The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-11-14
FRACTIONS Big WORK
Over $4,000 Expended in
This City the Past
Eight Weeks.
POWER HOUSE AND REPAIRS SHOP
The Line to Bergen Point the
Pride of the Company
lnteres ing Facts.

Jersey City people haven't many COM
plants to max about the Consolidated
Traction Company for General Manager
David Young has been hustling in
manner TO make contractors jump and
onlooksrs wonder. The company is
employing 1857 men upon track WORK,
paving and car fitting. Within six
weeks, IL the weather continues favor
able, all the roads controlled by the COM
pany will be equipped with electric cars
running upon nine inch girder rails set
4 feet So inches apart and paved
between with stone blocks. When
this work is completed $75O.OO0 will
have been spent upon the Improvement
of the street car system in this
City alone. Most of it has been spsnt
already. and there is not n great deal
more to be done. Two more wesks will
complete the road. which Is the COM
pauv's pride. 1t Is the Grand street
route to Bergen Point ferry from Court
Iaudg street ferry. The route Is s Ia
miles in length, aud 16 Ia miles OF track
has been laid solid enough to carry n
train of Pullman cars. The ninety pound
| girder rails have been laid upon heavy
| ties, two and a half feet apart from CEN
tire to centre. and each rail beIwesn It's
head aud foot is filled in with spruce or
hemlock plauklng to give the paving
stones a grip and prevent n hollow
spaces being developed along the edges of
the rails by the washing OF storms. All
OF the grooves at the curves are formed
by heavy rails especially rolled for this
| purpose, and all Of the switch points
and special pieces are wrought steel
made to drawings. Mr.. Young has
adopted standards for every available
! point of construction, and tnus saved a
| good deal of money by having few
| special patterns.
This Greenville and Bavonne road
traverses the ridge OF the peninsula be-
tween the two bays. and 1t is fairly we'll
settled throughout nearly che whole
length. while there is lots Of room Tor
building improvements. The old horse
cars used TO require an hour and forty
| minutes to make a trip one way. and an
electric car will make It In forty-1ve
| min 1t passes the New York Bay
Cemetery and ends at the Bergen Point
ferry. making a shorter route to Staten
Island than any in existence. and one
which will not be unpleasant 10 stormy
weather. Bergen Point 10 a favorlre re-
sort in summer, aud on Sundays especial
efforts will be made TO accommodate the
heavy travel to the bayside resort.
QUICK WORK,
It required only eight weeks to rip ND
the OLD double bearing rails and srrtngers,
change the gauge. relay the whole road
with heavy rails, and put ND the poles
aud wires, aud this was all done without
interrupt ng the regular traffic. 1t the
same time a great deal OF other work WAS
| being done, The Newark avenue road
was carried out to the Hackensack river
In the same mauner. and 10 nearly COM
| pleted TO that point. The Plank road
$500 - 80 1nH h1a a.,
operation TO the Hackensack. The
| Pacific avenue road, which is to bs a belt
line, was begun n is progressing rapid
lv, and several other lines have been
| equipped with trolley cars.
When Mr. Young came here. the power
station, just of Grand street, contained
| two double boilers of the Henie safety
pattern aud two Ball & Wood high speed
| engines of SO horse power capac ity rum
ming two Westinghouse dynamos. Three
more double boilers have since besu
added, and are now at work. Four more
big gener ators are In place,
and three Of the four new en-
glpes Of the same pattern as the
| original pair are now In runniug order.
| There is no lack Of owe in this city to-
day. The Plank Road division was
stopped a few days ago because there
was not sufficient power to operate 1t and
the other roads at the same tins. They
will all be running this week. Mr..
| Young has also established q car repair
stables. There he horse cars are
stripped and converted into motor cars.
New hoods, frames. platforms, dashes,
sashes, floors and braces are put in, aud
the cars are scraped and, reprinted
with the rich orange color, which
Is TO be the standard in this
City. Then the cars are tsken across the
.k-aok apA a tfaG xuftH rv7o ko nd ~ E
The shop can convert three horse cars
into trolley cars each week, and does it so
well that the casual observer would say
that the cars were perfectly new. Many
OF the Broadway cars which were
brought here when the cable was started
have been fitted up as motor
cars In this shop. New cars are
expected this month from the mauufac.
turers. A number of the Newark aud
Jersey City cars for the Plank Ro d
route are now being used Oh the Green-
VILE line. They are painted lemon color.
like those in Newark. The distinguishes
ing point of the various cars are roof
signs of aluminium leaf on q black
ground. aud ut night the color OF the
bullsey es on the front and rear Of each
car indicate the line.
A THOUSAND MEN AT WORK.
The difficulty with the tracks of diff
ferent Ruages Ia this CITY was overcome
by boiling an inner Gange upon about
1900 feet of track near the ferry house.
Cars of four feet, eight and one half
inches run upon the inner flanges, and
those of four feet ten and one half inches
go upon the old track. All of the cars
will bs reduced to the standard width
within a few days. aud then the change
will be rapidly effected In the track.
The only difficulty experienced is find
ing enough PAYERS. They are an In
dependent class of men and cannot be
hurried. All of the delay on the Green's
vile route is due to the fact thai PAYERS
are scarce and hard to drive. The same
trouble prevails ON the Newark avenue
route near the Hackensack, where
the roadway is torn up. Otner
Iaborers are abundant. and there is
plenty of work for them. 1t is likely t,
continue. too, HIS Ions as the weather re-
mains mild enough to permit of the con-
struction going on, and after all of the
work Is completed the recons truction of
the street car system IN Ne Tark will be
undertaken in the same manner. Over
one thousand men will be employed upon
the tracks. and the guage throughout
Newark will be made TO conform to the
standard. This will hardly colne
before the frost leaves the ground
IN the spring, but meanwhile there is
much other work to be done> Before
wiuter SETS Ia the company propos es to
have the Plank road route in operation
with power from the six lively ompou nd
tondensing engines in the Grand street
station. and meanwhile an enormou
power house will be under construction