RAILROAD 



4917 



RAILROAD 



;i*)^*?SAfei 



A PLEASURE RIDE ON AN EARLY AMERICAN TRAIN 



A train on the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad. July 31. 1831, between Albany and Schenectady. New 



York, carrying politicians from the state capital on a tour of inspection. In spite of Its clumsy 



ranee the engine was able to haul its load at a rate of thirty miles an hour on the level 



stretches, though when it entered the hills it had to be pulled up an inclined plane by a stationary 



engine. The cars were stage coaches. When the engine started they were jerked so violently by tho 



loose couplings that "Whigs and Democrats embraced each other, or were thrown to the floor." 



Startled by the strange spectacle of the puffing monster, horses and even people ran in terror. The 



r of pine sparks was so heavy that, on one occasion at least, a stop had to be made at a water 



tank to allow passengers to extinguish their burning clothes and umbrellas. 



long to the imperial and some to subordinate 

 governments, and, as in several other countries, 

 many of the lines are leased to private com- 

 panies. The larger South American states, 

 Australia and New Zealand, Japan, Siam and 

 ly all European colonies own at least a 

 part of their railroads. 



America Versus Europe. The railroads of the 

 Old and of the New World differ from each 

 other as widely as the peoples. In Europe, 

 where the first really successful steam railroad 

 was opened in 1829, the increased facility of 



DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME BY ENGINEERS 

 The illustration is from a photograph of a loop 

 over the U>< -ky Mountains in Colorado. 



transportation has served chiefly to bring 

 ons already populated, but in 

 ;' lias made possible the rapid settle- 

 im-iit of millions of square miles of previously 

 unfou. [,, ,| I;, ri.1. The early Kuropcan builders 

 had plenty of capital and were assured of am- 

 ple revenue; thru- Ann rnvtn contemporaries 

 could obtain little money and knew that they 

 must l?uild up tin territory they served before 

 it tun. I wer. As a result Euro- 



pean roads were constructed n illy. 



and without t! rides 



of American lines. American locomotives and 

 cars h.-ul to he huilt to turn on those curves 

 and to climl. these grades, and since there were 



as yet no settled types of equipment (the first 

 steam road in the United States was in opera- 

 tion in 1830, the first in Canada in 1832), a 

 striking contrast developed between the ap- 

 pearance, size and strength of American and of 

 European rolling stock. 



A journey by train anywhere in Europe is a 

 different experience from one in America. The 

 ordinary type of European car is much lower 

 and smaller than any American car, and is di- 

 vided into compartments, in each of which 

 from six to ten passengers are locked before 

 the train starts. Each compartment is first. 

 second, third or fourth class, according to the 

 fare paid and the degree of comfort provided. 

 Some railroads have adopted cars with a narrow 

 passageway along one side, like that beside the 

 smoking compartment in a Pullman car. Sleep- 

 ing cars are all of this type; they accommodate 

 only about half as many travelers as an Ameri- 

 can sleeper of the same length. 



The nature of the freight which railways 

 carry has had much to do with the evolution 

 of their equipment. In America trains haul a 

 large amount of raw material coal, ores, wheat. 

 cotton and so on and large freight cars are 

 the rule. Beside them the European cars, built 

 to carry less bulky manufactured goods short 

 distances, seem like toys. The average "goods 

 wagon" in Kngland can transport only ten tons, 

 while the average fivijiht car in the United 

 < a capacity of nearly 

 loads require more j 



crful. In : r. locomoth 68, and though 



ie of America the lar-e<t locomot 



:t little more than 



100 tons, engines ejphinn twice 



amount are common and some of more 

 than 400 tons have been built. 



