CAR-BUILDING. 



133 



by a powerful machine, planing all four sides at once, 

 while machines for mortising square holes, tor carv- 

 ing, for scraping lumber, so that it does not have to 



::ed with sand-paper, and numerous other in- 

 ventions have added to the car-builders' facilit 



The shops at this period were constructed to take 

 cars not over forty feet long, as their standard length 

 was but thirty-nine feet, while nowadays they are 

 often nearly double this length ; so that with' each 

 decade, as railroad-building has increased and travel 

 became more general, the equipment was made corre- 

 spondintrly larger and stronger and more comfortable, 

 until to-day the finest day -coaches rival the best par- 



- in all essentials for the comfort of travelers, 

 beinir equipped with lavatories, hot-water and steam- 

 heating apparatus. ga<, electric lights, and luxurious 

 upholsterv, while every year additional appliances 

 are introd'uced for comfort and safety. 



Referring to the illustrations in detail : Fig. 

 1 shows what is believed to be the first rail- 

 car ever constructed exclusively for passen- 

 gers It was designed by George Stephenson 

 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway (Eng- 

 land) in 1825, and for several years such cars 

 were in use on that road, especially in sum- 

 mer. They were without roofs and Were de- 

 signed only for fair-weather service. Fig. 2 

 has been already referred to. Figures 3, 4, 

 and 5 are types of what may be termed the 

 " coach-body car." Fig. 5 represents a car 

 imported from England for use on the Albion 

 Railroad in Xova Scotia, where it was in serv- 

 ice for several years. It had seats for only four 

 passengers. Fig. 6 is the side elevation in de- 

 tail of a coach-body car, a working plan in 

 fact for the guidance of the builders, and as 

 such is no doubt the most accurate representa- 

 tion in existence of this type. The original 

 drawing was made in 1831 by John B. Davis, 

 a resident engineer, and is certified by James 

 Goold, then, and for years afterward, a build- 

 er of cars and carriages in Albany. X. Y. 



It soon occurred to American builders that 

 it would be a distinct gain to reduce the num- 

 ber of wheels and increase the carrying ca- 

 pacity by uniting several of these coach-bodies, 

 as in Fig. 7: and it is curious to note that the 

 curved body- lines are still retained by modern 

 English builders, while American builders early 

 discarded them for straight frames, which are 

 obviously superior constructionally to the 

 curved type. In Fig. 8 is shown what was 

 probably the first car constructed with a raised 

 roof, designed to afford more head-room, and 

 to bring the center of gravity as near the ground 

 as possible. The end compartments contained 

 toilet arrangements and a refreshment-room or 

 bar. The passengers sat back to back, facing 

 outward along a longitudinal partition. This 

 particular car was called the " Victory," and 

 the design was patented by Richard Imlay. 

 It was iu use on the Germantown Railroad in 

 1836, and was undoubtedly the pioneer of the 

 u monitor " roofs. The increased length and 

 weight of cars led to the invention of the 

 "bogie" or eight-wheeled truck, which is gen- 

 erally regarded as an American invention, but 

 which Mr. Watkins finds described in an Eng- 

 lish pamphlet, by Thomas Tredgold. as early as 



1^:27. He is unable to learn, however, that it 

 came into favor in England before 1860, while 

 it was in general use on the Baltimore and Ohio 

 Railroad as early as 1835. Fig. 9 shows the 

 ordinary tir^t-da-- pa><*.-n:_ r <.T car in frame and 

 complete, substantially as used at present on 

 all American railroads. 



The now familiar type of car-wheels was not 

 reached without a vast expenditure of time 

 and money. At first they were made with de- 

 tached spokes, but the advantage of solid iron 

 plates was soon recognized, and for many years 

 chilled cast iron wheels were used almost ex- 

 clusively on American roads. The improved 

 methods of making steel have rendered it pos- 

 sible to use a stronger, lighter, and more dura- 

 ble material, and wrought-iron wheels, with 

 steel tires, are now largely employed. For 

 sleeping-cars, wheels constructed partly of pa- 

 per are extensively used. A disk four inches 

 thick is formed by gluing together numerous 

 sheets of specially prepared paper-board. These 

 are dried under heavy pressure and fitted around 

 a cast-iron hub, which is provided with a flange. 

 The circumference of the disk is trimmed in a 

 turning-lathe to fit the steel tire, and finally 

 two thin wrought-iron plates are placed on 

 either side of the paper disk, and the whole is 

 fastened together with twenty-five or thirty 

 small iron bolts. Wheels constructed on this 

 plan are peculiarly ''easy riders," the weight 

 falling on the edges of the combined sheets of 

 paper-board, which insures an exceptionally 

 even distribution of strains. 



Palace, parlor, and special or private cars 

 are the latest development of American in- 

 genuity. In perfection of construction and 

 equipment they far exceed anything of the 

 kind built abroad, and have to a considerable 

 extent found favor on transatlantic lines. The 

 very latest improvement is the " vestibuled 

 train " whereby several parlor or other of the 

 costlier kinds of cars are coupled together, 

 forming in effect one continuous vehicle, dust, 

 smoke, and cinders being wholly excluded 

 and a supply of pure, fresh air admitted at 

 the forward end. The flat frame, marked A, 

 is attached to a hood of flexible material folded 

 so as to expand and contract like the bellows 

 of an accordion. When two vestibuled ears 

 are coupled, as in Fig. 11, the frames are 

 locked together, and the hoods are kept ex- 

 tended by powerful springs, so that the whole 

 train is homogeneous. 



The dimensions, cost, etc., of the ordinary 

 types of cars, as at present used on American 

 railroads, are as follow : 



