SCIENCE. 



[Vol XIV. No. 336 



THREE MILES A MINUTE. 



The following account is sent us by the companj- interested, of 

 what is claimed to be a great railway invention for the transporta- 

 tion of mails and light freight. The Weems railway system, incor- 

 porated under the name of the Electro-Automatic Transit Com- 

 pany of Baltimore, has patented its multiplicity of electrical and 

 mechanical appliances in the United States and all over the world 

 as a preliminary to putting the system regularly to work wherever 

 required. By this electro-automatic arrangement the morning 



in -the surface of the ground over which the road passes. The 

 mail and e.tpress cars are telescoped in forming a train, the former 

 into the end of the motor-car, and the latter into that of the one 

 preceding it, forming a flexible train of cars, offering an unbroken 

 surface to the air. The rear end of the reftr car is pointed in a 

 similar manner to the front of the motor-car, thus preventing any 

 suction as the train rushes on its way. The motor may pull one 

 car or a train of cars. 



All trains will be controlled from a generating station, where 

 will be placed an electrical generating plant. Electrical brakes are 



END VIEW OF THE WEEMS ELECTRO-AUTOMATIC RAILWAY. 



papers may be delivered for the breakfast-table, and the evening 

 papers before supper-time, at distant points. It will deliver letters 

 almost with the promptitude of the telegraph sending a message. 

 The mails between New York and Omaha will be carried in a 

 night. It will handle perishable light freight from long distances, 

 will deliver with celerity the mails and parcels in cities and subur- 

 ban towns, and will multiply many times the business of the post- 

 office and express companies. Its advantages are not alone in its 

 speed, but in the economy and frequency with which trains can be 

 despatched. In addition to all these things, it will save interest on 

 remittances at long distances, will bring the people closer together. 



to be used, and trains are started, stopped, speed lessened, and 

 backed at will from the station. Special appliances will inform 

 the operator in charge of the generating station of the exact loca- 

 tion of the train from the time it leaves or passes any given point 

 until it reaches its destination. It has not yet been determined how 

 far apart the generating stations shall be placed. Possibly loo 

 miles may not be out of range, as the current can be run for 50 

 miles each way from the station as a centre without much loss of 

 electricity. 



The patents of the company number 143 in the United States 

 and the principal countries of the world, covering the vital details 



dt 



THE WEEMS ELECTRO-AU I'OMATIC RAILWAY. 



and will create new enterprises. Doubtless, as in the case of the 

 telegraph, its important uses cannot be anticipated in advance of 

 its going into active operation. Its development will create new 

 fields of usefulness not now thought of. Such, in brief, are what 

 the persons interested in this invention claim for it. 



The motor-car is 18 feet long and 24 feet square at each end. 

 It is pointed in front, the wedge or point being below the longitu- 

 dinal centre, adjusting it to the air pressure, thus keeping the car 

 down to the track. To reduce atmospheric friction to a minimum, 

 all wheels and electrical appliances are placed within the walls of 

 the cars. The road is to be built on the surface of the ground, 

 with track of 24 inches gauge, and will cost about 85,000 per mile. 

 In thickly settled districts the road can be elevated, the varied 

 length of the uprights being a cheap mode of covering irregularities 



of this novel system. The principles patented involve special form 

 of rail, making it impossible for trains to jump the track at any 

 rate of speed ; form of electrical safety rail, carrying the outgoing 

 current and returning the same on the same rail (this rail can be 

 crossed by pedestrians or vehicles with perfect safety) ; form of 

 conductors and rails combined, with insulation of the same for 

 carrying currents over long distances ; means of starting, stopping, 

 backing, and controlling trains from the generating stations ; 

 method ol regulating the electrical current automatically on trains 

 while in motion, increasing the power in ascending and de- 

 creasing the same in descending grades ; means whereby trains 

 automatically register themselves at every station as they pass 

 every mile of track ; form of journals and boxes for fast speed to 

 avoid heating ; reducing the air pressure at high speed to a mini- 



