The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-03
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN ROADS.
what an English Omcial Says of His
Tour in This Country.
Buffalo Courier.

Harry Pollitt chief engineer OF the Man
chester. Sheffield a. Lincolnshire. OF Eng
land. who has been in this country Tor two
months on a tour of inspection or some or
Americas great railway systems with a
view of Incorporating some of the advanced
ideas and improvements In machinery ana
operating into his system al home and who
lately visited Buffalo, has finished his trip
and sailed for England OF what he has
seen and learned he says:
II came over to the States for the ex-
press purpose OF studying the practical
workings of your principal railroad sys-
TENS. Through the courtesy of the officials.
i have gained points and information which
will be invaluable TO me. and j trust sew
eral technical changes which L shall rec
ommend to our directors may be adopted
by them. One OF the features of your rail-
roads Is vastness as compared with our
managers to arrive at certain results by
short cuts, which would not be allowable
necessity here when the extent of your
systems is taken into consideration. This,
however. does not apply to either the Penn
sylvania the New York Central road;
which, without wishing to discriminate, /
consider far superior TO any of your other
roads. / was particularly impressed with
the thoroughness and nicely of detail of
the pennsylvania, and surprised to find
how closely our methods have been copied
and, i'm -ome Instances. improved upon.
You have certain advantages which, for
practical economy. are incalculable / re-
Ter espeeially, to the superior intelligence
employees as compared with ours That Is
great factor in your ability TO reach re-
suits with celebrity and safety while we
have to hedge our efforts with greater care
and more red tape.
Il consider that you are considerably be-
mind us in the matter of the block system
you leave too much to the possibilities of
human nature: With US our mechanical de-
vices are such as to make it absolutely
impossible for trains to enter block until
an outgoing train has not only passed out
but has cleared certain distance beyond
the block. This is a most important fac
tor OF safety, which. at present. seems not
10 be considered by your roads.
great deal has been said and written
In comparing English and American loco
motives. Your development of power is
surprising. Still / distinctly claim that
our locomotive Is superior in both finish
and durability. In comparing the two YOU
must remember that we are tied down by
specifications which prevent US building as
high an engine you do by nearly two
feet; neither can We build of the same
width, as We are restricted as to size be-
cause OF our small tunnels. We are COM
PEELED. therefore, TO reach a maximum
power in a minimum OF space. / regard
our fire boxes superior To yours but
your malleable iron Is far superior TO ours
Your large railway stations struck me
as being very commodious and well ar
ranged. but the generality of your way
stations arc poor affairs and would not
public Taking your systems as a whole
they are marvellous examples of energy
ingenuity and administrative ability and
they may be studied with profit by the
railroad people of any country in IN,
world