Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-10-21
Increase in Mail and Freight Traffic
on Electric Roads.
some new DESIGNS FOR MAIL CARS
Economy and Speed a Big Factor
in the Competition.
OINTS OF INTEREST

beginning to make bids for the mail and
freight service. and from present indications
the outlook Is very bright for the electric
roads in its new venture"
The above expression of opinion was given
to Star reporter recently by an agent Ct
one of the largest electric machinery and
equipment firms in the country. He had
come to Washington in connection with the
new line now building between this city and
Baltimore, his business had previously taken
him all over the country, and he ought to be
therefore thoroughly versed on the electric
load situation of the country.
Two Of the largest moneymaking cor
porations, railroad and telegraph he said.
nave had matters very much their own
way in the past, but from present indica-
tons quite hole will be made in the re-
ceipts of both in the future. All the readers
Of the daily press know to what extent the
trolley lines have injured the suburban bus
mess OF the railroads, and future develop
ments are watched with the keenest inter
est. The federal government will play no
faVorlte and the corporation that will han
ole It's business the cheapest and quickest
viii surely secure the contracts And this
the trolley lines will do to a certainty on
short runs. As to how the telegraph COM
panies will become involved, the speedy
handling Of the mails will answer that ques-
tlon ana IN way not at all satisfactory
to them. But the public will be benefited,
and that is the all-important idea.
Toe Much for the Steam Road.
Il have trolley road in my mind that
will APPLY illustrate how disastrous the
traffic of the electric lines has been to the
railroad suburban business. This road runs
from Harrisburg to Middletown, Pa, dis
lance of about nine miles, and runs
through the great mill town of Steeton.
the place where the iron work for the 9th
street underground trolley line was made,
and through the village of Hishspire.
The Pennsylvania railroad had run spe-
ctal accommodation trains. the fare being
about cents a mile, and did very re-
munerative business. When the electric
road was started they pat on half-hour
cars and the fare averaged about a cent
| mile at the outside. In one months time
the railroad cried quits, and took off all
the short-run trains and let the through
| trains pick up the small traffic that was
left.
1T is now proposed TO put postal cars on
| this short hpe, with the result that instead
of mail arriving at Middletown about four
| times a day. as formerly, Uncle Sans en-
Ploye will strike the town every two hours
Service like this is bound to hurt the tele-
graph as well as the telephone business
"One year ago slxty-two electric lines
were carrying mails; thirty-tive were carry
ing express matter, and tifty-tive carried
freight traffic Today these figures can be
doubled without the least exaggeration.
What they will be a year hence can hardly
be foretold, but from the way the railroads
are experimenting with electricity l would
venture the prediction that quadrupling
would be about the proper increase.
Handsome Mail Cars.
1.-The chief question that is troubling cleo
trlcal car constructors at present is how to
handle the freight and mail traffic with as
great a profit as possible. A traction COM
pany over in Philadelphia recently COM
pleted three handsome cars to be used on
it's lines for the Post Office Department.
The cars are models of beauty. Those pre-
viously used We're devoted exclusively to
mail purposes, and were run as trailers be-
hind the regular cars. The new cars are
thirty-four feet long; one-half will be de-
voted to passengers and the other half
given up for mail purposes. They will be
run Independently of the other cars and
on regular schedule time. They are paint
ed white, with silver letters Along the
body of the car are the words United
States Mall While the routes nave not
been definitely determined. it Is expected
that one car will be run to Darby and an
other to Manayunk. The third car Is to be
kept in reserve in case of accident
The common type of car for such ser
vice is combination car having passen-
ger compartment ard a freight compart-
ment as 1t is only In comparatively few
cases that it pays to have cars for freight
exclusively. With the combination car
mails. parcels and limited amount of
heavy freight may be carried. thus giving
any more frequently than Is required for
the passenger service.
Time-Saver.
1.-THE most substantial and speedy benefit
derived frCm the electric motor was the
building Of the McKeesport and Wilmer
ding Dad up in western Pennsylvania. This
line is only four miles and half long, but
it effects a connection over a ridge where
no route for an ordinary steam railroad Is
practicable, and the existing main lines
form an II direct route. Passengers over
the Pennsylvania road for Mckeesport
were formerly compelled to go to Pitts
burg, change to the Baltimore and Ohio
and then return to McKeesport, making
twenty-nine miles of travel from Wilmer
ding. The height of the ridge is 200 feet,
and the trolley line surmounts an eleva-
ton of 400 feet, having numerous curves
and maximum grades of nearly ~ per cent
This electric line Is now the principal con-
Meeting route, and mail and express matter
from the Pennsylvania railroad arrives in
Mckeesport five hours earlier than former
ly, while day is saved in freight ship
ments from the east, as McKeesport mer-
chants have their freight shipped to Will
merding and then transferred to the cleo
trio road.
Mail is carried from the Pennsylvania
road over this electric line not only for Nc
keesport but for transfer to three lines of
steam railway centering at McKeesport
The time from Wilmerding station to the
McheeSpoTt post once IS forty minutes,
and the mail is carried under the regular
halfway mail contracts. the government
paying a certain amount per hundred
pounds per mile. This was the first elec-
trio railway with which the Adams Ex-
press Company made a contract, and the
express matter is ordinarily carried on the
combination baggage and passenger cars
except when the shipments are large
enough to require the use of box car
Between This City and Baltimore.
'The mail. express and freight traffic is
profitable feature, as it does not interfere
with the regular passenger service, and the
frequency with which the electric cars are
run makes the saving in time specially de-
sirable for mail and express matter At
McKeesport the company has it's own wa.
CONS to collect and deliver freight Con
nection is made at this place with electric
lines to other suburban towns. SO that there
is continuous trolley route from McKe
I ort to Pittsburg, the distance being about
twenty miles. All the line is single track
with turnouts. The power house is stu
ated at about the middle of the line thus
furnishing a steady and equal flow of cur
rent for both sections.
Il mention these details, as practically
the same system will be used in Washing
ton and Baltimore when the new trolley
road between the two cities is completed
as the management will undoubtedly make
a bid for and secure considerable portion
o1,1 hing