Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1900-07-30
SANTA PE RAILROAD
Many improvements Are Constantly
Being Made in the Line of
Equipment.
A TRAFFIC ARRANGEMENT
A Reported Alliance Between the Santa
Pe and the Denver & Rio Grande Rail-
roads New Through Train to
California.

The telephone has superseded the tel.
egraph to a certain extent on the Santa
Fee. The company has now in opera
ton on the Chicago, eastern and middle
divisions a private telephone system
connecting the majority of the block
signal stations, and the passage of
trains In and out of the various blocks
is now scheduled from operator to OPP
orator by telephone instead of tele-
graph, as heretofore.
However, the management of the
road believes in the telephone as a
means of communication in railroad
work only to a limited extent. Stimuli
taneous with the establishment of the
system an order was issued prohibiting
absolutely the use of the telephone for
the transmission of train orders.
The question of substituting the tele-
phone for the telegraph in railroad
work is one that is now being earnestly
considered by railway managers. The
Pennsylvania officials have gone so far
as to supersede the telegraph on a por-
ton Of the system with the telephone,
and SO, far the experiment Is said to be
a success. 1t is believed by some mana
gers that the danger of mistakes can be
greatly lessened by the use of the tele-
phone. The only difficulty to be consid-
cred in the matter is the frequency with
which the average telephone gets "out
of ORDER
If interest in the telephone as a sue
cessor of the telegraph continues, the
Santa Fe will probably decide upon a
more extended test.
A NEW SYSTEM OF LIGHTING.
Charles Dorman, representing the Co
lumbia Axle Lighting Company of New
York, was at Topeka during the past
three weeks, showing the men on the
Santa Fe how to equip the ears with
this system of car lighting. He goes to
me of the Texas roads.
The Columbian system is a wonderful
improvement over the system which
was in use on the Santa Fe heretofore.
In using the old system two sets of
storage batteries had to be provided, as
the dynamos ran so irregularly that at
times it would produce more electricity
than one set could hold. While the
train was in motion the lights were fed
direct from the dynamo.
In using the Columbian system all
this trouble is lone away with, as the
dynamo is regulated automatically and
gives out the same amount of current
regardless of the speed of the train.
The lights are fed from the batteries
of from the dynamo.
In the test given the new system the
officials of the road expressed them
as well pleased with the showing
made. 1t costs about $3.50 to equip a
car with the apparatus.
A NEW SIGNAL LAMP.
The Santa Fe is giving the Dodson
signal lamp a thorough test. Fo. the
past six weeks five of the lamps have
been in constant use, and as far as may
seen at present the lamps are all
light. A dozen or more lamps will be
and will be used about a
month.
The Dodson lamp is said to fill the bill
or economy. Besides being an oil saver
t is a time saver. The Dodson lamp
lights, consuming in that time only IS
'unces of oil. All the care necessary is
o fill the oil reservoir once every five
lays and flick the burnt part Of the
wick off. The old style lamp necessi-
a thorough cleaning and filling
very day, and where the Dodson lamp
IS ounces of oil in 100 hours the
Id lamp burns IS ounces in half the
or in five nights.
Should the Santa Fe tests prove sue
essful and the lamp be adopted, the
will be used on every switch
amaphore, engine inc train lamp.
A NEW THROUGH TRAIN.
Beginning about October 1, the Santa
e will run a limited train between Chi
ago and San Francisco, and a train
ON Denver will connect with it. This
lnouncement was made last week by .
/. U. Nudge, general manager of the
Fe. sRuI.
train will cover the distance be-
1een Chicago and San Francisco in
'out seventy-six hours, or four hours
niger than by the middle route" said
r. Nudge. Our line IL nearly 200
lies longer, SO that our schedule will 7
considerably faster. Into southern
llifornia, however, we will be nearly y
hours ahead of the other lines,
ID as the bulk of travel il to the
nthern part of the state, we think we
We a decided advantage over our
mpetitors. The fast train will be put
% service about October 1. Men are
at work On the schedule.