Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-10-23
A MARVELLOUS INVENTION
4 New Sort Of Railway That II Cheap
Fast and Safe Beyond Comparison.

SAM, or slide railway, on tue Is
planade DIES lnvalides, within the ex-
hibiuon. The new invention isa sim
gularly original contrivance for on
abling trains to run, by means Of
water power. at a speed hitherto un,
dreamed of Arriving there without
any lntimation as TO 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
affording room for about u 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
a double line of iron Orders. In the
middle of the line at regular intervals
lutted u i~rregularly shaped pillars,
the use of which was not yet appar-
erL Having taken our seats aud the
signal beng 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 a a boat OIL a
river. There was a clicking noise or
the rails. but this, ! was assured. was
due TO a defect in the construction
of the slides, and would be remedied.
The absence of any vibration. shaking
or tai! motion was wonderful. A
slight jerk there was at regular inter.
walls; but then, again, ! was told that
IL was due merely TO the shortuess Of
the course and the inability TO get up
A proper pace. In a Hydraulic train
travelling at full speed, thai Is tc say
al the rll. Of 40 TO 2OO kilouIc.rrs, or
81 10 l2l miles an hour, there would
be almost no consciousness of motion.
The journey down the length Of the
ESplanade only occupied a few sec
onls.
Upon our safe ryturn Nlr. Pilter,
chairman of tie company which owns
the inrentiUn. gave a full account Of
it. The sl,ling railway WAS invented
III 1868 by IN engineer named Girard,
who was killed in IT, Franco German
wIr, and il 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
lifting upon a Hat and wide rail. and
grocyed on the inner surface. When
it IS desired 10 get the carriage in mo-
I,np u-aI.p - f,p,al int, th. elila nj.
skate OF the carriage from a reservoir
BY compressed air, aud seeking 10 es-
cape, il spreads over the under suf,
face of the slide. which il 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.
tie pressure of the foretinger is suili-
cient 10 displace a carriage thus sup
ported. The propelling force is sup
piled by the pillars, which stand at reg
ular intervals on me line between tho
rails. Running underneath every
carriage is an iron rack, about six
inches wide. itted with paddles.
Now Us the foremost carriage passes
in front Of The pillar a tap a the lat
ter is opened automatically, and a
stream Of water at high pressure is di-
rected on the paddles This drives
the train on, and by the time the last
carriage has gone past the tap (which
then clUsesJthe 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 diminishcs the faster
the train goes. To stop the train the
small stream Of water that feeds the
slides is turned off, and, the latter
ccming IA contact with the rails, the
resulting friction stops the carriage al
most instantaneously.
a water train running at over 100
miles IN hour could, | was told, bc
pulled up within .nirty yards, could
climb up gradients Of sixteen inches in
,he yard, descend them with equal
safety. and run on curves of forty
four yard, radius. This system 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 scarce
ly more than a couple of feet from
the rails. Tie cost of q metropolitan
system would only be a third Of one on
the old plan. while in the open coun.
try its cost would be somewhat higher
than the ordinary railway; but NJ.
Barre tells me the expense would be in
France an average OF Is, 900 a mile.
Where no natural water supply is
available, a propelling machine every
twelve miles or - would be sufficient
10 keep the trains going at full speed.
The consumption Of coal per passen.
ger would be one-tenth only Of the
usual quantity.
The importance Of this may be real.
lied by considering the statement that
the Paris-Lyons company alone has
On annual coal bill Of two millions
sterling. Nevertheless, IL would b.
rash 10 predict the general introduction
Of tho water system on railways. One
objection, for instance, that occurs tr
me Is its apparent unsuitability foI
goods traffic. M. Persil, the manager
Of the "Cbemins de Fer Glissants, "be
lieves ii will all but do away with The
locomotive engine. With respect u
England, he believes that the disad
vantage Of the present slow method Of