The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-01-28

faces, projections and angles which make up
the modIrn passenger. trainl Place such
construction under water and propel it at
velocity of even 10 miles an hour and observe
the waste of motive power. Yet the pressure
of the air at go miles an hour is nearly equal to
that of water at 10 miles an hour.
In startling contrast to the blindness dis
played by railroad Economists" are the wisdom
and engineering skill exhibited by the builders
of steamships Ths naval architect has been
studying the lines along the Hull of his boat,
seeking to discover how pound OF resistance
can he saved BY changing Its contour the frac-
ton of an inch. Had he followed the policy Of
the railroad engineer he would have con-
structed a boat with fat, square bows, like q
scow, and made frequent indentations along
the sides, ending with a square stern. Below
the water line he would have thrown out all
possible distractions and then called on build
ers of marine engines to produce powerful
enough machines to reach speed of rs knots
an hour, when 10 would be the limit This COM
parison may seem grotesQue, but it is not I'M
just.
Between two coupled cars is a space of seven
feet or more into which rushes maelstr07n OF
air. The roof of the car is constructed with
concave surfaces and convex surfaces and
with projecting coverings for platforms. Each
of the 80 or more windows is recessed in the side
of the car from two to three inches. Many cars
have their sides ornamented with panels, the
holdings on which project fully three-quarters
of an inch. Designers of yachts discarded the
panel system below water line many years ago.
Critically observe the conduct of passenger
train from the time it pulls out of q station I'M
til it attains maximum speed. The engineer
receives the signal to go ahead. He opens the
throttle. The locomotive has a brief struggle
in overcoming the trains inertia. With barely
another effort the speed is increased to 10
miles an hour. AT this point the engineer may
pull the throttle back a notch. but it is easy
work up to 20 miles an hour. Then 1t is that
some powerful retarding influence begins to be
felt. What is it? Assuming that the run is be-
ing made on straight and level track, there
are but three forms of resistance worthy OF
consideration-wheel axle and atmospheric
friction.
There is nothing to prove that the friction OF
either wheel or axle increases with speed. But
at 20 miles an hour something Is drawing on
the capacity of the locomotive. At 30 miles
this Something becomes more marked. at
40 miles the stoker is a busy man, and at GO
miles an hour the ponderous locomotive has
exhausted every pound of its power in over
coming the resistance of this mysterious some
thing" A hurricane is seemingly sweeping
past the train, Juggling with giants strength
against every projecting surface. The train is
held as in wise. The slightest additional in
crease in speed is made at the cost of prodigious
effort. The atmospheric resistance is increas-
ing with the square of the velocity. This is the
solution Of the problem.
The changes in construction suggested
by Mr.. Adams, while radical, involve no
revolution in existing methods. He
claims that modern passenger cars can
be remodeled so as to avoid atmospheric
resistance at a comparatively small ex-
pense. He proposes to construct the
locomotive with wedge shaped front.
designed to cleave the atmosphere. All
square fronts are Systematically avoided.
The rear end Of the tenderis constructed
with platform and in every way con-
forms to the contour of the cars which
make up the train.
The tender is connected with the first
car by vestibule which extends entirely
around the space between them, and
which when thrown into position so con-
meets the twothat the lines are unbroken
from tIs roof to a false bottom which
clears the rails by few inches. This
false bottom extends beneath the car it's
entire length and is supported from the