Construction train

“ As often as the yardmaster gets together a sufficient number of cars for a common destination to make up a train, he gathers them together, orders a road engine and crew to be ready, and despatches them. In the make up of "through" trains, care has to be exercised to put together cars going to the same point, and to "group" the trains so that as little shifting as possible may be required at any succeeding yard or terminal, where the trains may pass. ”

“ Where there are only two lines of rails to serve for the UP and DOWN service of a heavy passenger and goods traffic, it is imperative to restrict those lines as much as possible to the actual transit of trains, and not to block them by unnecessary occupation for shunting purposes. A goods train running a long distance collects waggons from many roadside stations, and at some of them several waggons will be taken on, to be forwarded to various and widely distant destinations. ”

“ It is evident that the rail which would last for very many years under the small traffic, would have a very short life under the frequent traffic. Hence the reason why it is found expedient to give a large increase of material in the heads of rails carrying the heavy, constant train service of many of our main lines. ”

“ Such exacting schedule conditions as those mentioned necessitated the design of cars, trucks, etc., of equivalent strength to that found in steam railroad car and locomotive construction, so that while it was essential to keep down the weight of the train and individual cars to a minimum, owing to the frequent stops, it was equally as essential to provide the strongest and most substantial type of car construction throughout. ”

“ Detailed information is given, for the benefit of R.E. officers, concerning railway construction, repair and reconstruction, and the main principles on which such work should be carried out for military purposes are explained. The best system to adopt for the effecting of rapid repairs is said to be that of establishing construction trains. "The reconstruction staff live in these trains, which rapidly advance along the line as it is being repaired, conveying, also, the necessary material." ”

“ The taking down of one half of the old structure may necessitate the removal of stays and bracing affecting the stability of the half remaining to carry the traffic, and thus render temporary shoring and bracing necessary. The erection of the new work in such a limited space has to be watched with great care; all cranes, lifting appliances, and scaffolding must be kept clear of vehicles moving over the running-line, and very frequently it is found prudent to cease erecting operations during the passage of a train. ”

“ The breaking of rails has been the cause of much attention on the part of railroad and steel engineering experts ever since the tendency toward the construction of heavy locomotives and greater train loads became evident. ”

“ When one of these sorting-sidings contains a full complement of waggons, an engine is attached, and the train despatched to its destination, leaving the siding clear for another set of waggons. Where the trains to be sorted are very numerous, two or more shunting-engines may be engaged working at the same time on distinct sets of shunting lines and sidings. Sometimes it may be expedient to have one lot of sorting-sidings leading off the UP line, and another lot leading off the DOWN line, to meet the requirements of trains coming and going in both directions. ”

“ Johnstown, Pa., the first railroad tunnel in the United States
On the other hand, the New York Central has also [Pg 155] been brought into a high state of organization, and stands firmly on the departmental plan.
“We believe that our superintendents should specialize in train operation,” says one of the high officers of that road. “In other words, we do not believe that a man, to get his traffic through over a stretch of line, should necessarily know to a fraction of an inch the best wheel-base for an engine of a given type or the precise construction of a truss bridge. ”

“ To secure perfect safety in ascending and descending such a tremendous grade, the track is composed of three rails bolted to a trestle of heavy timbers, the centre rail being an immense wrought-iron ladder, with rounds four inches apart, into which the cogs of the locomotive drive-wheel fit, and thus drag the train up the steep as well as control it, with aid of air-brakes, in making the descent. One and a half hours are consumed in making the round trip, and the fare is six dollars, but the view from the summit is so magnificent that it fully justifies the expense. ”

“ With a narrow-gauge type there would, of course, always be the time and expense of transhipment to or from the ordinary railway trucks in the same way as with the road carts, but the time and expense may be lessened by so constructing the little narrow-gauge trucks that the bodies may be readily lifted off the frames and wheels, and be placed like packing-cases in the railway waggons.
It is natural to look to the railways of the first rank for the latest advances in construction, appliances, and equipment, and it is generally there they are found. ”

“ Rope traction or animal traction—practically speaking—is alone available for wire tramways (that is to say, if the trains are each to be propelled by its own locomotive—whether steam, springs, or electricity—the cost of construction and maintenance becomes so serious that overhead lines, however well designed, are no longer economic) ”

“ On shot the locomotive, like an arrow from the bow, the men throwing over the ties until the train was well nigh unloaded, when just as they were close to the curve by which the train arrives at the station, they saw the dreaded cars strike a tie, or something equally of service, and with a desperate plunge rush down the embankment, some fifteen feet, to the little valley, and creek below. ”

“ In a short time the rolling stock of the road was taxed to its utmost capacity, and the newly appointed purchasing agent was buying cars and locomotives right and left. Also, to keep pace with the ever-increasing procession of trains, a doubled construction force wrought night and day installing new side tracks and passing points. ”

“ The modern method of the large central with its immense sphere of influence, necessitates that the railroad be thoroughly equipped and efficiently managed. The old practice of carrying the cane from field to factory in an ox cart has passed into disuse along with the small mill, and has been superseded by the present railroad, with standard gauge roadbeds, heavy rails, steel cars, powerful locomotives, and schedule running, the whole being under the direction of a practical railroad man, as train despatcher. ”

“ Hugh sledges sent the spikes home,—the car rolled on and the operation was repeated; while every few minutes the long heavy train behind sent out a puff of smoke from its locomotive and caught up with its load of material the advancing work. ”

