Civil Engineers in 1892, the first important modifications in car building were called forth by the speed developed in the locomotive. Naturally the wheels first demanded attention. The names of four men are connected with early wheel improvement. Mr. Knight improved the shape of the tread and flange; John Edgar and Ross Winans developed the chilled features; and Phineas Davis further improved and perfected the wheel by altering the disposition of the metal in the tread and the angle of the flange, and by introducing within the cast-iron wheel a wrought-iron ring of five eighths or three quarters of an inch round iron, both perfected the chill and added strength to the wheel. Mr. Winans' shops turned out thousands of these wheels for use not only in this country, but also in Germany and Switzerland. From 30,000 to 50,000 miles represented the capabilities of a Winans wheel.

With increased speed came the need for increased steadiness, and it occurred to Ross Winans that by adopting the device of the bogie, or swiveling truck used in the transportation of freight, he could build an easyriding passenger-car. In 1833 Mr. Winans constructed three long houses on wheels, each capable of seating 60 passengers. Having patented his invention, he was confronted by the fact that the principle he had used was one that had been utilized frequently on tramways, and particularly on the famous Quincy granite railroad, built to transport stone for the Bunker Hill Monument. At the end of protracted litigation the courts annulled the patent.

We now know that prior to 1830 England had three bogie-engines at work; that in 1831 Stephenson's John Bull, built for the Camden & Amboy road, was made into a bogie after it reached this country - a fact made patent by the famous run of that engine from New York to Chicago in 1893; that Horatio Allen used a bogie-engine on the South Carolina Railroad in 1832, the same year in which the bogie-locomotive Experiment was built for the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad. Moreover, the bogie principle was patented in England in 1812. Yet, whatever may be the legal aspects of the case, it is certain that the American passenger-car of to-day originated with the three passenger-coaches built in Ross Winans' shops in 1833. England discarded the bogie principle for engines in 1830, and did not return to it until 1876; and that country to this day has not adopted the bogie for passenger- or freight-cars. In 1889, the Paris, Lyons & Mediterranean Railway adopted the bogie for certain passengercars; and in 1895 the Great Western Railway of England began to experiment with the bogietruck. In America the Winans passenger-coach almost immediately supplanted everywhere the stage-coach form, which England still retains in a modified shape, excepting only on the Pullman cars, introduced into that country in 1874. With us not only the passenger-cars, but the baggage, mail, and freight-cars, all were placed on swiveling trucks.

That the early railroads of this country were designed to carry passengers rather than freight is to be seen by their reports. The Baltimore & Ohio road, from 1 Jan. 1831, to 1 October carried over its 13 miles of track 5,931 tons of freight and 81.905 passengers; and so late as 1839 the Camden & Amboy carried only 13,520

tons of merchandise as against 181,479 passengers. In fact, the railways as freight carriers could not compete with the canals, which in those days were the traffic routes. In 1831 the Tuscarora & Port Carbon Railroad could not meet canal rates by 394 cents per ton, the railway charges being 40 cents, plus a toll of 15 cents per ton, while the canal rates were 1034 cents, plus 5 cents toll.

Mr. John Kirby, describing from memory the freight-car of 1848, says that it was the same square box it is to-day; its capacity was from six to ten tons; the roof was covered with cotton duck painted and sanded. The hot sun cracked this covering and let the water in on the freight, an annoyance common also to passenger-coaches of that day. Few freight-cars were used in New York State at that date, the Erie Canal being sufficient for summer freight. Wood was the universal fuel, so there was no coal transportation. Wooden brakeheads were used, and it required three men to turn the screw that pressed the wheels on and off the axles. The ripping of planks was done by hand, as was also the dressing up; and when one man had tools to grind, a fellowworkman turned the stone. Carpenters and car builders of six years' experience commanded $1.122 a day wages.

Viewed from the standpoint of to-day, the passenger-car of the early 'fifties, built at a cost of about $2,000, was a combination of inconveniences. The cast-iron stove in the centre of the car broiled those who sat immediately around it, while the unfortunates one seat removed from its satanic glare shivered and froze. In summer the dust was intolerable, and, notwithstanding elaborate devices for ventilation, the dust problem did not begin to be solved before the appearance of the monitor roof in 1860. Hot-water heating and the abolition of the deadly car-stove came with the Pullmans.

In 1856 Captain (now Sir) Douglas Galton, of the Royal Engineers, was sent to America to investigate our railways. His report to the lords of the Privy Council for Trade gives a straightforward and unbiased account of his investigations. Perhaps there is extant no other report which so comprehensively discusses the railway situation in the United States about that date.

