The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-01-29
LUXURY OF MODERN
RAILWAY TRAVEL
The Cars OF Limited" on Any Good
Road Worth SI15,OOO.
FACTS THAT FEW NOW COMPREHEND
Ninety-fye Per Cent. of Passengers
DO Not Live in a House That cost
as Much as the Car They Ride In.
Items Of the Outlay.

From the Chicago Inter-Ocean.
'Ninety-five per cent. of the travel
Inc public do not own in their own
right, or occupy through rental, a
dwelling house which. including all its
contents, costs as much as one of the
ordinary modern passenger cars run
on any first class railroad" "
The foregoing statement, which is
calculated to arouse the incredulity of
the average individual was made yes
terday by George j. Charlton, assistant
general passenger and ticket agent of
the Chicago ard Alton railroad.
Just let me give you a few facts to
prove that assertion" continued Mr..
Charlton. The cost of the average
passenger car is today from 5000 to
$1,000. "A reclinng-C chair car costs from
$4,000 to $4,000. These figures repre-
sent the bare cost of the ear When
you add to that from year to year the
expense Of maintenance. instead of
hguring, as the ordinary business NOR
tai viii figure, a return in interest for
the capital invested, you simply aggra-
vate the situation. j once heard a
prominent master car builder say that
T. cost $500 to simply look over a car
after 1t had served five or six months
on the road and had been sent to the
car shops to be examined ard put into
presentable shape for another siy
months run. He meant that the or
dinary dressing down and cleaning Of
a car would cost over $500, and if YOU
extend your investigation to general
shop repairs-perhaps adding uphol-
stering here and there--you could casi-
Ia, x,..t
COST OF CAR WHEELS.
Did you ever stop to consider the
amount of money which may be eX-
pended on three or four of the import =
ant parts Of II car? Take the paper
wheels used in passenger cars. Until
within very recent date a single wheel
cost from $50 to 500. Most nrst-class
cars are run on siX-wheel trucks This
would mean twelve wheels Of the car,
or 5000 to $1,000 for the wheels alone,
without the aXles and springs. 1t is
true that today you can get these pas
senger car wheels for very much less,
and they will average somewhere in
the vicinity of $50 a wheel. but most OF
the railroads entering Chicago are to-
day running cars the wheels on which
1
trucks or running gear of first class
passenger car, in themselves and indie
pendent of the car at all. will C.. st from
$500 to $1,000.
Then there is the question of car
seats. Car seats are made in the lat
est improved style macnificently up-
lclstered, to suit the taste of the Crdi-
nary traveller, and TO enable the pas
Inr lIfY, ont - ha a n
railroads to advertise themselves Us
the only first class railroad in thc
West or the East. as the case may be
cost from $50 to s45 apiece. This !"
the bare cost of the seats. complete
but does not cover the expense of put
ting them into the car. a car seat
will accommodate two passengers, and
there are from twenty-five to thirty
seats to the car.
"All the passenger cars are not equip.
ped with SO cheap an article as a
car seat at $50 to $i5 each There is
the reclining chair car built little
larger, perhaps. little heavier Ger
tainly than the ordinary modern pas
senger car; larger windows, mor'
elaborate upholsterins and furnishing
In this car the railroad company puts
forty or fifty reclining chairs, elabo'
rately and durabIy upholstered. These
chairs cast all the way from $50 1,
So each.
LOTS OF GLASS.
Take the glass used in the con.
struction of a car, the window glazing
the mirror decoration, the deck lights
etc There are thirty-six To- forty win
dow Openings in each passenger car
hut you must remember that all first
class passenger cars are fitted will
double windows. So that each passen
ger car will have from seventy to ei%h
ty window sash frames. The window
Of the up-to-date passenger car mus
lie large to give the passengers a com
pletc and satisfactory view IT the so
called and thoroughly advertised seen
ic route of the world for every rail
road is a scenic route and snend'
thousands of dollars advertising tina
fact. The lower sash Oft car window
contains a large, heavy. durable plat,
glass. The upper sash contains nigh
ly embossed plate glass about three
quarters as large as the lower sash
At a very conservative estimate
costs IS to glaze each car window
Including the doors Of the car, At leas
taking into consideration the miro
decorations in "A car or the deck lights
which are usually highly emboss ec
with some fancy figure. The eNpens'
of the glass used in the construction o
a car will not fall short OF S400, anC
will very often run over $500
1t costs at the very least SO month
or $500 a year, 10 light passenger ca
with gas. To equip a car for gas cost
at least S400. II costs more none
each year 10 light the passenger car
with Pintsch gas on the Chicago an,
Alton railroad than the entire eXpens
for all other Illuminating purposes owe
the entire line of the road. and thi
means all other electric light, gas an,
oil expenses at stations, on the righ
of way, switch lamp, lanterns etc
and bear in mind, too, that all passcn
ger cars on the Chicago and Alton
road are not lighted with gas, Tn
sleeping cars. the reclining chair cars
the regular passenger cars, the mai
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