“ In any event, however, the general introduction of the interlocking apparatus into the American railroad system may be regarded as a mere question of the value of land and concentration of traffic. So long as every road terminating in our larger cities [198] indulges, at whatever unnecessary cost to its stockholders, in independent station buildings far removed from business centres, the train movement can most economically be conducted as it now is. ”

“ If you look back at the picture on page 19, you will see how one railroad solved the problem. The rails are laid so that they spiral upward, making a loop. When a very long train travels along the loop, it’s like a huge snake coiled around over its own tail!
Unless it’s absolutely necessary, the builders try not to make curves. Trains run faster along rails that are straight as well as flat. Every bend means that the engineer has to slow down a little. ”

“ Another locomotive whistled, and another train came through at top speed, and another, and another, train after train, train after train, till toward the last the trains were composed of passenger coaches, box-cars, flat-cars, dead engines, cabooses, mail-cars, wrecking appliances, and all the riff-raff of worn-out and abandoned rolling-stock that collects in the yards of great railways. When the yards at Council Bluffs had been completely cleaned, the private car and engine went east, and the tracks died for keeps. ”

“ Improvements in the operation of railroads.—Equal in practical importance to the extension of the railroad system were the improvements effected during the period in the construction and operation of the lines. This was the time in which steel rails and bridges were introduced, which permitted the use of more efficient locomotives, drawing heavier trains, and so reducing the expense of carriage. Lines which had been constructed in short sections under the control of different companies were now merged in great corporations, operating thousands of miles of track. ”

“ But the laying of the track—the line having been finished at sub-grade with a top width of from 14 to 20 feet for each standard gauge track to be laid—the line begins to assume the appearance of a real railroad. Upon the first stretches of completed track, locomotives and cars employed in construction service begin to operate. As the track grows, their field of operation increases. Then comes the day when the track sections begin to be joined; the railroad is beginning to be a real pathway of steel. ”

“ The railroad will probably build the greater part of its freight equipment, although in these days of the supplanting of wood by steel in car-construction the companies are apt to stand appalled at the cost of the steel working machinery, and to buy their cars direct from the manufacturers very much as they purchase their locomotives. Passenger equipment is almost invariably secured in this way. It is a big railroad indeed that seeks to construct for itself the huge travelling palaces that the passenger of to-day has come to demand for his comfort. ”

“ Steel rails and steel bridges have made possible the economy of the colossal locomotives of modern times. Steel has enabled men, instead of building 10-ton cars to carry 10 tons of cargo, to build298 12-ton cars to carry 20, or 14-ton to carry 30; each improvement of this kind represents a saving in the dead weight of the train, and a consequent reduction in cost. Steel has furnished a material for the bridges over which the cars are carried, enabling a span of 500 feet to be constructed as readily as a span of 250 feet, with the iron formerly employed. ”

“ When your grandmother was a little girl, fast trains ran from coast to coast and slower ones climbed to towns high in the mountains. Super-highways for automobiles and trucks were something that only a few people even imagined then. So—if freight and passengers were going very far, they had to travel by train. Mountains gave the railroads a lot of trouble, because it was hard to dig wide roadbeds along the steep, rocky{80} hillsides or to push them through tunnels in solid stone. ”

“ That man has ever been able to create and build the locomotive, a giant creature of some 200 tons, perhaps, built together with infinite care of some 5,000 to 7,000 parts, and these parts acting with the delicacy of the hair-spring of a watch, almost passes ordinary belief. The wonder becomes even greater when it is realized that this monster creature, set upon two slender rails, is capable of pulling a 4,000 ton train, through every stress of weather and over considerable grades. ”

“ Car after car drifts down the hump and stops just where it should. When one freight train has been unscrambled,{30} another rolls up beneath the tower, and its cars, too, are shuffled. In just a few hours half a dozen trains have been broken up and made into new ones.
Some yards have extra inspectors who stand on top of a building and look down at the cars from above. They can see broken parts that the man in the inspection pit might miss. In other yards, a man is stationed beside the track that leads up to the hump. ”

“ Then, as the sand-box is brought into requisition, the wheels distinctly bite the rail, and, in the words of the race-track, "They're off." For a few seconds progress is very slow, indeed. Then the good work of the trusted locomotive becomes apparent, and before we are well out of the yards quite a good speed is being obtained. The fireman is busy ringing the bell, and the engineer, from time to time, adds to the warning noise by one of those indescribable toots made only by a steam engine.
Now we are outside the city limits, and the train is making excellent time. ”

“ When the car is loaded the machine can either move on to the next car, or pull it under itself into place. With the help of four men it can load from 125,000 to 150,000 feet of timber in a day. By means of the cable it can make up a train, and then by lowering the truck and raising the legs out of the way, it is converted into a locomotive and hauls the train away to the mill or railway station at the rate of three or four miles at hour.
As forests are cut away along the water courses, railways have to be resorted to more and more, Fig. ”

“ Steel rails, by their superior hardness, strength, and stiffness, approach much nearer than iron to the mathematical planes to which all rails should conform, in order to diminish the resistance to traction to a minimum. Taking the working expenses of railways at their present average rate, it would be a low estimate indeed to say that, even apart from all consideration of the renewals of rails, the superiority of steel over iron rails does not amount to at least 2d. per train mile, taking into account the saving of locomotive power, wear of carriage and waggon stock, maintenance of way, &c. ”