HARDWOOD RECORD 



UTILIZATION OF HARDWOODS. 



Pullman is so very near to Chicago that 

 it is often spoken of as a suburb of the 

 city by the lake; yet it has a life and 

 government all its own, and is one of the 

 famous model industrial communities of 

 the world. 



In a recent short interview with one of 

 the busiest men in the United States, Sup- 

 erintendent Tinsley of the great car works, 

 the writer learned something of the con- 

 struction of railway cars of many types, 



ARTICLE XIV. 

 R&ilwa.y und Street Cars, 



consists ordinarily of a framework, an out- 

 side covering called the "sheathing," and 

 an inside covering known as the ' ' lining. 

 They are built this way not only with re- 

 spect to the sides but also as regards the 

 top and the bottom. From the passenger 

 type, construction grows gradually simpler 

 down to the Hat car, and still more ele- 

 mentary logging car, and the rudimentary 

 handcar. Baggage and mail cars have 

 much the same construction as passenger 



play. Poplar is generally used as a base, 

 and on this is placed the veneer. Among 

 the fancy woods often used may be men- 

 tioned vermilion, Cuban mahogany, tiger- 

 wood, Circassian walnut, oak, birch, etc. 

 Passenger coaches are ordinarily of Mexi- 

 can mahogany or native oak as to interior 

 finish, the finer woods being reserved for 

 sleepers, diners, private cars, etc. Weath- 

 ered oak is now the most common finish for 

 .lining cars— a natural e%olution, as weath 



EXPOSITION. 



;ind of the choice of woods employed in 

 their construction. What Mr. Tinsley said 

 forms the bulk of this article, with addi 

 tional information from other experienced 

 men, and from recent publications. 



Any lad of twelve knows that railway 

 cars differ very considerably in construction, 

 according to their use. The points of simi- 

 larity between a Pullman private car and 

 a flat car, for example, are not very great, 

 while even in cars of the same type the 

 differences between a wooden and an all- 

 gtecl vehicle are marked. All-wood cars 

 would seem to be a practical impossibility, 

 the nearest approach being the standard 

 passenger coach of Great Britain, which has 

 even the wheels made mainly of wood. 



The body of th< 



passengci 



coaches, except that in the latter the walls 

 are lined with pigeon-holes, which add con 

 siderably to the amount of lumber con 

 sumed. Tn freight cars there is a very wide 

 variety. 

 . The sheathing or outer covering of the 

 sides of American passenger cars is usually 

 of poplar. Formerly panels were used, but 

 at present tongue and groove boards are 

 the rule. In Cuba, where mahogany is 

 cheap, this wood is often utilized for the 

 sheathing, while primavera is common for 

 the inside lining. The woods employed in 

 European cars are not at all the same as 

 those used here, climatic ami commercial 

 conditions being the causes of variation. 



For interior linings of passenger cars a 

 vcrv wide variety of timbers is called into 



ered oak paneling is more frequently seen 

 in restaurants, saloons and dining-rooms in 

 high-class modern residences than elsewhere. 

 Pullman vestibules arc finished in Mexican 

 mahogany. 



The use of teak is an idea borrowed from 

 Great Britain, where this remarkable tim 

 ber occupies the place of honor in car build- 

 \D<r. Not only is it much used for car 

 bodies, but it is the wood out of which pas- 

 senger coach wheel centers are made. Brit- 

 ish passenger car wheels consist principally 

 of a teak center and a steel or iron tire, 

 which latter is 2% inches thick according 

 to British standard practice. The teak disc 

 comprises sixteen segments, with the grain 

 running lengthwise. Apparently this wood, 

 which has <ltine such sterling service in 



