Feeling the Way 



An Attachment on 

 the Rear Truck In- 

 dicates on a Scale 

 Inside a Cabinet in 

 the Car the Degree 

 of Curvature and 

 the Elevation of One 

 Rail Over the Other 



A^ 



NEW clcar- 

 mce car has 

 just been 

 placed in service 



on the Pennsylvania Railroad lines east 

 of Pittsburgh and Erie. It is being run 

 over ever>' division as rapidly as possible 

 in order to secure correct measurements 

 of the distances from the track to project- 

 ing portions of station buildings, tunnels, 

 bridges and other objects. It is also 

 designed to indicate automatically while 

 moving on curves the elevation of the 

 rails and the degree of curvature. 



The car is built entirely of steel, and is 

 equipped with air-brakes, steam fittings 

 and electric lights. There are two floors, 

 or elevations, both of them used for 

 taking measurements from the templets. 

 Clearances are computed from the 

 center of the wheel truck, over which the 

 main templet is erected. From an eleva- 

 tion of tweK'e feet above the top of the 

 rails the templet tapers up toward the 

 middle of the car at an angle of fort>- 

 five degrees. 



ImmediateK- in front of the templet is 



With All Attachments Working Automatically It Is Possible to 

 Take Clearance Measurements While the Car Is Running 



an auxiliary templet designed to measure 

 overhead bridges, tunnels and other ob- 

 jects between elevations seventeen and 

 twenty feet above the top of the rails. 

 This templet is capable of being raised 

 to a height of eighteen feet by a crank 

 and a ratchet arrangement on the floor 

 of the car. Enclosed in steel cylindrical 

 boxes with translucent glass fronts 

 facing the templets is a scries of electric 

 lights which extend from the floor of the 

 car on each side to a height of fifteen feet. 

 Light from these makes it possible to 

 take measurements both day and night. 

 Attached to the feelers and the side 

 of the templet are graduated scales 

 which indicate automatically the dis- 

 tance from the rim of the templet to a 

 side or overhead object. In addition, a 

 small board equipped with a set of feelers 

 spaced one inch apart has been provided 

 to measure cornices of roofs, of shelter 

 shells, or other irregular objects. 



379 



