Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1893-10-16
TEN DA VS. At THE FAIR.
(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED
We we're visiting the Transportation
Building last week when the article
of the Fair closed and we continued
our stay in that interesting spot lit
tie longer. The great annex portion
built on the west side of this building
is devoted very largely to the exhibi-
ton of everything that has to do with
railroad transportation and railroad
building. Everybody is interested in
the show of locomotives and cars. Sew
eral of the great railway companies
of the United States, the North
ern Pacific of Canada, and one
of the great railroad companies Of
Great Britain have long and complete
trains, including the locomotive, bag
gage, mail, smoking, first class, sec
ond class, and parlor cars, showing
trains all made up for service.
If we examine the engines first, we
commence with those which were first
built, one an English machine which
ran on strap rail laid on timbers and
operated nearly ninety years ago. 1t
was the Trevitchick locomotive, the
first in the world. The English also
show the "Rocket," one of the Ste
phenson locomotives, which is very
small and rude affair. Several r. r.
Companies show the first engines ever
operated in this country They are OF
different construction, but are in COM
parison with the great modern ma
chimes about what an OK would be to
an elephant. We noticed one of these
which was placed on four iron wheels,
perhaps 81 feet in diameter, only one
pair Of which were used as drivers;
the cylinders were, perhaps, six to
eight inches in diameter, fifteen to
eighteen inches in length. The boiler
part is from eight to ten feetlong The
fire box may hold about as much as
the ordinary wood furnace. The ma
chinery is rough and coarse, much Of
it looking as though it had been made
in the blacksmith's shop. In one cab
there was barrel filed with common
wood from the wood pile, few arm
fuls. The engineer had no "cab" to
ride in, but stood on his tender and
faced weather and danger at the ter
rife speed of from ten to fifteen miles
an hour. Another of the old engines
had what is known as an upright boil
er, a sort of iron tub set upon wheels.
Some Of these old machines are at
tached to the same cars they used to
propel, comical affairs. These cars
were set on iron wheels and were built,
except the wheels, exactly like the
old fashioned stage coach. There was
the coach part with three divisions of
seats, the drivers high seat in front,
the front dash board, the iron and
wood frame work behind Oh which to
strap on the trunks, the railing on top
to hold on the light parcels of bag
gage, and the old thorough brace for
springs. All that we missed in MAX
ing out a complete old fashioned stage |
coach were the wheels and the whip
socket. The Chicago and Northwes- /
tern r. r. shows the "Pioneer," the
first locomotive ever brought into
Chicago. If the locomotive alone was |
left to tell the progress made in this |
country in the last fifty years, it would
be wonderful tale.
The number-and variety Of locomo-
tives shown is very grea5. In contrast +
with the small machines just spoken /
of we mention the monster engine |
shown by the Baldwin Locomotive |
Works, which weighs a hundred tons
or more. These are large figures and |
one who cannot see the machine will |
need consider them. The engine is a |
double affair, Or what might be de- |
Icribed as one very heavy mogul en-
gine backed up against another of the
same kind, the fre-boxes being in the
same double cab division If we re- t
correctly there are six pairs