Los Angeles herald., 1908-10-18
MILLIONS WILL Be
SAVED BY DEVICE
DIFFERENTIAL AXLE COUPLER
BELIEVED ECONOMICAL
Claimed Invention VIII Prove OF in-
estinabIe Value to Fruit Growers
and other Shippers of South
ern California

nov avle connler promises to do more
for Southern California, especially the
fruit growers, than anything ever de-
vised.
For the past fifty years the railroad
companies of the world have been en-
deayorins to secure differential move
ment of their railroad wheels. rms
has been tried in practically every con-
ceivable manner by running the Wheeis
loose on the journal and by multl-
plicity of devices called dif1erential
axles. ,4-
has endeavored to use bolts, screws,
rivets and flanges in the construction Oh
his differential joint. All OF these
methods have been proved worthless.
B. r. Seabrook, widely known ma
rine and mechanical engineer struck
upon the idea of producing dlfer-
ential railway coupler joint by pressing
the narts together with a hydraulic
nress in the same manner as wheels
are now pressed on the axle.
This wonderful invention means more
IN Southern California than 1t is posi-
bit to estimate. When one considers
that it takes from twelve to fourteen
DAYS to land a carload of fruit in chi
caeo from Southern California, consid-
or the enormous expense of icing the
cars. and the investment on the fruit,
iarring ii and brlising it constantly
by this long trip, the advantage OF
shortening this time 25 per cent is ines
timable 1t practically brings chicago
at least 500 miles nearer Southern Call
fornia, as it has been demonstrated
conclusively that a train of cars can
he taken to Chicago in 25 per cent less
time by the use of this differential axle
than it requires to take the same tram
that distance equipped with rlgld
axle, now in use. When one considers
how absolutely crude the use OF tne
rigid axle is, it is positively laughable.
Even the old Indian cart made OF wood
one of the crudest pieces of mechanism
Imaginable, allowed it's wheels to op-
crate differentially.
A farmer would not think of hauling
his wagon around the country IN the
same way that the railroads haul thelr
freight and passenger cars. 1t would
seem absurd to have anything but
locomotive or an electric car even to
try to drag half its load around
curve. This is being done by every
vehicle that runs on rails today, and the
only reason that it is possible TO DO
this is the fact that railroads nave
such enormous power
The fact that companies are oper-
ating in this crude manner is costing
the railroads of the United States hun
dreds of millions of dollars annually,
as by using the Seabrook-BoX differ
entail railway axle coupler train can
he hauled with at least from % to 80
per cent less power. Think what an
enormous saving this would be, not
only to the people of the United states,
but to the railroad companies them
selves.
If the railroads can do their business
for 25 per cent less than they are doing
it today, they surely can reduce their
freight and passenger rates from 10 to
Is per cent. This would be much better
than advancing the freight rates. which
they claim they will have to do if not
given relief in some effective manner.
Hundreds of railroad officials and me-
chanics of the United States have
looked into this invention and have
concluded that it will solve greater
problem than any device ever invented
for the railroad.
In addition to the device cutting
down the train resistance on tangent
aaud curves from 25 to 35 per cent, it
is an, advantage in many other par
ticulars The reason of it's particular
advantage on straight track is that
one never finds two wheels of the same
diameter on any axle. Mr.. Seabrook
states that while visiting the San Ber-
nardino shops, where he is equipping
the Santa Fe railroad cars with his
axle coupler, the question of different
diameters of wheels came up. He went
into the yard and measured some OF
the wheels and found that they varied
in circumference from one to four and
one-half inches. This means, of course,
that on a perfect straight track the
wheels are slipping at every revolution.
The differential axle VIII add to the
life of wheels at least 200 per cent, and
will add to the life of the axle at least
100 per cent due to the fact that 1T will
do away largely with the strains that
produces crystallization. 1t will prob
ably reduce the wrecks on curves at
least rs per cent. The amount of d1Vi-
dends the company will be able to pay
is positively inconceivable. When one
considers the enormous amount that
the railroads of the United States earn
each year, and the amount they are
paying out every year for expenses,
if they can be saved 10 per cent on
their earnings it will amount to $25,-
100000 per annum. twenty-five million
dollars per annum would be a very
small amount for this invention to pro-
duce for the stockholders of the COM
pany When this amount is earned
each year it will make the stock of
the company worth at least 500 per
share the par value of which is 81.
1t is especially fortunate for the stock
holders of the American Differenttal
Railway Axle company that their COM
pany should be in the hands of such
excellent men; men who understand
their business thoroughly and men who
are honest and not only honest and
efficient, but are ambitious to build
monument for themselves by making
a success of their company.
The company has appointed the West
ern Engineering company, 501-2-3 II.
w. Hellman building, Los Angeles, as
fiscal agents The fact that this com
pany would accept a responsibility of
this kind should be sufficient evidence
that the device is all right in every
particular as the Western Engineering
company has a staff of engineers that
are second to none in America; they
constantly maintain a staff of en-
gineers from fifteen to twenty-five men.
The company is now equipping an oil
car on the Santa Fe railroad, and as
soon as this work is finished it expects
to equip a passenger coach and the
tender and pony trucks of a locomo-
tive, and then twenty-five or thirty
100,000-pound capacity coal cars at To-
peka, Kas.
AS Mr.. Buck, general superintendent
of motive power of the Santa Fe rail-
road, was looking into the device a
short time ago, he expressed himself as
being desirous of equippng an entire
passenger train and running it from
Chicago to the Pacific coast. He
thought this would be an excellent
test for the device, and believes it to
be one of the greatest devices ever in
vented for a railroad.
Mr. Lowell, former superintendent of
motive power of the Santa Fe rail
railroad officials over the country who
Joua 1ookad into tha matter indorse the