The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-12-16
MORE TRAINS NEEDED.
Service on Northern Pacific
Very Inadequate.
PASSENGERS HAVE TO STAND
Better Accommodations Promised-RaiI-
road Mans Idea of a Commission
Roads Damaged by storms.

Patrons of the Northern Pacific railroad
ere making much complaint of the made
quate overland passenger service at pres
ent. They say that since one of the over
land trains has been discontinued, the en-
tire passenger traffic has been crowded into
one train, inadequate for the comfortable
accommodation of the average days travel.
This is more particularly true of the west
bound passenger train. This train is al
most invariably from one to FIVE hours
late, arriving late at night. The tourist
and day coaches are generally crowded with
travel-worn passengers, many of whom are
unable TO Ind seats. Passengers who get
aboard the train at the way stations east of
Puyallup ind pretty rough service. More
seating capacity is sorely needed to accom-
modate the present volume of traffic.
|. A. Nadeau, the general agent of the
Northern Pacinc, yesterday, when asked
about the matter, said: 1.-THE road is doing
its best to accommodate the traffic. We
are running full train of twelve cars each
way, and as soon as the travel warrants
we shall break the train into two sections.
You know that the double train service
will be put on again next March. In q
week or two the travel will be much
lighter than it has been, for few people
make the transcontinental trip in winter
if they can avoid it. Those intending to
spend the winter in California have most
ly gone.
'The road wishes to do as it did last
winter-run one train day each way, and
keep it on time. The plan worked very
satisfactorily last year. Every other trans
continental road had tie-up of from one
to ten days, but we did not miss single
train-not single train. Our time was
good, too, for transcontinental train that
is only an hour late in winter is doing
pretty well.
1T is cheaper to run two sections of the
same train through than to run two separ-
ate trains. You see the two sections keep
so close together that one set of station
and switch hands can look after it. We
put on the single train service because it
seemed most practicable for winter, and
think that after few days there will be
no complaint.
'.The time to Chicago is now four days
and a half. While | cannot speak otfic-
tally, still / expect within year to see it
cut to four days, and within I've years to
three days. The time between st. Paul
and Chicago is now in the neighborhood
of fourteen hours, and the trains are now
making pretty good time between the two
cities. The distance from here to ST. Paul
is 1850 miles. If the roadbed and rolling
stock are so improved that we can make
an average of thirty-nve miles an hour
over that distance, including stops, it
would take Lfty-six hours to make the
run. With the twelve or fourteen hours
from st. Paul to Chicago added, there
would still be a margin of three or four
hours to make up the three days.
"Thirty-hve miles an hour is very rapid
running between here and ST. Paul when
the grades are considered. There are two
distinct mountain ranges to be crossed,
and the grades are necessarily steep. Still
it seems to me likely that improvements
in locomotive building and in other
branches of railroading will bring about
the desired result.
1.-The fares are already very low. You
can go to st. Paul second-class for $35, and
that is less than cents mile. You
could not ask to travel much more cheaply
than that. The great mass of people travel
second-class. Indeed, we sell fifteen sec
ond-class to one I.rst-class ticket So the
majority of people ought not to complain
that travelling is EXPENSIVE