The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-04-28

a manner as to facilitate the work and
lessen the expense, which is now ABOUT
10 cents per ton, or more, on the freight
handled at the terminals, when 1T ought
not to be more than or 3. Time mas
produced no appliances or plans IN the
direction OIL Improvement or pet.er,
ment. It is the same old yard, often
congested, operated in the same old way
as in days long ago.
Ten or fifteen years ago crazy
freak struck the railroad management
in regard to increasing the weight Oh
locomotives and passenger cars, par,
ticularly sleepers. With the added
weight of the engines and cars, tracks
and superstructures had to be increased
in strength, These locomotives are a
failure. The wear, themselves outM ~
tho tracks out-and will wear the
pockets of the stock and bondholders
out and make them bankrupts. When
first used, about one-half of the freight
crews were discharged, as these engines
hauled from forty to sixty cars IN
stead Of about thirty in a train. NO
conductor with two brakemen can han,
dle a si1ty-car train with economy ana
safety. The breaking of drawbars, and
hot boxes, causes greater expense
than the running of two trains with
Of men instead of one.
On level ground the sixty-car train
goes along with comparative ease, but
when the train reaches an upgrade
the strain is greater upon the locomo-
tive and cars. and also the wear upon
the road, and breakages occur, cars
are left and much trouble is caused
by the use of a ten-penny hammer when
three~penny one would do much bet
fn- hh CO.
For the past sixty years the type
of engines has been the Stevenson
type, whic h was first run on the Liver
pool & Manchester railway In England.
These engines, as matter of course,
have been improved in valve motion,
injectors and in such other ways as
found absolutely necessary. For years
hundreds have tried to do away with
the thump p-thump of the crank motion.
wearing the engine out and wearing
out the roadbed on which it was run.
No remedy has been found.
Railroad men have looked forward
to the perfection of the electric storage
battery, which thus far has not been
a success. The trolley is a success in
a city, but out on the plains and Ia the
mountains its use IS exceedingly doubt
full. if not impossible.
With the improvements going on each
day and every day, or, it might be said,
each and every hour, in the construc-
tion of automobiles, the query arises,
could not the railroads make some use
of the same machines and get re"
ciprocal motion without the constant
hammering of the present locomotives,
and have motors constructed to handle
fast, slow and heavy trainsf
The railroad time in the last two
years has been increased too much.
for our Western roads. From October,
1906, to the first day of April, 1907,
the trains each way on the several Pa
cifc roads have been scheduled at the
rate Of twenty-five to thirty five miles
per hour. During that time what kind
IF time have they made7 Wrecks,
gashouts and everything taken into con-
'ideration, they have not averaged fif-
teen miles per hour. Now, why not
class in every particular, at speed of
eighteen to twenty miles per hour,
and then run them on time, so that a
passenger may know the exact minute
ne will arrive at his destination2 The
necessity of accident insurance would
be less. On these trains charge, say,
cents per mile or less. Every rail
road man of experience knows that
rain running twenty miles an hour
han one running thirty miles an hour,
and 90 to 70 per cent less expense than
'ne running forty miles an hour
The third train could be scheduled
md run at the rate Of thlrty-6ve or
'orty miles an hour, charging the pas
engers 6 cents per mile, taking out an
'pen accident policy of insurance for
Ill neonle travelling on the cars. Freight
rains could be ruled down to fifteen
be time stated.
The roads should be double-tracked as
oon as possible. even if much lower
weight of steel had to be used than |
he standard siXty-pound per yard, Tho |
lrst double-tracked road, whether il be |
Ipon the present lines or on new lines, |
would take the business, provided there |
vas a certainty TO the minute of the |
ime of the arrival and departure of the |
rains,
In regard to freight; A ton of
Try goods costs the same to haul as a
on of coal. What data is there by
which to fix the proper rate AS a
natter of course, railroads charge an
insurance, as it were, on the more
alnable freight. In these charges,
Nth congested roads, sidetracks filed
'ltn loaded cars and the cars con.
aiming valuable freight having to be
uarded by an army of watchmen,
ow can railroad company fix upon a
ust freight ratel
In shipping from Eastern points to
Western points, can any agent or sub
gent state the time Of the arrival of
NY train' All he knows or can tell
ou is that probably the goods will ar
i've some time, II may be seven days
r seven Notwithstanding during
ternity.
The movement made in the last few
ears In regard to the capacity of
reight cars is an extremely good one,
rovided that the specification Of the
trength and weight of such cars does
OF decrease the live weight carried
or material carried). In passenger
ars the increase in weight has been
ntirely wrong. Oftentimes in a Pull.
ian car the company is CARRYING five
, ten passengers VINO absolutely weigh
,ss than a thousand or two Thousand
ounds, and there are thirty to forty
ons hauled for their benefit in tho
eight of the sleeper. Passenger eouip.
lent should be made lighter by using
-ooI 1csc 1labla Ia hrrp = |