Year: 1879

Charles Barnard gives in 81. Nicholas
this interesting and graphic portrayal
of New York elevated railroad:


A locomotive is curious animal. He
likes good level road with no bad hills
to climb. If you try to make him climb
q steep hill he may stop short, and re-
fuse to stir a wheel. The land to the
west of Central Park, in New York, is
exceedingly hilly. and the railroad must
be made to please these iron horses. So
it happens that where the ground is low
the iron supports of the railroad are
very high. Some of the posts that sup
port the railroad are fifty-seven feet
high, and as they are all. hollow until
filled with cement, some curious work
could be seen here while the building
was going on-men on high platforms
Touring the stuff into the hollow posts.


This matter of running steam engine
through city, in such a way as not to
interfere with the traffic, was a difficult
and puzzling business. In London, as
have said, the city railroads are placed
in tunnels under the streets and houses.
In Paris, there is a railroad in an open
"cutting" or deep ravine, with bridges
over it at all the streets that cross it.
In many English cities the railroads
run over brick arches at the level of the
house-tops. All Of these methods an
swer q good purpose, but they are very
costly. In New York an entirely diff
ferent plan has been tried by these ele-
vated railroads laid on iron bridges
through the streets. ..'


The roads work admirably. There
is q great traffic in the streets where
they are built. There are horse
cars and crowds of trucks and wagons
going up and down all the time. The
horse-railroads are decidedly in the way
of all other vehicles, and the cars often
cause blockades that delay the business
people very much. Before the elevated
railroad was built, the horse-railroad
was serious cause of trouble in streets
already crowded with carts and wagons.
But now if we stand on the sidewalk.
and can look in both directions under
the new iron bridges, we see the various
vehicles and horse-c cars pass along pre-
cisely as if there were no railroad there.
AS we are examining these things, two
trains pass, one on each side of the street
in fact, one of them runs directly over
our heads. We might tell our friends
when we reach home that we were run
over by a railroad train and that it
didn't hurt bit.


We walk on down town and come to
q narrower street, and here the railroad
tracks come close together, and though
the street is shaded by the iron bridge
overhead, it is clear and unobstructed.
Here is station with steps going up to
the house overhead, and we hear train
stop overhead and hear the conductor
call out the name of the street and open
and close the gates tor the passengers.
There is no loud ringing OF bells or
blowing of whistles, not even a puff
from the smoke-stack, or rush of steam
from tae vacuum-b brake. The bridge
resounds somewhat, as you can easily
imagine, when such great mass Of iron
is shaken by the rapid motion of the
heavy locomotives and trains; but the
noise is not of much consequence. 1t is
far less than the roar and rattle Of the
teams in the street below. Certainly
the horses do not seem to mind it.
There is one, gravely eating his oats with
evident satisfaction and peace of mind.
though rail-train rushes over his head
every two minutes.-Charles Barnard,
in 81, Nicholas.