The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1891-01-20
.DEPEW'S CAR SHOPS.
ANOTHER PULLMAN GROWN UP
IN NEW YORK
low the Doctor Came to Make His Own
Oars.

low the Doctor Came to Make His Own
Oars.
In the quiet way which is character
site Of his business operations DR..
Chauncy Mitchell Depew of the New
York Central Railroad is creating all
,ther Pullman OH the plain to the east
ward of this city.
! Already he has done much to excite
Mr. Pullman's envy and alarm. In
Iced, the primary object Of the new
:ar works was to save to the Central
/ considerable amount of money that
formerly went into Mr.. Pullman's
pocket. Three years ago the Central
had some differences of opinion with
Mr.. Pullman in regard to the value of
sleeping cars and drawing-roos cars
which the latter manufactured and the
former purchased. This led the Ger
;ral people to resolve to manufacture
heir own cars.
The West Shore, of which the Cen
ral, as is we'll known, is the lessee,
owned thirty acres of land in East
Buffalo. Here DR.. Webb and Mr.. De-
pew put their car works. The land was
20 level as to be almost swamp, and
considerable filling in of earth and
gravel had to be done.
Three years have worked wonder
full transformation in the appearance
If that neighbcrhood. In place of &
lreary expanse of fields one now sees
series of gigantic buildings. One of
hem apparently would cover one of
hose long city blocks between the up
own avenues in New York. There is
IN enormous carpenter shop, an equal
y enormous finishing shop, a boiler
house, a paint shop, a foundry, &c.
One also sees amid the group Of big
brick buildings the tall wooden der
ricks of the oil regions. Recently two
brewers of Buffalo bored for natural
gas near by in East Buffalo, and at
depth of about 1900 feet struck the
precious fluid. One of the brewers es-
Inmates that the natural gas which he
thus obtained is saving him 81 1000
yearly, which he would otherwise ex-
pend in the purchase Of coal for his
steam engines. The Central, not to
be outdone, will attempt to make
similar saving. Another object of in
terest near the car wolxs is a pictur-
esque building Of wood, which one is
told is a hospital for disabled railroad
employees. This hospital is sustained
by the money of the>-ssilroadS ( men,
those employed in the car works being
included in the number, although it is
rarely that any of them find it neces-
sary to secure such medical attendance.
Switchmen mainly benefit by the ex-
istence of the hospital. A branch Of
the Young Mems Christian Association
Also has rooms at the car works, and
these rooms, having files of newspa-
pers, magazines, and books, are much
frequented evenings BY the workmen.
When the works were first establish
ed, John Monahan, the general time
keeper, says the names of forty-fve
men only were on his books. Now he
has to keep the time of 1925 men. 1t
is the aim Of Mr.. Depew and DR..
Webb to keep these men constantly at
work in manufacturing or repairing
cars, so great are the needs of the Cen
.ral. Acting on this policy T. A. Bis
sell, the superintendent of the car
works, aims to have forty-tive cars
constantly in course of construction or
being repaired. No sooner is one fin
ishcd or repaired than another takes its
place on the tracks in the huge finish
ing room. A visitor to this room
might imagine at the first glance that
he was in big shipyard, with half a
hundred vessels just ready to be
launched before him. This resem-
blance to ships is enhanced by the color
of the unfinished cars-a dazzling
white. The framework of the cars is
of ash, but the body is of whitewood,
that being preferred to pine. The out
side of these SIS 900 or S18, 900 sleep
ing and drawing-room cars is white
wood, while the interiors nowadays
are lined with mahogany. 1t takes
good many coats of paint to make the
whitewood waterproof. The last coats
are what may be considered the stand
ard color, brown.
One sees in the finishing shop many
veteran sleeping cars. Here is the old
"Enterprise," only ifty-five feet long
and with only five sections of sleeping
berths. Next to it is the "Northum-
berland," just now being completed.
1t is standard car of the present day,
seventy feet long and with seven sec
tons of sleeping berths. Ordinarily
these modern sleepers cost from Sl5,-
900 to $4,000, but one was completed
for Cornelius Vanderbilt last week
which will cost him $4,000. That
was made regardless of cost, with care
fully selected old oak and mahogany.
It. contains sleeping rooms that rcsem-
Die those of Mr.. Fanderbilt's own
home in New lork-a purlor, bath
room, and sitting room. The wood
cutting done on this car was the finest
the car works have yet rone, and the
marble and the glass were the best that
could be obtained.
Electric lighting is yet failure SO
far as railway cars are concerned. The
storage battery system was tried upon
a Wagner that ran between New York
and Boston, but it was not success.