Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-27
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
RAPID TRANSIT AS DEVELOPED
IN FRANCE.
Trains Will Maintain Speed Of Sixty
Two Miles an Hour From Paris to
Dijon-Experiments in England.

ment United States Consul Halstead, at
Birmingham, England, described the trains
Of s'automobile' carriages which are
shortly to be operated in France and Eng
land. Consul Halstead summaries recent
articles from the London Times as follows:
The Proposed Train.
ION June IS next, at $50 am, there Will
start from the Lyons station. in Paris. q
train composed Of three 'autonomoble
carriages-that is to say, carriages that are
both autonomous and motor cars-which
will enter the Dion station at noon The
195 miles between Paris and Dijon will thus
have been covered In three hours and ten
minutes, or at a normal speed Of 62 miles
per hour; and the same speed may be main
tained between Dijon and Lyons. Lyons
and Marseflles. Marseilles and Nice, ana
Calais and Paris uninterruptedly, SO that
the distance between Calais and Nice can
be covered In fourteen hours.
Let me now briefly explain the trans
formation which, with the progressive de-
velopments in proportion to the construc-
ton of the carriages and the resources OF
the companies, the conveyance of passen-
gers will undergo First Of all, as Its name
indicates, the autonomobile supersedes the
locomotive-that is, it dispenses In every
train, short or long, slow or fast, with q
weight Of ITO tons. 1t saves the consider
able cost of locomotives 1t abolishes
smoke. steam, noise. vibration, the jolt in
cidental to stopping and starting and the
necessity Of stopping to take up water. 1t
also abolishes all the men In charge OF
locomotive except the engine driver. The
new carriage is fifty-six feet long; that Is
to say. the length Of the present corridor
carriage. OF these a space Of S5 feet in
front is occupied by the traction apparatus,
while the remaining 47.5 feet will comfort
ably accommodate forty passengers and the
2,645 pounds OF luggage allowed them. The
cost of the autonomobie Is the same as
that of the frst-clasS corridor carriage,
while the weight, including the traction
apparatus. Is also the same. Thus the .abo-
lition Of the locomotive is an accomplis he'd
fact, and the rails which now have to bear
the weight of the locomotive and tender as
well as Of the carriages are relieved there
from.
Application to Long Distances.
1.-THE system is one which, in an embryo
form and dating back several years, has
been applied to short and fast tramway
lines, but never to practically unlimited dis
tances. While not, perhaps, using the
technical expressions which would be en-
ployed by a specialist, l believe l am not
mistaken in stating that by means of the
slightest possible quantity of petroleum the
smallest possible quantity of water can be
converted into the greatest propelling pow
er Of steam which can be produced. The
extremely powerful vapor thus obtained
acts directly on the wheels of the autonomo-
bile. or course, the petroleum is consumed,
but the water, first transformed into yapOr,
condenses afresh, reverts to it's original
condition, and is then more easily trans
formed into steam, because 1t retains it's
heat. Thus, though the petroleum has dis
appeared, the water remains which in tenn
perate climates is of no inconvenience and
in dry countries is Of priceless value Con-
sequently, in front of every autonomobile is
an apparatus producing with liter OF Pc
troieum per kilometer CLOS quarts per
ito Par
propelling the carriage with its forty pas
sengers and 200 Kilograms of luggage at
normal and almost minimum speed of
62 miles an hour, and that, too without
interruption. noise or jerk. In order to
overcome the air resistance which such a
speed entails, the autonomobile in front and
behind is SO shaped as to cut the air which
thus becomes an auxiliary rather than an
obstacle. AS each autonomobile has it's
own apparatus, the carriages, Of course,
might go singfy as easily as when coupled
together. 1 may add that the weight of
the apparatus, apart from the petroleum
and water carried, is trivial. AS to the
latter, to go from Paris to Nice 29OO5 or
81 gallons Of petroleum and 1,O56 or 1.321
gallons of water will be required. This
will allow of the whole Journey being made
without stop; only care must be taken
to guard against overheating'
Experiments in England.
Regarding the experiments in England
consul ddlSleaQ says.
THE Northeastern railway Of ENGLAND
is building at its York works two auto cars
to run on its railway, each of which will
carry complete apparatus for generating
its own motive power. At one end of the
car there will be Napier petrol engine of
eighty-fve brake horsepower with four
cylinders. This engine will drive a DYNAMO
generating electricity for two motors which
will apply the power to the wheels Of the
boyle underneath the engine compartment
Two Of these four-wheeled bogies,' Of pra G.
tically the normal railway-carriage type.
will carry the framework of the car. but
the body will be much lighter than that of
an ordinary carriage, approaching closely
to the tram type. In fact, the vehicle will
be a tram saloon. with an engine compart-
| ment at one end and a conductors GONNA TT
ment at the other. Seating Accommodate
will be provided in each car for fifty-two
passengers, and, as storage is provided for
thirty gallons of petrol, 1t is anticipated that
the automobile will be able to work five
hours at a stretch without repenishing. It
is calculated that by this system a speed
of thirty miles an hour can be got I'D in as
many seconds, which Is a very much quick
er acceleration than Is possible with an or
binary train. 1t Is not proposed to use these
auto cars at first for the longer distance
traffic Of the Northeastern railway, but to
employ them rather for accelerating the
service on those sections Of the system
where an ordinary train can only make a
slow rate of speed, owing to the number of
stopping places"
HnNA yUnN rUyn