Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-11-22
NOTES OF THE RAIL WAYS
Pennsylvania Is Experimenting With New Concrete Bed.
SANTA FE PLANS A WRECK CURE

Hospital Car on Southern Pacxae
 Fer Convenience of Passengers.
 An experiment is being made with a new roadbed on the Philadelphia di- vision of the Pennsylvania railroad and should it prove efficient after fair trial may be applied to the entire system, says the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
 A force of zoo men has been put to work laying concrete to serve as a foundation for the ballast upon which the ties and rails are to rest. This form of roadbed has been tried by va rious roads and in each instance has proved unsuccessful.
 The chief virtue of the concrete is to prevent washouts and destruction of tracks by storms, to which the cause of many wrecks can be traced. Only five miles of this road will be laid un- til it has been thoroughly tested. Penn sylvania engineers say that the reason t1idl 1OANACtC Ads UCEA uAnuICCcblu RI the past is that the cement has been laid under improper conditions or has been subjected to treatment that de tracted from its value.
 Concrete roadbeds will be much more expensive, but it is believed that the additional economy in ties, which will not rot so quickly, will partly offset this.
 With view to minimizing the dan ger of disaster, the management of the Santa Fe has created the position of inspector of tracks and roadway, says the Chicago Record Herald. T. s. Caf- ferty. formerly roadmaster of the com pany. with Jurisdiction over the line between Topeka and the Missouri riv- CT, has been appointed to the new place MT. Cafferty will have jurisdic- ton over the property comprised in the eastern grand division of the road from Chicago to Newton and to Pur- cell, I. T.
 The position is much broader one than that of roadmaster and will in- sure more rigid supervision over the physical condition of the road. It is the opinion of the management that an inspector will be able to discover de fects in construction and material which otherwise would go undiscover- ed until fast moving train found 1t and went into the ditch. The recent wreck of the California Limited train, in which so many were killed and wounded, is said to have been caused by the spreading of the rails. which presumably was brought about by faulty construction or materials. The new inspector will have under his con- trol large and efficient track walking l1gang, i!%Hich will patrol the road day and night.
 St. Louis. with its mammoth railroad station, is to be outdone by German city, says the Philadelphia North Amer ican. Consul General Guenther of Frankfort. Germany, reports to the state department that, according to German newspaper, the new main rail- road station at Leipsic, now being con- structed. will be the largest in the world that is, in covered area-920, ,51S square feet. It will have twenty-six tracks. The cost of construction will be S30.940,O0O, of which the city of Leipsic contributes $3.s0s.O00. Several millions are to be borne by the Ger man federal postof1ce department for a separate postoffice station, which will not be completed before 1904 At the present time the main railroad station at St. Louis, with an area of 39.4J0 square meters and thirty-two tracks, occupies the first place. followed in re- spective order by the South station at Boston. the St. Lazare station at Paris, Frankfort Main. Dresden; North railroad station. Boston; Cologne and Munich.
 An innovation in American railroad circles has been installed by the South ern Pacific system. says the Cleveland Plain Dealer. A hospital car service for the transportation of sick and in- jured will be maintained for the con yenience of Its passengers. The hospi- tai car. which has been introduced in Europe some time ago. is seventy-six feet long. has an operating room. a dressing room, a number of sleeping sections with upper and lower berths. a private room. with stationery bed. bath and lockers for the use of sur geons. An observation room. Kitchen. quarters for nurses and all conven- fences for medicines and instruments are also provided.
 Tbe first railroad engine ever run in-