St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-21
CURVES AND SWITCHES.
A New System of Track Construc-
ton for the City Railway.

A New System of Track COnstruc-
b ton for the City Railway.
Some new departures in track con-
struction and the building of curves,
crossing and switchings are to be in
troduced into the Twin City electric
system as Milwaukee imports. They
are the designs of julius Meyer, chief
engineer of the company in the Cream
City, and have just been inspected by a
party from st. Paul headed by w. +.
Carr, chief engineer. The Milwaukee,
Sentinel says that Mr.. Carr was highly
pleased with the improvements and
said that they would be adopted by his
company on their lines in Minneapolis
and st. Paul. Mr.. Carr was very ell
thusastic in his praise of Milwaukee'S
beauty and her business advantages,
and could not find words too strong to
commend her system of street transit.
He said:
This is my second visit to Milwaukee
enjoyed a drive about the city this morning
and | was greatly surprised at what | saw
You have a beautiful city here and a city
that shows substantial marks of business
and progress. Especially am pleased with
your street railway system, which is one OF
the best have ever seen. Milwaukee ought
to be a good paying town for street railways,
as notice that the city is thickly built up to
The very end of the lines, which is something
that cannot say for Minneapolis. Our COM
pany has expended during the past TWO
years over S6,0U0,G0 i'll Improvements. We
now have 100 miles of track, equipped with
the overhead center pole electric system.
When our contem plated I,iI1 S extensions 99s
miles of track, which will undoubtedly be
the largest street railway system in the
world. | have decided TO adopt MIR. Meyers
curve switch and crossing system, which is
the best that has been produced. 1t oceu-
pies less space than the old style and IS much
more substantial The center poles with
which the Milwaukee city line is eQuipping
its road are stronger than those used in
Minneapolis ana will prove very durable
The rails used here are also much heavier,
weighing fifty weight pounds TO the yard,
while in Minneapolis and st; Paul we u'e
forty-five and fifty-p pound rail-
Mr.. Carr said that since the Twin City
lines had been operated by electricity
their business had more than doubled.
e The people want electric roads, said Mr..
Carr. Our company spent 100000 IN pre-
pairing for cable system, and row We have
thrown away the plant and substituted cleo
trcity This was done not alone because it
was cheaper. but because the people de
manded rapid transit which can only be
supplied by the electric system. On some OF
our lines the ears attain Il speed as high as
eighteen miles an hour. while with cable
system Il speed OF only eight to twelve miles
an hour can be secured. Our line between
ST. PanI and Minneapolis shows exclusively
how popular all electric road can become.
The road has only been in operation short
time YET it controls nearly all the passenger
traffic between the two cities. The railroads
used to do a big business there
but now they carry only, few pas
sengers. The st. Paul road re
Gently took off three passenger trains between
the Twin Cities and has reduced the number
of cars on the other trains. The Manitoba
road also took off several trains lately. The
fact was that the steam railways could not
compete with the electric roads. The latter
was much cheaper and in addition 1t AT
forded finer ride to the passengers We
still have twenty miles of track operated by
cable power, but it will be changed to an
electric system as soon as we can get around
to it,
: Mr.. Carr said that the notion so hope
fully entertained that center poles were
much cheaper than side poles was very
wrong, the fact being that they were
much more expensive. Two side poles
cost about $40, while fine center pole,
like those which will be used in the
business section by the Milwaukee City
company, costs from $50 to $50. Another
thing which makes the center pole more
expensive is the necessity Of spreading
the tracks an extra distance of two feet.
which entails an additional expense for
repair of the streets, which must be
done by the company, and which az
gregates a considerable sum.
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