The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-01-08
Railroad Postal Cars.
From Harper's Weekly.

From Harper's Weekly.
The postal authorities have put in
operation recently half dozen improv-
ed cars, which have become known as
'burglar and collision proof" The
construction ofthese cars is such that
robbers would find it difficult To break
into them in transit, as frequently hap
pens with express cars, but they are
not intended primarily to be "burglar
proof" Extensive use of steel plates
in the framing at the ends and between
the sills of the heavy timbers that run
the length of the ears has made them
much stronger than the ears in use
heretofore, and they are practically
collision proof in ordinary snash-ups.
They are not collision proof in the
sense that they will withstand any
shock that comes when the accident
usually results in loss of life.
The place of postal clerk is extreme
ly hazardous. Several of these clerks
were killed i'm an accident recently on
the Pennsylvania Railroad, near Har-
risburg, and others We're injured i'm
train-wrecking accident on the New
York Central Railroad, near Utica,
shortly afterward. Whenever an ac-
cident happens to a through train al
most invariably one reads that the pos
tai clerks are killed or injured The
reason for this is that postal cars are
carried next to the locomotive, as a
rule, to avoid switching as much as
possible. They are usually heavily
loaded and in making over the train at
functions they are placed where they
will cause the least delay in getting
under way again. By strengthening
them with steel plates and stout angle
bars the danger in accidents will be
greatly lessened.
Six of these cars are now in opera
ton between New York and Chicago
on the Erie railroad. In few weeks
fifteen of them will be in operation,
and from time to time their number
will be increased. They are made
from the design of +. w. Grieves, SD
perintendent of the ear department of
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. They
are sixty-five feet long on the inside,
and have no platforms. The absence
of platforms gives the appearance of
one long jointed car when three or four
of them are made up together. There
are no doors at the ends and this fact,
with the absence of platforms, gave
rise to the "burglar-proof7' idea. The
platforms were taken off TO get more
room inside rather than to prevent
robberies, which rarely occur on mail
ears.
The internal arrangement Of the cars
is a decided improvement on the old
style. The stove Is in the middle of the
car. This lessons the danger from fire
in time of accident, and also gives a
better heat. The racks and storage
part of the ear are in one end. These
serve as buffer i'm collisions. The cars
are iiSuteu oy oii ana So-f anu lIiIS
makes careful sorting of the packages
easier. Under each end is a six-wheel-
ed truck. The wheels are thirty-three
inches in diameter, and are said to be
the largest ever used on ears in this I
country. There are two doors on each
side of the ear, and the sides of the car
seem as thick as the sides of an armor-
clad ship. When these cars come into F.
general use it is probable that we shall
hear of fewer deaths and injuries to
postal clerks in railroad accidents.