The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-05
TRAIN LIGHTING Tricks
fTHEY ARE DISCUSSED BEFORE
RAILROAD MEN BY A PHOTO
METRIC EXPERT
}PR0F. sHEPARDsoN's PAPER
Sans Some Ofthe Technical Portions,
Is Presented to All Those Who
Ever Have to Ride at
Night.


ing of the Northwest Railway club read
a paper on train lighting which con-
tanned much of popular interest, besides
being exhaustive, historically and scien-
officially. He said, in part:
. The sources of light for railway pas
sengef cars may be divided into four
Classes-Candles, oil, gas and electricity.
me earnest trains mad no provision t9r
artificial light as the passengers rode
on top of the cars and the trips were so
short as not to require any night service.
When the roads became longer the cars
were modified, passengers sat inside, the
open sides were gradually enclosed and
tiny windows admitted a small amount of
light When artificial light was first in
produced. 1t was made distinct adVer-
Using point, as is frequently the case with
modern welI-Hghted trains.
Candles were the first source of artffic al
Hight for cars, and doubtless furnished
IA dim religious light although the ac-
accompanying odOr did not SAVIOR Of cathed-
.Tal incense" The intensity Of illumina-
ltiOn in the early days IS illustrated by
lsome OF the cars exhibited at the world
flair In Chicago in 1893. One car used in
Nova Scotia in 1885, now exhibited in the
Ft1eld Columbian museum, mad no provls-
ion for artificial light, for 1t was used
on a road only six miles long.
Some of the older members of the club
doubtless remember the days when can
dies were used for lighting cars in Amer
lea, these being quite common up to
about 1868. Candles have retained their
hold ON European more strongly than in
America. Even at the present time can
dies are the standard of light in guest
chambers in many excellent hotels In Eu-
rope Some of the cars exhibited as mod
els at the Paris exposition in 1878 had
candies for lighting the compartments.
although oil lamps were used in the pas
SageS A recently reported order that
all passenger cars in Russia be equipped
with electric lights, contains also the re-
quirement that each compartment shall
be furnished with stearine candles for
use in emergency.
The candles were gradually displaced ty
oil lamps using heavy vegetable oils,
lard oil or kerosene. In America the oil
lamps are placed inside the car with or
without special ventila tors. On some
English roads, about 1896, the lamps were
liked outside, cab fashion. two on each
side opposite the divisions between the
three compartments. In England at pres
ent the lamps are lowered through the
the car.
Through various stages of progress the
OIL lamp was developed until it gave a
respectable light, though accompanied
with numerous diSagreeable and expen-
SlNe features and the suspicion that fires
IN connection with wrecks are aggravated
If not caused by carosene lamps quite as
much as by stoves. There seems to be
a general belief that with the heavy
nlgn grade brands of kerosene used for
train lighjing, the lights are almost in
ably eEtinguished by the shock of a
collision or derailment SO that the oil
though the oil intensiaes a fire if once
Started The desire TO e'iminate fire risks
as well as to furnish a better light early
aed u experiments looking toward the use
OF : IS and other less dangerous illunnin-
ants. - "'i'i
Gas has been used principally in four
1ofha, compressed coaf gas, compressed
OIL gas, carbureted air gas and acetvIene
IN $50 Herr Julius Piutsch discovered a
gas that has had a marvellous success IF
Is made from almost any cheap HYDRO
atu ,oit -, on Dy exposure 10 high temper
@tuIe IN a retort. At the proper TEMPER
AZURE the oil is changed into perr1a neTit
gas winch is then purified by wasbine
an9 SerGbbing (by passing through water
anu ron OXlde), after which IL is COM
pressed by pumps to 10 to Is atmospherns
td4f TO 20 pounds absolute pressure orr
ISz TO zU9 pounds above atmospheric pres
sure and forced into reservoirs whence
II Is plped to cylinders under the carC
"A regulator with reducing valve allows
tne Sas 10 pass to the burners at a
piping and lamps .
