The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-08-07
A MARVELLOUS INVENTION.
a New Sort of Railway That is Cheap,
Fast, and Safe Beyond Comparison.

a new Sort OF hallway InaC IS Cneap,
Fast, and Safe Beyond Comparison.
PARIS, July 31.-A press view took
place yesterday of the so-cal!ed "Chcmin
de Fer GlisSant," or "Slide Railway
on the Esplanade dcs Invllidcs, within
the exhibition. The new invention is a
singularly original contriyance for en-
abling trains to run, by means of water
power, at speed hitherto undreamed
of. Arriving there without any intima-
ton as to what sliding railway might
be, | at first mistook it for an Oyergrown
switchback, with the humps smoothed
away.
The train consisted of four carriages,
affording room for about hundred
passengers. The carriages had no
wheels, being supported at the corners
by blocks of iron of 4 size somewhat
larger than a brick, which rested upon
double line of iron girdlcs. In the mid
die of the line, at regular intervals,
iutted out irregularly shaped pillars, the
use of which was not yet apparent. !
Having taken our seats, and the signal
being given, we glidcd along very gently
for the space of ;t few yards, when sud
denly we gathered speed; two or three
tugs were felt, and we were flying on
at the pace of an ordinary train, but
as smoothly as boat on river. There
was clicking noise on the rails, but this,
was assured, was due to q defect in
the construction of the slides, and
would be rcmedicd. Tie absence of any
vibration, shaking or tail motion" was
wonderful. a slight jerk there was at
regular intervals; but then, again, | was
told that it was due mainly to the short
ness of the course and the inability to
get up proper pace. In hydraulic
train travelling at the rate of 140 to 200
Kilometres or 81 to 124 miles an hour,
there would be almost no consciousness
of motion. Tie 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
invention, gave tull 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, NJ.
Barre.
AS has already been mentioned, the
hydraulic carriages have no wheels,
these being replaced by hollow slides
titling upon a flat and wide rail, and
grooved on the inner sulface. When
it is desired to set the carriage in mo
ton water is forced into the slide or
skate of the carriage from a reservoir
Of compressed air, and seeking to es-
cape, it spreads over the under surface
of the Side, which 1t 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 forefinger is sufficient to displace
carriage thus supported. The pro-
pelling force is supplied by the
pillars which stand at regular inter-
walls on the line between the rails. Run
ming underneath every carriage is an
.r-o:se,
with paddles
Now as the foremost carriage passes
in front of the pillar tap on the latter
is opened automatically, and a stream Of
water at high pressure is directed 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 con-
tinuous. The force developed is almost
incredible. There Is some splashins on
the rails at the start; but this dimln-
ishcs 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
almost inStantancOuSly.
A water train running at over 100
miles an hour could, was told, be
pulled up within thirty yards, could
climb up gradients Of sixteen inches in
the yard, descend them with equal
safety, and run on curves of forty-four
wards radius. This system would seem
peculiarly adapted for elevated railways
in cities, being light, noiseless, smooth,
without smoke, fast, and thoroughly
under command. The danger of run
ming off the rails is reduced to a mini
mum. the centre of gravity Of the car
rlages being scarcely more than a couple
OF feet from the rails. The cost OF
metropolitan system would only be
third of one on the old plan, while in
the open country its cost would be some
what higher than the ordinary railway;
but NJ. Barre tells me the expense would
be in France an average OF 5000
mile. Where no natural water supply
is available, a propelling machine every
twelve miles or so would be 'sutflclent TO
keep trains going at full speed. The
consumption of coal per passenger would
be onc-tentll only of the usual quantity.
The Importance Of this may be real
lied by considering the statement that
the Ptris-Lj ons Company alone has an
annual coal bill of two million sterling.
Nevertheless, it would be rash to predict
the general introduction Of the water
system on railways. One objection, lor
instance, that occurs to me IS its appa-
rent unsuitlbility for goods traffic. NJ.
Persil, the manager of the ''CheminS dc
Fer Glissants," believes it will all but DO
away with the locomotive engine. with
respect to England, he believes that tho
disadvantage OF tie present slow method
of crossing the channel will become so
apparent that all opposition to the tun.
mel will vanish. ~ am ready, be SAID |
with enthusiasm, ''to wager any sum
that when the tunnel is made and our
system has trial people will go from
London to Paris in two hours.