The Washington times., 1905-07-23
BOSTON TRACTION
AN EXACT SCIENCE
Innovations Save Time and
Add to Comfort.
DOORS MOVE AUTOMATICALLY
easy Access" Cars Are Pronounced 4
Success-Popuiar With
Public.

u
rymple, the Glasgow street railroad ex-
pert who came over 70 study the Dos
sibilities Of municipal ownership in Chi
cago, said that Boston's street railway
system was the best in this country. he
made particular reference to Two things
the uniform civility and efficiency Of
employees. and the success that has been
attained III achieving rapid transit un-
der peculiarly difficult conditions.
The first point of superiority is the
result of careful selection and training.
The second involves not only skiIIfui
management. but mechanical ingenuity
that sometimes takes novel and inter-
estipg forms.
One of these innovations. looking to
saving seconds here and there has just
been brought into use on the Boston
elevated railways overhead and subway
train. It consists Of OPENING and clos
ing the doors of the cars by compressed
air power.
This plan permits the side doors to be
used as exits at all stations. and during
the entire day. Another device, eiven
the motorman his starting signal auto
maticaliy, as soon as a train is snugIy
closed and ready to get under way.
An Automatic Door.
When the company opened its over-
head lines 1t adopted as its standard car
one with door in the middle of each
side to be used as an exit during rush
hours. After while the traffic got 50
heavy that the use Of the side doors was
necessary at other hours.
Pulling a, lot of levers, which takes
the attention OF the trainmen from their
other duties. and is wearisoIne besides.
seemed a clumsy method tn this auto
matte age. So Charles S. Sargent. ths
vice president Of the elevated railway.
began looking for something better. and
more than year ago he perfected the
device with which all the company's
elevated cars are now equipped.
The automatic door IS very simple af-
ter all. A rod inside the wood work ot
the car is attached az one end to the
back Of the sliding door and fitted a ( the
other into 4 piston that can apply com
pressed air so as TO move the rod in eth
er direction. The air which is under
pressure Of sixty pounds to the square
inch. comes from a tank beneath the
car that Is kept full by an automatic
electric pump. The valve that controls
the mechanism is affixed to the end Of
hand of the trainman. who stands be-
tween two cars and operates the doors
of both simply by a turn OF his wrists.
The door can be stopped instantly.
whether Il IS opening or closing, and 1ts
rapidity of movement can be perfectly
regulated. As a safeguard against airy
sort OF accident the outer edge is pro-
tected with a pneumatic cushion. so
that if il should close upon a passen-
gers fingers, say. they would not be
even bruised.
Every New Idea Tried.
Every new idea is tried out very thor
oughly by the elevated company before
it is put into use. and the automatic
side door was experimental with q long
time. But it worked so well from the
first that it suggested A still further ap-
plea tion OF its mechanical principle 10
overcome a second great difficulty ia
getting trains away from stations quick
II. the necessity. with the old type OF
car, of passengers entering ny narrow
platforms, with their swinging gates,
and turning r corner to get inside the
coach
For this purpose there were put into
service twenty-four easy-access cars
which have no platforms at all, the
space given to the platform in the old
fashioned type of coach being added 20
the car body. All doors are in the sides.
those for exit in the middle and those
for entrance at either end, SO that pas
senger steps directly from the station
platform into the car, where the broad
aisle gives plenty Of room for dIstrib1t-
ing the load as railroad men call IT.
The easy-access cars We're an inme-
diate success. Their possibilities as tiTno
savers were even beyond what the CON-
pany had anticipated. and the conve-
nience to the travelling public made
them at once popular.
Time Is Precious.
The elevated management has always
maintained that the only safe way 10
run its trains is 70 have all doors and
gates closed tightly before the starting
bell is given. and its Judgment has been
amply justified, of course But the
operating officials. who stand around the
busiest stations with stop watches in
their hands and worry over the loss OF
three-fsths of a second. sat up nights
wandering how they were going 10 hurry
things If the first four cars OF train
were all ready TO start before the NTH
one was and had to wait until beit
signal was passed along from platform
to platform by the pulling of cord.
This was a special trouble here. because
the last car on all Boston elevated -trains 3
Is a smoker and is likely to be slowest In
discharging and taking on its passeh-
FINALLY. somebody conceived the idea
the closing of the doors might be MADE
TO give an electric signal AUTOMATICALLY
Each door is connected with an e!sctri-
cal circuit, which is broken by the open
ing of the doors and IS comp.eced oniy
when all the doors are q osed. IS one
car after another discharges and loads.
the signal circuit is built up section "
section and the shutting Of the l.tSt door
completes il and rings the starting bell
Scheme a Success.
The trains got away from stations Sc
much more promptly as 4 result Of this
scheme that the engineers cast about
for something similar that they coulo
apply TO the old-fashioned cars.
After experimenting variously they
adopted a modification Of the same prin-
cinle.
IN the hood over the platform Is con-
cealed a lever which, when pulled down
closes a section Of the electric circuit
that rings the motOTmans signal. Tbs
levers on the adjoining platform are
connected bv means of : piece of bel!
cord and when the side doors and gates
are closed the trainman at each car in
terval pulls down the cord and holds
II until the motor starts. OF course.
when the last section OF the circuit is
closed by pulling down the cord on the
last car ready and the closing of the
last door, the motOrmau's bell rings
automatically