A somewhat similar system of COM
preSS5d oil gas lighting is used to a CON
siderable extent in England
IN the Frost carbureter system. in ,,se
vi Ihe wisconsin Central, c. B. & O.
a5Iu ot4er ines, air from tank connect
ed with the air brake pipes is fo:ced
through a carbureter filled with absor
UGnt material saturated with gasoline
iIhIh few years acetylene has been
cess S 9"O
Electric lights have been used on rail-
WY cars TOR number of years, current
peing supplied by primary or secondary
batteries. by dynamos and by a combine
tloh OF dynamo and battery ATTEMPTS
70 use primary batteries have been aban-.
uohed as TOO expensive. Storage ba ttarias
charged at terminal stations ave in aT9
tensIVe and increasing use Familiar ex
ITnlpies or this system are on the BUR
nnSton Limited" and on the g NJ g. e.
l. Trains = hot
Twin Cities. the batteries being carried
IN boxes under the cars Gig lO In
~ huiIo5 3 OF trains current IS furnished
ny a dynamo directly coupled to a steam
engine IN the baggage car, as on the
Fl0heer Limited" of the c. M e, St
Ky: Gig ~. or on the northwestern
Gig. 12). The engine has been driIJor
by compressed air, by gas or oil. nv
sSteam from ron the locomotives or a special
pollei'. The dynamo generally sends CIV
rent direct to the lamps aIfbouSb ga" in
some cases each car carries a Sfoi.o 90
paItery which Is charged by the DYNAMO
0r IN 81 tne gay. and which supplies part
OT an OF the current at night
Inc electric system. which has p-ovad
t taOst tstCtLdcuVe and most troublesome to
nN 5Iil' Is That In which the dynamo
- uIlVen from the car axle thus takinr
power from the large locomotive "a fI1es.
man from small and inefficient enigma In
ttILi Us ana Europe several Systems of
inns type nave developed successfully h11t
tne Farla tons of speed encountered and
the fact that American cars RIM On on
sWiVe-eo trucks, have made the problem
more dlIhcult than in Europe The diff
eulties have been overcome one af u
tiIl19, and 1T now seems as if +ba evIa
uriVea- dynamo was a real success with
All systems of this tvDe 1t is necessary
to have storage battery to SUNNY mr.
rent when the car IS standing or r1Jnnino
at low speed, for the dynamo will not
O2eIate until a certain speed is reached
In America electricity seems to have
peen considered an experiment and a
luxury father than a necessity or econ
onIy: reports do not agree as TO tha
IeIauVe cost Of electricity and other IL
luminants Some show that electric fio1te
are lar cheaper than gas, or even oil
Whlle oilers claim electricity to he five
TO ten times as expensive as some o+bar
sources. The apparently sreafer e1, 49,
OF electricity in some cases is due 10 q
considerable extent to the fact that far
more Hght Is used than is common with
other illUminants. Some reports show
that Tor equal illumination kerosene oil
Is considerably more expensive than cleo
Irlclty' while OIL gas IS about 20 per cent
more expensive. So far as the writer
can judge, the general opinion in tbis
part OF the country is that electric uehts
are great advertising scheme, and are
warranted by the amount of travel 4Ioa1J
will draw or that would go to comnetitn,S
better equipped. rather than bv any
marked economy they may show with
the experience of past years. however,
ana the high degree of perfection now
reached by modern electrical apparaf11s
the writer believes that electric svsfernS
are not only as reliable and economicaI
as any other system of lighting bur also
that Its wei known advantages will
prove electricity the superior of any and
all competitors In train lighting The an
Sence OF open flame and reduced fire rIS1,
make it peculiarly adaptable In use in
sleeDeTs where the electric berth Iio-ht
9ohe holds place, and also to all cases
W6ere uniform illumination IS desired.
The lighting of cars, like many other
pubic services, Is practically controlled