Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-02-21
AUTOMOBILE TRAINS.
Innovation Adopted by English
and French Lines.
PETROLEUM THE MOTIVE POWER.

Railway Carriages of a New Type
win Carry Passengers From Paris
to DiJon Mt "a speed OF sixty-tvgt
Miles an Hour - Experiments In
England.
The London Times makes an impoF
liant announcement in regard to expef
iments to be made on railroads in Eng
LAND and France with railway automo
biles, or trains consisting Of 'autono
mobile carriages running N The usual.
steel tracks Of the railways.
The "autonomobile" supersedes the
comotive-t that Is. it dlspenses in every
train, short or long, slow or fast, with
a weight Of 10 tons. 1t abolishes
smoke, steam. noise, vibration, the jolt
incidental to stopping and starting and
the necessity of stopping to take up
water. 1t also abolishes all the men In
charge of a locomotive except the en-.
CINE driver. The new carriage is fifty
SiA ieGt lung -ludb AZ " SOY : eAS iNhSea
Of the present corridor carriage. OF
kthese fifty-six feet a space of SO feet
IN front is occupied by The traction APP
paratus while the remaining 47.5 feet
viii comfortably accommodate forty
passengers and 2,645 pounds of bag
gage. The cost of the autonomobile Is
the same as that Of the first class corri.
dor carriage, while the weight, includ
ing the traction apparatus, Is also the
same. Thus the abolition of the loco
motive is an accomplished fact.
The system has been applied to short
and fast tramway lines, but neyer to
long distances. By mean of the slight
est possible quantity of petroleum the
smallest possible quantity Of water can
be converted into the greatest propel
ling power of steam which can be pro
duced. The extremely powerful vapor
thus obtained acts directly IN the
wheels of the autonomobile. OF course
the petroleum is consumed, but the
water, first transformed into vapor,
condenses afresh. reyerts to its original
condition and is then more easily
transformed into steam, because it re.
tains its heat.
In front of every ~autonomobile Is an
apparatus producing with II quart OF
petroleum per 0.62 mile the steam pow
err requisite for propelling the carriage
with it's forty passengers and 2,64s
pounds of baggage at q minlmum
speed of sixty-two miles an hour, and
that TOO, without interruption, noise
or jerk. AS each autonomobile has its
own apparatus, the carriages of course
might go singly as easily as when
coupled together. The weight of the
apparatus, apart from the petroleum
and water carried, is trivial. AS to the
latter to go from Paris TO Nice 317
gallons of petroleum and 1921 gallons
Of water will be required. This will
allow Of the whole journey being made
without a stop.
The Northeastern railway of England
is building at its York works two auto
cars to run on its railway, each Of
which will carry a complete apparatus
for generating its own motive power.
At one end of the car there will be q
petrol engine of eighty-fve brake horse
power, with four cylinders. This en-
CINE will drive a dynamo, generating
electricity for two motors, which will
apply the power to the wheels of the
"bogie'' underneath the engine COM
partment. Two of these four wheeled
'bogies," of practically the normal rail-
way 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.
Seating accommodation will be pro-
vfded In each car for fifty-two passen-
gers, and as storage is provided for
thirty gallons Of petrol the automobile
will be able to work five hours at a
stretch without replenishing. BY this
system q speed of thirty miles an hour
can be got up In as many seconds,
which Is very much quicker than Is
possible with an ordinary train.
On June IS next at 8 80 n. IN. there will
start from the Lyons station In Paris
a train composed Of three "autono-
mobile" carriages, which win enter the
Dijon station at noon. The 1875 miles
between Paris and Dijon will thus
have been covered in three hours and
ten minutes, or at a normal speed OF
sixty-two miles per hour, and the same
speed may be maintained between Di-
jon and Lyons, Lyons and Marseilles,
Marseilles and Nice and Calais and
Paris uninterruptedly, SO that the dis
lance between Calais and Nice can be
covered in fourteen hours.