Daily Kennebec journal., 1900-11-17

:xNEWS OF THE RAILROADS. ]

Two new eight wheelers have ar
rived at the Grand Trunk station. Yar-
mouth, for the Portland & Yarmouth
electric road.
John Coughlin of Saeo. who has been
night telegraph OPERATOR for the Bos-
ron e. Maine, has accepted a position
as day operator at Scarboro Crossing.
Mr.. Carter. the railroad contractor.
who made his headquarters in Caribou,
while building the II. & A. road from
Caribou to Van Buren,. is now building
>, miles of road i'm Porto Rico.
The earnings of the Boston & Maine
system for the quarter TO Sept. 80 show
an increase of s2.lS0.96l in gross, large
IL due to the Incorporation of the fig
ures of Fitchburg and Portland 4
Rochester. not included Il year ago
The Eastern division yard limit has
been moved way over to the point
where the old junction used to stand at
Cane Elizabeth depot so called. Cars
are often left there on account of the
crowded condition of the yard in the
city. 1t is not beyond the bounds of
probability that in ten years the entire
freight business except the purely local
matters will be transacted out there,
perhaps in what is now Rigby Park
Portland Argus.
One OF the men in the Maine Central
shops ~ Thompson's Point is able to
tell at an instant'S notice the former
numbers of the engines. all of
which have been changed. And he
does not have to depend upon his
memory either When asked the old
number of engine 30 he will take off
his hat and reply $50 or whatever the
number Is In his hat is plainly
written slip of paper with the old and
new numbers of all the engines.
Freight business is just as heavy on
the northern part of the Boston <
Maine system as it is at the Portland
end. Recently five new engineers were
''set up" AZ Lyndonville. VT. to take
freight runs At this season of the
year when many passenger trains are
taken off for the winter it is 4 most
unusual thing to find the management
making new engineers. 1t is generally
the other way around when engineers
who have been serving through the
summer are most likely set back to
uflHS asilU lIic "ihkti- hV NV
new men are all first class firemen who
have been serving for several years
and are thoroughly competent
Many improvements have been made
about the yards of the Maine Central
ut Pennington within 4 few months.
After the burning of the old depot q
large crew Of men were put on to clear
away the burned timbers and new
and more expensive and convenient
depot was soon under way. The trestle
that extends from the iron bridge over
in West Pennington to the at the
Pennington end of the trestle has been
filled. Considerable grading has been
done in and about the yards. Now II
is the proposed plans of the Maine
Central to put up large freight house
on the west side OF their new station
and extending it by the north side
where the side track and turntable of
the Sandy River Railroad lay, and also
TO grade their line to the watering
spout near the of their trestle. At
ter these changes are made it will be
- readily seen that the new railroad, the
Franklin, Somerset & kennebec, Will
have no way of connection onto the line
of the Sandy River Railroad. On one
side there is bank Of earth about one
hundred feet high and extending back
about an eighth of a mile, on the other
is a deep rayine, which is crossed by
trestle of the Maine Central, and in
order to so down through the ravine.
the new railroad would have to build
trestle also across the Maine central
track, which authority has been denied
them. says the Phillips Phonograph.
The amount of freight now being
handled by the Boston & Maine Rail-
road has grown to such proportions, on
account of its superior facilities FOR
taking care of it at Boston, in rapidiy
distributing and forwarding it to its
destination, and its large dock and I'M
proved steamship facilities for hand
ling export freight, as to call for more
power to haul the trains given TO II at
its western terminus and the motive
power department has been at Work
making drawings for a most complete
and modern locomotive, capable OF
hauling Very heavy trains. THESE
drawings are partially finished. and an
order has been placed with the
Schenectady Locomotive Works for ten
consolidation engines 20 inch by 30 inch
cylinders. 81 inch driving wheels. wide
fire boxes, 5000 feet of heating service
in the boiler. and 46 square feet OF
crate, which is 50 per cent larger than
any crate in any locomotive the COM
pany now owns, and which will make
ii possible to secure better conditions
for firing, resulting in economy of fuel
and combustion of inferior grades OF
coal. Each engine will weigh about
10000 pounds. and will have no diff
Guilty in moving much larger trains
than are now run over the road. The
contract calls for their delivery III
January. 1901. When these engines are
completed and begin work, they viii
he watched with interest for apart
from being wonderfully powerful tht
large heating surface and wide CRATES
are the latest improvements i'm loco
motive building.