The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-08-10
RAILROAD BURDENS.
Not tho Stocks Nor the Bonds, but tho
Car Weights.

Not tho Stocks Nor the bonds, but tho
Car Weights.
An ordinary passenger car on q
steam railroad costs from $4,000 to
IS, 600 and weighs IS, 600 pounds. or
10 tons. A mail car, which casts
from $4,000 to So, 500 and is shorter
by about quarter than tho ordi-
nary passenger coach, weighs 81. 600
pounds, or IL tons. A baggage car
without the baggage in it weighs
$4,000 pounds, or II tons, anu costs
about as much as Il mail car A
sleeping car is moro expensive than
any of the others, and it weighs
good deal more too. A plain, simple
but durable sleeping car costs any
where from So, to $40, 900. and
an ornate, elaborate, luxurious sleep.
ing car with observation attach
ments, literary annex and culinary
department costs anywhere from
$4,000 to $4,000 The average
weight Of sleeping car is from 40
600 to $4,000 pounds, or from 20 to
90 tons.
A full train in motion, as Il little
figuring will show, is no light affair.
The ordinary weight of the railroad
locomotive for passenger service,
inclusive Of tender, but not of fuel
in the tender, is 40 tons. One bag
gage car weighs ii tons, and one
mail car 16 tons, bringing up tho
weight of the locomotive and the
baggage and mail cars to 70 tons.
Six passenger cars ut an average of
19 tons each weigh III tons, SO that
the total weight of train made up
Of locomotive and eight cars would
be 1S4 tons, or 368.OOO pounds, OK i.
olusivo of the weight Of baggage, Of
the fuel carried, passengers and mail
matter
Pulling 1874 tons along rails at the
rate Of so miles an hour or moro is
an achievement which has not been
easily brought about, and the more
the problem is studied tho more
clearly it is understood how far tho
mechanical work on railroads has
been pushed. There were, by the
last figures reported, SO, 600 locomo-
tives in use on American railroads.
28, 900 passenger cars and 5000 mail
and baggage cars. These figures
seem large until compared with tho
number of freight cars on American
railroads, and thon they seem insig-
nificant, for the number of freight
cars in use is 1, 250,O 600.
Freight cars, among railroad men,
are divided into four classes-fat
cars, such rs are used for the trans
portation of stone, machinery and
lumber; box cars, such as arc used
for the transportation of grain, fruit
and ordinary merchandise; stock
cars, such as are used for cattle, and
coal cars, such as are used for the
transportation of coal and oil--rhose
used for oil being supplied with
tanks. The average weight Of q
fiat or gondola car is seven tons.
The car costs from $500 to S4OO.
Box cars weigh ton more and cost
800 more each. Stock cars weigh
eight tons each on the average.
Coal cars weigh three tons each. It
costs about 5000 to build coal or oil
cars, and they are designed to carry
five tons apiece. The weight Of so
coal cars is $50 tons. and Of their
contents, if all filed, $50 tons,
which, with locomotive and cabcoss
added, make 42O tons as the weight
Of a train. It may be said roughly
that the weight Of loaded trains,
passenger, coal or freight, ranges
from 200 to $50 tons. Tho lighter
the train the greater the speed.
That's the railroad rule.-New York
Sun.