The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-09-03

THE following description of the
gravity system of railroading is a
valuable contribution to the REM
iniscences Of Carbondale, and written,
as 1t Is in Mr.. McComb's clear, lucid
style, 1t will be OF interest:
No. 20, on the Delaware and Hudson
Canal company's gravity railroad sys-
TEN, was the most important of all the
planes operated between Olyphant and
Honesdale.
Located in the Second ward, on the
prominent bluff which is easily seen
from the municipal building, looking
west, II was landmark we'll known
and well remembered by all Carbon
dale's people and visitors, by reason Of
Its signal whistle being used as our
fire alarm. Thousands of our people
well remember the intonation of that
ear-piercing gong, who never 'nvesu-
gated the process of transporting black
diamonds from the Lackawanna val
ley to the canal at Honesdale.
To the people of Carbondale No IS
was known more famliarly as "Da-
vies' Head owing To the fact that
the engineers who were employed there
from the time the road was built in the
flfties were members of the Davies
family. Twenty years ago Mr.. +. Y.
Davies handled the levers. His SER
vice there was of long duration and
covered a period before and after the
thne of which | speak.
Drawn UP by Cable.
No. 2s operated two inclined planes.
The rOadbeds of each can be seen now.
The one on the upper side was known
as the north plane" 1t was nearly
five hundred feet long. The one on
the lower side was designated as the
south plane" and was ten hundred
and eighty feet long. On the north
plane was operated most of the coat
then brought by locomotive power from
| the Erie breaker, situated about two
| miles south of our city: also part OF
| the coal prepared at the Coalbrook
| breaker, situated one-half mile north OF
our city, and then known as the largest
| breaker in the world. In addition TO
the coal, a large number Of empty cars,
| which daily accumulated at the trans
fer pockets, were taken back to the
| gravity road by means of the north
plane.
on the south plane was operated the
| greater part of the coal brought from
the different mines between Wilkes
Barre and Carbondale; also the pas
senger and freight trains which were
run between Carbondale and Homes
dale.
| Six men were required to run the coal
over the head of Davies plane one
| engineer and his assistant worked on
the inside, and four men, called run
ners, handled the cars on the out
| side.
North and South Planes.
The cars We're drawn up the south
| plane by means Of an endless steel
| cable, one and ne-fourth inches in
diameter, which passed over a four
| foot sheave wheel at the lower end of
the plane, in pit Immediately below
the surface of The roadbed. The
sheave wheel was set on a carriage
| The carriage frame was mounted like
a truck on four small wheels, and the
wheels set on a little track i'm the pit.
To the rear end Of the carriage cable
was attached as a tension. The ten
sion cable was adjusted over a series
of grooved pullies and connected with
a large box of stone hung in frame
at either side Of the track most con-
venient That box of stone acted as a
counter weight, and was a very vaiu-
able adjunct to the equipment of a
gravity pane.
At intervals of thirty feet grooved
pullies in pairs, were placed in the
center of he track on the plane to
prevent the cables from touching the
roadbed. Old employees of the gravity
system well remember what happened
| when the footman pll the wrong twist
in the sling. For then the cable was
liable TO generate fire as the two
would ride the pulies on one side, and
one running up and the other down
the plane the friction would make
things hot. At the head of each plane
was a drum, nine feet in diameter
around which the cable was coied q