton
Bicycle Railway Company is very confident
the locomotive will prove success, for they
have ordered a second before trying the first
one."
Surely IL the bicycle train proves to be a
success. the present system Of railroading
must before many years become obsolete
Inc next generation may live to laugh at the
clumsy cars of today, and come to regard
travelling at the rate of 200 miles per hour,
not so wonderfully fast after all.