The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-05-23
SPEED ON RAILWAYS
TRAINS HAULED AS FAST IN THE
FIFTIEs As AT THE PRESENT DAY.
A Gigantic Work Nearing Completion
on the Panhandle-B. & o. and the
Monon Earnings increasing.

A recent issue OF the Lebanon Patriot con-
tains a lengthy article written by j. II.
veteran engineer. in which
he takes the position that the engines of the
present day make no faster time than those
Of the fifties. but they will haul at such high
speed much heavier trains. Mr.. Goldsbor-
ough. among other things. says: IT don't be-
eve they excel the fast running that was
made forty-one years ago on the old Madison
& indianapolis road. / well remember when
that company purchased new engine frcm
the Niles locomotive works. of Cincinnati,
In 1856. 1t was considered a powerful en-
CINE in that day. The engine was built from
Specifications furnished by ]. o. d. Lilly,
who was master mechanic of the road at
that time. with headquarters at North Mad
Ison. This engine had a five foot and six
inch wheel. twenty-inch cylinders, and
stroke. had the pleasure
Of being one who was employed to stand on
the foot board of this powerful engine in
the fall of 1855 We were hauling the pas
senger train. and were delayed at Columbus
on account of a slight accident to another
train, and when We arrived at Edinburg We
had thirty minutes to make Indianapolis and
be on time. thirty miles away. We had two
coaches and baggage car. and had to make
two stops. one at Franklin and one at
We reached the Union Station
on time. 1t must be remembered that there
were no air brakes at that time, and we could
not make as quick stops as now. I would
Judge that we consumed at least seven min
utes of the thirty in stopping and start
ing. / would say that there is no finer To-
dpmotive to-day than one on the old Bee
line in 1856. There are many railroad men
living to-day who remember the Sidney
for that was her name. 1t was said the
painting alone on this engine cost 5000. This
fontaine to Crestline, and Robert Quigley,
boy seventeen years old. son of the master
ran the engine. I was on the old
Indiana polls to Bellefontaine Our time was
IA miles in five hours. making all stops
Mr.. Quigley is still running on the Bee
of the remarkable runs the sidney. the
Massachusetts" and crack engines of those
days made.
Panhandle Tunnels Completed.
Contractor Casparis. of Columbus. O., who
one year ago took contracts to construct the
Bloomfield and Unionport tunnels, on the
Panhandle lines. will to-day complete both.
When the contract was let Is was expected
that 1t would be eighteen months or more
before they were completed, and II has been
but few days over one year. Contractor
Casparis said when he took the contracts
that If he got them completed by Aug. I,
1896, he would be satisfied. At the outset
he started in with about five hundred men,
and two or three work trains always at his
disposal. He procured the most improved
including an air compressor to
work pneumatic drills and from the very
beginning rapid progress was made. The
company would not allow any OF its nu-
merous trains. to be delayed. and as nearly
N m
every twenty-four hours, the work OF blast
ing and removing the rock was necessarily
slow; Last fail when presaent Foo war t6 0a
road on his annual tour OF inspection, he
spent some time at the tunnels, and made
WORK. a ' When he learned that the numerous
freight trains were causing much delay, he
consulted with the superintendents, the
trainmasters and dispatchers, and the result
was an arrangement to bunch all freight
trains as much as possible 50 as 70 run them
through the tunnels at nearly the same hours
every day. Mr.. Roberts said he was desir-
Gus of seeing the work finished as soon as 1t
could be done, and recommended that the
operating department should cooperate with
the contractor as much as possible. From
that time on the work was pushed through
as fast as possible regardless or expense,
and before the LIST of March the rock had all
been removed and the masons had started
on the arch wopk. The total cost of widen
ing and arching the tunnels through rock
cuts for several miles and building the new
stone arch bridges will be somewhere in the
neighborhood of $2oOo,coO.
Personal, Local md General Notes.
The Baltimore & Ohio earned in April ST.
$50. 416, an increase over April, 1880, OF $l2s,-
024 Dor
James Kenney, passenger conductor on the
Panhandle, Is so i'll as TO confine him at
home.
J. p. Hough, train dispatcher on the To-
ledo & Ohio Central, has been appointed pri-
- Co.. .tv,xo liant
A NJ. Waite, who has been elected presi-
dent of the Western Railway Club, Is gen.
eral master car builder of the Lake Shore
road
The Illinois Central people now expect to
the Chesapeake & Ohio Southwestern by
June /.
Train 20. over the Panhandle east. yester-
day hauled four Pullmans. one was occu-
pied by. parties who are from Mexico and go
ing to New York.
c. C. Haines. district passenger agent of
the Pennsylvania Company at Dayton, o.,
was in the city yesterday, the guest OF
George Rockwell. of the same lines
Commissioner Haines, of the Southern
Freight Association, 1T is stated. has been
the elevated roads of New York city.
On June 10 and IL the Northern Pacific will
land at $50 on account OF the Eclectic Med
ical Association. The return limit Will be
July 81. So
James O'Rourke, engineer of maintenance
of way of the Cinsinnati, Hamilton * Day
ton Indianapolis ayision), will to-day place
the last of the ten miles of heavy steel rail
recently received.
The Canada Pacific has notified the men
in their employ who handle freight that
they will be held accountable for all losses
or damages which result from carelessness
or rough handling.
The. Southern states Passenger Associa-
tion has notified. the 80 meet club that
during the national meet of the L. A. w. at
Louisville, in August, IL viii sell tickets at
one fare for the round trip.
Isaac Houck, the special officer of the
Pennsylvania Company who looks after the
tramp traffic over the lines, win on Monday
reach his sixty-ninth birthday He has been
with the road nearly forty years.
The Adams Express Company on Wednes-
day took out of New Albany 1888 cases of
strawberries. On the same day, by other
methods, 1S2 cases were shipped, making the
shipments of the day 5000 gallons.
Frank Reed general passenger agent OF
accompanied by his chief clerk, Z. Il. Cock
rell. They were looking after some litiga-
ton in which the company Is interested.
The Louisville, New Albany & Chicago
earned in the second week or May $57,6d
an increase over the corresponding week OF
1895 of $l,117. Since the LIST of July the road
shows an increase in gross earnings of s222.
1873. ~o-s
The ffty-seven-hour through freight train
run daily between New York and St. Louis
over the Vanderbilt and Big Four lines has
1t reached st. Louis behind its scheduled
time.