New-York tribune., 1909-02-17
SIDE DOOR TRAIN TRIED
EXPERTS DIVIDE ON SUB
WAY EXPERIMENT.
"Sure To Be Great Success" Says
Mr. 4rnold- Flat Failure" Says
General Manager Hedley.

Cars with side doors became a reality yester-
day in the subway. when the first eight-car eX-
perimental train. constructed in the shops OF
the Interborough Rapid Transit Company oy
order of the Public Service Commission from
plans made by Bion ]. Arnold. the commission
consulting engineer. went into operation Ihe
travelling public readily grasped the new idea
of entering the cars by the front and rear doors
and leaving them by the new side doors and TO
all outward appearances the side door cars
worked like a charm. Expert opinion however
was decidedly at odds on this point
Mr. Arnold and members of the Public Ser
vice Commission expressed themselves as well
pleased with the try-out OF the new cars.
everything worked splendidly and ithe cars
are sure 10 be a great success" was Mr. Ar
nold's comment after he had made half a dozen
trips The guards and platform men are
triAe green" said Commissioner Maltbie. but
as soon as the travelling public learns the ne"
cars everything will go smoothly
''The side door cars are fat failure, and one
train eauipped with these cars will kill and in
t,,rA more persons in a year shan all the other
trains running in the subway combined, was
the comment made by Frank Hedley' vice-presl-
dent and general manager Of the lnterhor"uEh
Rapid Transit Company. who has had no faith
IN the side door plan from the start. A. A
Gardner general counsel for the company,
voiced the same sentiments as Mr.. Hedley
. Nfessrs HedIey Arnold and Gardner stood On
one Of the car platforms throughout the eXper-
mental trips and discussed the new cars 1T
,ir,.s the conversation grew decidedly warm,
M one Of the trio hesitating 10 speak out his
onin,on Messrs Hedley and Gardner pitched
into Arnold T-etty sharply every now and -h"1
hnt the Chicago engineer did not lose his
temper.
After making several preliminary trips the
exner;mental train left the Atlantic avenu9 ter
minai in Brooklyn just before o'clock, right in
the worst Of the rush hour 1t arrived 1t
rrooklvn Bridge jammed full and found IN"
,,s,,a1 crowd awaiting II. II stopped at tho
pridge station 80 seconds before the motOrman
cot the starting bell. When 1t pulled out it had
aboard as large a crowd as an eight-car express
ever carried.
Few passengers got off at the 14th street sta
tion. where the stop was 81 seconds. The stop
at Grand Central was Y seconds, whereat
General Manager HedIey grinned derisivey. for
the usual stop at express stations in the rush
hours is from A. seconds to a minute More
nersons piled aboard and again few Left the
train At T2d street the stop was 6z seconds
and at 96th street % seconds
On the whole however, the rush hour trip was
,ooda expedItiousIy and without accident, al
though Mr Hedley said that the new train had
consumed so much time at the stations thst II
bad thrown the whole SUBWAY SClSOuie d"I9.
The train was manned by a double crew, and
bod aboard numerous inspectors of the com
mission and of the company 10 lend a helping
hand Whether a single guard can operate both
cots of doors satisfactorily in the rush hour re-
mains to be seen.
Outside of the slight extra delay at the sta
+,ons the most interesting point brought out by
the rush hour trip was the inability Of the guard
N see the side doors when the platforms were
orouvdad with passengers He was forced TO
denend on q signal from the station platform to
l.novr when 10 close the exit doors. As these
doors are closed by an eighty-pound pressure of
oor,nrassed air, 1t would not be pleasant for
baIated passenger TO get caught in one OF them
,t I1edlev was sure that this feature doomed
+ba side door plan. Mr. Arnold smiled
The rheumatic device for signalling to the mo-
+ornoan to start the train not used yester-
sa,. os Messrs Hedey and Arnold thought the
+ro,n crew had enough new things 10 master
This device does away with the pulling OF the
ta11cord hv the guards and viii add to the
snaedv operation of the train. The new
,,.,u on into operation again ca ly this morning
and will be run regularly all day. Messrs- Ar
rold and Hedley will be aboard most of the
time.
One Improvement suggested yesterday by
commissioner Aiatbie the placing of larger
~ax,tv and entrance" signs over the doors. The
rresent signs are so small they be easily
,,,er,ooked. William r. Wilcox. chairman of
tt,o p,b1tc Service Commission, said last night
that he was well pleased with the first days
operation of the scars