Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-07-30
Its Rapid Development in the United
States Shown.
EARLY RAILWAY EXPERIMENT rs
Improvements in the Construction
of Locomotives.
TIL E GAUGE PROB Bile NJ

| IHe year DOCK OF the department OIL Az
riculture, which has just been issued. con-
tains an interesting chapter on the DE
| velopment of Transportation in the United
| States" Among other items Of general
| concern mentioned are the following:
Projects for providing facilities of trans
portation by rail originated almost stimuli
| taneously in the British Isles and in the
United States. Both countries were badly
| supplied with highways on which wheeled
| vehicles could convey heavy loads; both
had canals and found them unsatisfactory
| In some respects. The increase Of produc-
| ton Of commodities faster than the means
Of moving them led enterprisng men in
| both countries to look in the same direction
| for relief
The application Of steam to water trans
| portation delayed for time the advent Of
the locomotive, but thoughtful men had
| do In moving loads on land almost as early
| as attempts were made to use steam in pro-
| polling boats.
First Locomotive in America.
The first locomotive that was tried on the
American continent to run on rails was i'm
ported from England by the Delaware and
| Hudson Canal Company. 1t was selected
and brought here by Horatio Allen, a
| pioneer engineer who was interested in rail-
ROAD enterprises. Inc engine was taken to
Honesdale, Pa, and tried there in August,
| 1879. Mr.. Allen reported that 1t was too
heavy for the railroad structure. and its
use was gtvfn up. The engine weighed only
seven tons, and there was some diversity of
| opinion about its being too heavy for the
railroad, but Mr.. Aliens decision was final
Several engines of the same type worked
Tor years successfully on English railways.
From what is known of the structure of
the road, engineers now agree that it was
sufnciently strong to support twice the
weight OF Aliens engine, known as the
"StOurbridge Lion
The South Carolina Railroad COMPANY
was one of the earliest in the world to de-
eide that its railroad should be operated by
locomotives. and the operation began In
1927. very soon after the beginning in Eng
land.
People of Baltimore obtained in 1927
charter from the legislature of Maryland
10 construct railroad from Baltimore to
some point on the Ohio river The building
Of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad was be.
gun in 1923. and in the early part of 1890
the road had been finished from Baltimore
to Ellicott Mills distance of thirteen
miles, and the company began operating
that part by horses. There were several
sharp curves on the route, and a belief was
general that railroad having curves could
not be operated by locomotives. Peter,
Cooper. whose fame philanthropist is
Wen known. was resident of Baltimore at
that time. and he did not share the public
belief that locomotives would not be capable
demon
strate the faith that was in him he built a
small locomotive at the Mount Clare shops
Baltimore, and tried it on the road IT was
d very tiny affair of about one and a half
morse power. but 1t proved that a locomo-
1--WE could haul load on a curved road.
First Practical Engine.
The first practical engine intended for
every day work was built by the West
Point foundry, New York, for the South
carolina railroad. 1t was a small engine
win vertical boiler. but it worked as SAT-
isiactorliy as the English locomotive built
at the same time QS3O). The West Point
louhofy continued to build locomotives for
time, and improved on the design and c ol
pacity OF the first engine N
shortly after the experiment with pata
cooper model locomotive on the RaltinoSra
anu ONO the management of the company
advertised for locomotives of Amer;can
manufacture. Offering to nav uherait, tt an
mem. IN due time this brought five on
sihes, all built at different places oil 5;f
tso IN design, and none of them initiating
me English models. The preference waS
given to an engine built by Davis e. c..
her OF York, Pa. This engine had a vartice,
ooner and was for time the tvna of l.
railroad. anu ONO
AFTER this there were locomotive -buiId,n.
SHOPS 10 be found in several towns Ne
t tnlas BALDWIN had entered the business The
year previous. and his ..Ironsidas ,, 80 me
ono locomotive built in the ITnit.d g. go
was running on the Germantown roa5
where 1t was doing good work aitbnmah,
the company published a standing notica
aia 49,, Inc locomotive would start daily with
d lralh Oh passenger cars, If the weather
was lair. but that on rainy DAYS horses
would pull the train. By 1910 tbera 49,
ABOUT 20 locomotives working on fifty-siS
roads that were partly finished. h,t -
greater part of the mileage was still onar
ated by horses. 1t may seem surnris;ns
tnat SO many locomotives should be en-.
pioyed on such short mileage when horses
were doing most of the work but a Ioconnc
tive during the first railroad decade was
very little larger than the fire engine ~
tooay. and great care was taken TO nre
f, ene u WGrains hard; The weight of the
tive was three and half tons
Strengthening the Foundation.
IL was soon found out that strap rails
and other forms of a weak permanent w.y
taid on soft, yielding roadbed, made the
worst kind of a foundation on which tn
build UP a permanent business Railrood a..
ators were not long in finding out that Loco
motives weighing less than ten tons We're
too weak for hauling paying loads. and
that the small cars used had too much
dead weight for the paying load. From $40
70 $3.50 the improving of the weak points
named occupied the attention of the most
progressive railroad officials
As late as in 1S41, in the building of tho
Erie railroad, one of the presidents had
pies driven for 100 miles on dry land To
make substantial support for the string
ers that were to carry the rails. A few
years experience proved that the unyield-
ing support to the rails turned the struc-
ture into long anvil, on which the rolling
stock was hammered to destruction, and ali
who could afford the expense lost no time
in putting in crossties to support the track.
The locomotive Of 1900 is an example of
steady evolution and its leading features
are survtvals of the fittest. Vast improve
ments have been made in quality and finish
Of material. Certain important Changes
have been effected, among which these NAV
be mentioned: The putting Of iron and
steel into frames and driving wheels that
were formerly partly of wood: counterbal-
ancing the driving wheels; making the fire
box suitable for burning coal instead of
wood; using equalizing levers between the
wheels; placing the cylinders horizontally
instead of vertically or inclined; using steel
tires instead Of iron; using steel for boilers
instead Of iron. and for fire boxes in
stead Of iron or copper; using iron
or steel for tubes instead of brass. All
these improvements have helped to increase
the durability Of the engine to make 1t
more efficient, and. therefore. to enable It