Evening star., 1895-01-12

~ n hL5NX/~ ever known DeIOTe
! AlN TlkiWW ~ Heretofore the COM
.AaE'M&. VII: mon cars have been
NM Th Y ii G h e with Oil
Slt%zx EssSH lamps, the finer cars
~ ~. with gas from tanks
and the very finest cars-those which run
on the limited trains of the greatest rail-
roads in the country-with electricity. In
the case of the last named, the light has
been obtained from a current furnished by
a dynamo in the combination car at the
head of the train. This is still the source
of light on all Of the limited trains in the
country except one. On that one train the
storage battery has been introduced in such
a way as to make each car Independent of
every other one. The result is, as 1 have
said, what promises to be revolution in
train lighting. There Is no reason why
every car running on the big railroads Of
the country should not be Illuminated with
electricity in the near future, giving the
passengers an almost perfect artificial light
and increasing the safety of travel in
considerable degree.
There were many objec tions to the dyna-
mo system. In the first place, an expert
electrician was needed on the train. In the
second place. unless the cars were made up
train the eletcric lights could not be
used. Thus, If q sleeping car was cut Off
at a junction. the porter had to light the
lamps, because the dynamo had gone on
with the train In the third place, the dyn-
amo used up great deal of steam Which
was needed, perhaps, for the pulling of the
train up a heavy grade; and the electric
current had to be kept up or the cars
would be thrown into darkness. Accumu-
certain amount of the fluid so that the
dynamo was not used all of the time; but
running 1t was nuisance When II was
proposed to storage batteries with the
nf tlltrvr1 r0nf in q
the expense was considered the chief OBJ
lection.
Costs Little More Than Gas.
Independent Illumination Tor the railroad
cars was unquestionably the most effective;
but the question was, ,woulh it not be too
costly? Storage batteries have been built
with horizontai plates ana Stored under the
cars. The weight Ola battery depends on
the number of lights to be used. Sleep
ing car. which requires, the greatest amount
of illumination 0here- are about twenty
four lights to each carr. called for 1000
pounds of storage battery. The day coaches
and the dining cars requfaed much less.
This 1000 pounds Of battery will furnish
current enough to run the lights on the
sleeping car for thirty-siX hours. On din
ing car, where the lights are used for
comparatively short time each day, 1t Is
possible to go for ten days or two weeks
without recharging the batteries.
On one road a train carries with 1t enough
electricity to illuminate each of the cars
while the run Is made, tor example, from
Cincinnati to New York. making allowance
for all possible delays. At Jersey City the
cars are taken to the shops and the bat
teries are removed to be charged again. 1t
takes twelve hours to charge each of the
batteries.
1t has taken a long time to prove what
the cost Of this system of lighting is. But
an expert examination made recently by
railroad journal for the benefit Of its read
10 hat 80 to 10
more than that of the gas with which the
finest cars on some of the great lines are
lighted. All Of the latest sleeping cars use
this gas, which Is carried in storage tanks
on top of the car. 1t Is used also on the
Broadway line of street cars in New York
city. The actual cost of the Independent
electric lighting is one and one-third cents
per hour for each lamp Of sixteen candle
power. Taking into account the amount of
illumination furnished, the cost is really
less than that of the apparently cheaper
saves $500 month in the salaries of cleo
tricians. At least, that Is what one road
saves. On roads which run limited trains
the saving would be much larger. From the
time the cars leave the shops until they re-
turn to them there is no connecting of
wires and no running Of dynamos. All that
is to be done is to turn the button at the |
end of the car and set 1t aglow.
Contributes to Safety.
The advantages Of electric lighting on |
railroad cars are many. Chief among them |
is the additional degree Of safety afforded |
to passengers. The car stove and the car |
lamp have caused an enormous loss of life |
in the history Of railroad transportation. |
the perfect train is heated by |
steam and lighted by electricity; and If a |
car should roll down an embankment there |
is nothing at all to set fire to 1t and roast
Its passengers alive: If you are in a car
that does any Of this ground and lofty
tumbling, and you are not crushed by the
fall, you need not be at all afraid Of death.
An electric bulb, 1t Is said, has set fire to
the 1mpalpable dust that fills the air in a
flour mill, and not long ago fire was re-
ported to have started from pile of paper
on which a lighted bulb was lying. But
an electric bulb can be broken
with impunity, and the mild current which
comes from a storage battery would not set
lire tc woodwork even from an uninsulated
wire.
The convenience Of the Independent bat
terry lies in the fact that car can be cut
Off an express train and stand on side
track all night and the electric lighting is
not interrupted. Then there is never a
question of the electrician wanting steam
when it Is needed by the engineer. Every
railroad man admits that the Independent
system Is the ideal system If it is cheap |
enough to be practicable, and the expert
ments made seems to have proved that it |
Is economical
Caring for the Employees.
I had converse tiop with q railroad Of
fetal about the safety II nnss de steele trav-
cling short time go Hssis like many
other railroad men of aromisence. gradu-
ate of the school Of 'expef9ence. 1t was
1ot many years ago that hec Fan an engine
and afterward he became = master me-
,hanic. and then he Iook charge of the
motive power and ro1ngsst of a road
THE safety of the travelling public to-
lay" he said. "depers1s as much as any
hing on the way a railroad company
reats its employees and looks after their
norals 1t was not SO many years ago
hat a railroad man had no place to go
when he was off duty, except the saloon.
f you remember the East st. Louis Of a
ew years ago you will recall what sort Of
hole it was. Engines stopped there then
md the Bridge and Tunnel Companys en-
zines hauled all trains over the bridge
nto st. Louis. There was actually no
lace in East st. Louis for trainman to
% except the many saloons which -four
shed in the town. And many time I |
ave seen an engineer hoisted to his seat !,
n the cab in such condition that It was
My providential dispensation that car
led his train n, and Its gassensers safely to
hA ruh fa in, | !