The weekly tribune., 1893-05-26
RAILWAY EXHIBIT,
Sights To Be Seen in Trarspor-
tatiolI Building.
ENGLISH AED AMERICAN ENGINES.

Are Never Bothered by Cows--English
and American Sleeping Cars and Day
Coaches-An Interesting Comparison.
WORLDS FAIR, May 90. - Special -
There is one spot in the big Transportation
building where cro";t, ,' >i;ors may al
ways be seen. 1t is an aisle on ole side of
which is typical American railway train,
and on the other II train from the London
and Northwestern railway Of England. A
fully equipped English railway train is a
novelty, sure enough, and the polite young
men kept here for the purpose by the Brit
ish corporation are busy from early morn
ing till late at night explaining to inquisi-
tive Americans the mysteries and pecul-
iarities of the locomotive and coaches. 1t
is II rather odd appearance that the Eng
lish train makes in such close proximity
to Il locomotive and coaches of our own
build. The foreign locomotive is without
that graceful and sometimes useful ap-
pendage known i'll this country rs Il "cow-
catcher" This is not needed in England
because the track-or permanent way"
as the English have it's never bothered
with cows. The line protected by fences
or walls which are cowproof. The top of
the English locomotive does not look
much like one of our engines for many
reasons. II has no bell, probably for the
same reason that it has no cow-catcher,
and for the additional reason that there
are few il ANY Cr"Gr-crossings in England.
The streets ana roads are all run under or
over the permanent way. The foreign To-
comotive has II whistle. but it is so little
like an American whistle that You would
never guess its identity. The top of the
big boiler has no huge dome, no orna-
mental WORK Of brass or iron to win the
undying admiration of tie small bows
along the route over which il runs. Il isa
locomotive, Of course. but it surely doesn't
look like one, according 70 our STANDARD.
Tie Queen j. tie name Of this i'm
ported flyer. II is an express eu-ine. If
the type used to make the rapid runs for
which the road which sends it over here j.
justly famous. One Of these locomotives
will take q train Of zen or twelve English
cars, which are not Il. heavy as OUl Amer
lean coaches, ald haul il from London to
Aberdeen, a distance OF JjJmles in twelve
hours and five minutes, making Il dozen or
fifteen stops ca route. This is very nearly
fifty miles "a hour for the whole dis
taucc, and j. Il fast run-fastrr than any
OF the long distance runs in America. For
Shorter distances, such rs between London
and Liverpool, London and Edinburg, the
express speed is titty-siX miles an hour
and is made many times Il day and every
day in the year.
All these English locomotives are made
on what is known as rigid frames They
have no trucks before or after the drivers.
1t has been supposed they could not be run
over our American roads. with their
sharper curves, but this train was brought
entire from New York to Chicago over the
New York Central line, and, as the British
railway men say, without any trouble and
with every journal cool and nice. Still,
the English type would not do on the
average American road. just as soon rs
it attempted to round some of the sharp
curves at "A pretty good rate of speed t
would find itself in trouble and perhaps in
the ditch.
1t may we'll he doubted if an American
engineer could DE hired to run one of these
British machines. He might admire it as
ii piece of machanism-indeed, American
engineers by the score visit the aisle every
utN-Dul Dc Ntlli'l HOu care To Sldlu WltH
his hand on the throttle without more pro-
lection from the weather than is afforded
by the hood of the locomotive. The only
protection offered is a mere upright,
through which two holes are cut and
glassed over-the English railroad man
calls this lookout window a spectacle, -
and but the narrowest pretense of roof.
In practice the rain and the snow, the hail
l. a. lan in ( b..
driver just as if lie were standing in the
open air. OF course the fireman or stoker
is no better of. Neither driver nor stoker
has seat either, and must he on their
feet all the time. The polite and intelli-
gent young men in "'large of the train en-
plain that by act of parliament railway
compnuv j. forbidden To work an engineer
more IN uinr hours, and that stations
and signals ar, ouumrruu, along ne line
the engineer could not sit down ii he
wanted To. Il" says also that no demand
for seats has ever been made hy + he driv-
erS: and rs to the exposure, the company
provides storm coat, fur H., engine r!cu. /
While it iS of course I .,.r g., 'h" weather /
in England j. not 20, - .'r q II !, ~ iA.s /
part Of America, -.i.r. T'H.. ..: .. llN such |
Il simple cun,Ii,. 1,n" .,,. ,..rl .rr'y,u. /
in u-e GA all Am,.,,am .,utH. .iNy-. * not /
attached ai.D toih, .r. tW .! a.. uiue, "f .
the Ea-ii,u EUni
TIL ;,ilGer al ,a.. j.: -.-i lucyuu,iye is /
much like an Amriican:cuGyr, vacpt that /
it has no track 3, hut Instead three wheels /
on side also oI the rigid frame pattern. /
Underneath is seen the watcr-taking de. |
vice in use Oh the Pennsylvania and II few
other American roads. 1t is simply Il |
spout which is let down into n trough be-
tween the rails, and the motion OF the
train causes stream of water to rise and |
fall within the tank. This is one of the
very few railway devices for which Amer
lea is indebted to England This method
of saving the time consumed by filling
tanks on the old plan was first used by the
London and Northwestern road, and was
introduced in this country by an English
engineer. In return for this improvement
we have given our foreign friends the air.
brake, the sleeping car, the dining car, the
vestibule, the baggage checking system,
signals, the block system and
many other important features of modern
some Of which are taken Kind
ly to in fngland and some of which are
not.
!