Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-11-20


on an engine, which l should think might
be of some service ir pushing a person
OF the track and preventing them from
going under the wheels. On cars that are
supported on four wheels they have a kind
| of open frame work around the wheel base
ostensibly to push any obstruction in front
OF 1t on the track, but they are neces-
sarily so high above the rail, on account of
the oscillatory motion of the car that
lido not think they do any practical good
The subject has never been taken up in
| newspaper discussion account of any
protest from citizens, neither has the mat
| ter ever been discussed in the common
council nor Investigated in any way by the
municipal authorities.
| Il have been told that there are some
patent devices. but never heard any one
| say that they were worth anything In
| fact, l have always heard the contrary
| sentiment expressed. If you have under
report L will be very much pleased II
you Will send me printed copy
| Philadelphia writes through its chief en-
gineer as follows:
| Replying to your inquiry of March 6. I
can report that the only kind of fender
used is simply two frames of stats Joined
at an angie OF about 40 degrees in front
or the wheels, the design of the Phila-
delphia Traction Company. Some interest
was aroused in the question of tenders
some time ago, but no results were reached
ana no special complaints have been made
against the design in use. The subject has
not as yet been investigated by the city
authorities to my knowledge"
IN columbus, Ohio, V-shaped fender
attached TO the truck of the car and hang
ing as low as possible, so as to clear the
pavement, is employed. 1t appears to be
satisfactory to the citizens as there has
| never been any complaint and the city
authorities nave never investigated the
subject.
From San Francisco comes the report that
the electric cars in that city have practi-
cally no fender They set high upon the
trucks and the protection afforded is not
at all satisfactory to the citizens. With
| the cable cars 1t is different. Nearly all
OF the cars are provided with fender. 1t
consists simply of a dashboard, protected
| by rubber. coming down to within a couple
OF inches or the rail, the board being slight
~ DOW ed and in some instances V-shaped.
Inc cars in Albany, n. Y, have no regu-
lar fender, but board or scraper hangs with
In few inches of the rails. According to
the views OF the city engineer this board
Goes not seem to be of much use FEM
uer Complaints are rare, and the city has
never investigated the subject.
According to the report of the city engi-
neer the citizens are in a bad way in Oma-
ha, Neb. There are no tenders in use what
ever, and rs consequence several fatali-
ties have resulted. The use of a good fen
der the engineer thinks would be a de-
cided improvement and while the authorI-
ties have never Investigated the subject he
will bring 1t to their attention.
None of the few tenders in use in Roch-
ester, n. Y, have been found satisfactory
L
/ ter.
From Providence. r. l., comes the infor-
nation that only the largest cars have any
protector, and that consists of a cross bar
on the trucks. The smaller ones have an
arrangement shaped like a pillow fastened
to the truck few inches above the track
This does not protrude beyond the plat
form Of the car
The electric RAILWAYS in Lowell Mass
do not use any fender. According to the
report OF the city engineer. the street rail
way company has had this matter under
consideration for some time and have been
unable to find anything satisfactory to
! them. The company is now thinking of
putting on an invention of its own.
The street railroads in Toledo use wooden
tenders usually set perpendcularly in front
OF the wheels attached to the truck. Some
are N-shaped and also attached to the truck
and placed from three to five inches from
the pavement. There has been no COM
plant of the fender and the subject has
never been investigated.
The cars in Indianapolis are protected
by what is known the life guard 1t con-
locomotive and situated about three incnes
from the top of the rail.
In Boston commission was appointed
to examine into the merits of tenders for
use on the West End Electric Railway
Company Tine investigation was a long one
and the committee finally recommended a
fender known as the Cleveland platform
with buffer combined with the Hart fender
This fender consists of a stationary plat
form extending two feet in front of the
dash board, and one foot above the track
Under the car and operated by mechanism
short distance in front of the wheels Is
fender composed of a strip of wood at
tached to the trucks. The normal position
of this fender is under the body of the car
close to the floor. When the fender is de-
sired to be used, the motorman applies the
brakes. This action not only stops the car
but trips the fender. which falls to within
a few inches of the rails and prevents any
thing from getting under the wheels
In Cincinnati, Ohio. the style of tenders
used Is the same as those provided by the
Washington and Georgetown and Tenley-
town railways.
The Kansas City Ordinance.
An interesting letter comes from Kansas
City, Mo-, on the subject of street-car fen
ders. The city engineer. writing to Capt. Fie-
beger upon this subject, says: -" THE SUBJ
ject received the attention of the city coun-
Gil six years ago, and its investigation re-
suited in the adoption of an ordinance upon
the matter, which requires that all cars
operated by cable or electricity, shall use
tenders of such design, that they shall en-
tirely surround the running gear of the car,
and be placed as not to be more than
two inches above the surface of the street,
ana snail extend as FAR out as the platform
of the car In attempting to comply with
this ordinance, different companies have
adopted different styles of tenders. One
1enUer USED consists or frame work OF metal,
pointed at both ends and covered with
heavy canvas, thus completely closing the
running gear of the car. Another fender
used is one of the same shape as the first,
constructed of wooden strips. A third de-
sign is the fender used upon the Market
street cable cars. which is an independent
fender for each truck, and consists of a
metal frame with very narrow strips as
side Tenders and projecting footboard as
the front fender.
Il inclose a sketch of fender, similar to
the last mentioned. proposed to be used by
one company for their high truck electric
cars, but which you readily see fails to
comply with the conditions of the ordin-
ance, and in fact, while our citizens do not
complain of the tenders now in use, / find
that on account of the condition of our
streets and steep grades that most of the
tenders used do not extend as far out as
the platforms and will average from three
to five inches above the surface of the road |
way"
Submitted to the Commit ssiOners.
The Robins life guard and safety fender
was recently called to the attention of the |
Commissioners with a view of having 1t !
adopted for the local street cars. The fen
der consists of an iron frame bolted and !
attached to the car body and extending in |
front of the car three feet. A wire netting |
covers the bottom and extends upward at |
a right angle and in front of the car plat |
form, being about eight inches from the |
dash board. This netting is attached to the |