Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1894-11-24
IN PLACE OF COAL.
INTERESTING ACCOUNT or
NEW RAILROAD DEVICES.
Guarding Against che Operations Of
Train Robbers.

substitution Of cheap fuel for coal
and wood for the locomotives and the
protection Of the employees and cars
from train robbers. Wood Is becom.
Ing scarcer every year and the forest
fires In the west this summer are
fastening the end. Coal has always
been expensive. The month Of October
has furnished the details OF success
full ''hold.up" down in Arizona, the
blind baggage car, or, more properly
speaking, the car platform next to
the locomotive tender, again being
the vantage spot for the robbers.
It Is now proposed to use oil In
locomotives and to protect the engi-
neer and fireman from robbers by
doing away with the blind baggage
platform and substituting sort Of
combination tender and baggage
car.
The mode of making steam for
railrond locomotives through an oil
instead Of coal fire Is accomplished
by placing q steam radiator, the coils
Of which should be perforated, ut the
base of the fire box and the feeding
Of the same with oil. This descrip-
ton, although crude, fully covers
the ground minus technical terms.
OF course, there are hundred and
one patents involving this iuea OF
running locomotive with steam
made from an oil fire, but the major
ity of them ure based on the plan OF
utilizing the present fire box for the
flames and the locomotive tender as
the reservoir.
As to the advantages Of oil-burn-
ing locomotives on our railroads, 1t
Is stated that they are many Con-
template, for instance, u hundred
mile ride free from tho pesky cinder.
That would be the chief comfort de-
rived by the travelling public.
For the railroad corporations, 1t Is
claimed, there Is great saving as
between the oil and coal and wood.
It has been shown that to kindle fire
only one and one.half gallons OF oil Is
required to do what takes one-eighth
OF cord OF wood. One car load Of
oil, equaling 5000 gallons, will kim
die as many fires rs seventy.one car
loads Of wood, equaling 500 cords.
The difference In the cost Of trans
porting, handling, saving and storing
the wood and oil Is saved by the use
Of the latter. Less space Is occupied
by the appliances and the material
for kindling with oil than Is needed
for the wood. Oil Is always equally
efficient ut oil times, whereas wood, II
1t Is green or wet, will not kindle
readily. Wood IL more liable to DO
stolen, there Is more risk Of fire when
1t Is stored, and us q large number Of
cars IRE required to transport II, the
danger ofwreckage Is greater. In the
matter Of kindling fires oil Is there
fore cheaper, the appliances are sim
pier, more convenient. cleaner; much
time IL saved In getting up steam !;
wood sparks, which IRE very liable to
start hres, as the record In the South
ern States will verify, IRE not thrown
from the chimney. and the annoyance
and delay connected with the supply
OF wool IRE avoided.
In the matter OF coal, after the fire
has once been kindled, tho record Is
also greatly In favor Of oil. When 1t
Is taken into consideration the many
thousands OF cars Of coal that IRE
used annually by the railroad and the
transportation Of the same to differ
ent parts OF the road, an easy calcu-
lation can be made OF the immense
saving that must result. To make u
run OF a hundred miles the large loco
motives now being used on passenger
tnains will eat up about eight tons OF
ccal, ut a rough calculation, which
Is about half Car load. The i'm
msnse Hog" engines that haul
freight trains will consume fully three
times this much, and even after
swallowing so much coal sometimes
refuse to steam up to the require.
msnts. For tho same distance, In
the case Of passenger engine, one
reservoir filled with oil would suffice
and In the freight-hauling service but
ono renewal Of the reservoir would
be ample. Therefore, in the matter
Of transportation we have one Cur
load OF oil against eight car loads OF
coal and seventy.One car loads Of
wood. The oil flame Is much fiercer,
""u ." consequence Seo""A So'"SN
quicker.
The chief objection against using
oil for locomotive purposes Is the
supply. While the supply Of oil at
present seems adequate for all posi-.
bic wants, still the proposed use
would consume vast quantity.
While 1t Is cheap now, such great
demand would surely increase its
price and probably to such an extent
as 10 make it prohibitive. Then,
again, oil patents are perfect in the
eyes Of the patentee and the general
public until they are proven defec'
tive, and one defect, in some cases
is enough to squelch an idea forever,
During the great coal strike last
summer the Burlington and Quincy
road experimental with oil as loco.
motive fuel instead Of bituminoui
coal, which the strike had made
scarce and high, SO scarce, in fact
that the road had to resort to the ex
pedient of sending the coal to diff
ferent parts Of the road under seal In
express cars, for fear rival road
would confiscate it on account OF be-
ing in the same straits The expert
ment proved great success, both III
to the efficiency and economy OF oil
as fuel, but ut the very zenith of sue
, cess an explosion OF the oil on u rap
idly moving locomotive covered the
cab, engineer and fireman with burn
. | iNC Iirni1 and Ia,non g rot oh That :.