"The practice of constructing railways [in America] in a hasty and imperfect manner," says Capt. Galton, "has led to the adoption of a form of rolling stock capable of adapting itself to the inequalities of the road; it is also constructed on the principle of diminishing the useless weight carried in a train. The principle is that the body of the car is carried on two four-wheeled trucks, to which the body is attached by means of a pintle in the centre, the weight resting on small rollers at each side. The framing of the truck is supported on springs resting on the axles, and the pintle and rollers are fixed to a cross-beam, which is attached by springs to the main framing; so that between the body of the car and the axles are a double set of springs. India-rubber springs are in general use, but they often become hard; consequently sometimes steel springs are used, with great advantage. Any side movement which might result from the slight play allowed to the cross-beam is counteracted by springs placed between its ends and the framing. An iron hoop attached to the framing passes under

the axle on each side, so as to support the axle in case it should break."

The bearings Capt. Galton found not unlike those used in England, but the use of oil as a lubricator was novel. He was told that under favorable circumstances the oil in an axle-box needed to be renewed but once a month; but that it was difficult to obtain good oil. The wheels were of cast-iron, with chilled tires; they were from 30 to 36 inches in diameter, weighed rather more than 500 pounds, and were without spokes. When made by the best makers they would run from 60,000 to 80,000 miles before the tires were worn, and they cost from $14.50 to $17.00 each. The iron used in making wheels was of very superior quality; and so great was the practical skill required that but three firms in the United States could be relied on to furnish wheels of the first grade.

The most approved form of draw-bar was continuous under the car, and was attached to the elliptic springs, acting in both directions. The iron shackle was in general use, but some railways preferred an oak shackle 18 inches long, two inches thick, and six inches broad. This block was bound with an iron band divided on each side at the centre, so that a on leaving the rails would break the shackle transversely.

car

Already the automatic coupler for freightcars was prefigured in a device by which the pin in the bumper of one of the cars was supported by means of a ball, so that the shackle of the on-coming car pushed back this ball and let the pin fall into its place. All passenger-cars and most freight-cars were supplied with brakes; and the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad was endeavoring to anticipate the day of train-brakes by an invention whereby a sudden check in the speed of the engine applied the brakes to the wheels of all the cars. The saloon, the carstove, and the ice-water tank all had established themselves in the best cars, and were novelties to the visiting Englishman.

On the Illinois Central, between Cairo and Dubuque, some of the cars were filled with compartments in which the backs of seats turned up and so formed two tiers of berths or sofas, for the accommodation of persons who might wish to lie down and were willing to pay for the privilege. The passenger-car had attained a length of 60 feet, though the 30- and 45-foot cars were more common; the baggage-cars, with their compartments for mail and express, were 30 feet long, and the freight-cars from 28 to 30 feet. In those days the freight-cars were constructed more strongly than were the passengercoaches; a Baltimore & Ohio freight-car 28 feet long, and with a capacity of nine tons, itself weighed six tons.

In summing up the result of his observations as to the rolling stock in this country, Capt. Galton notes that the Americans appear to have taken their ideas more from a ship than from an ordinary carriage, and to have adopted the form best calculated to accommodate large masses, with a minimum of outlay for first cost; and that while the cars had been designed with a view to avoid every appearance of privilege or exclusiveness, or of superiority of one traveler over another, they had been constructed so as to secure to every traveler substantial comfort and ven privacy.

"There is but one class," he said; "but as the cars are designed with more regard to comfort than English railway carriages, this class is much superior to our second and third classes, and is inferior only to the best first-class English carriages. Notwithstanding the superior comfort of the American railways, the rates of fare averaged lower than the second- and sometimes even the third-class fares in England."

Of necessity progress in car-building had to wait for the development of the railroads. The original roads were not constructed as through lines between the larger cities, but as the connecting-links between natural waterways, answering to the portages or carrying places of the old days when commerce was conducted in canoes. Often built as the result of local or State enterprise, a short line was sufficient to use up the scanty capital available, or to exhaust the willingness of the people to be taxed for public improvements. The great systems of to-day represent survivals of the fittest early ventures, and development according to environment. Thus the various small roads which traversed the present main line of the New York Central were not consolidated until 1853, and the same year the roads between Philadelphia and Pittsburg came under one control. So late as 1862 there were five separate companies operating the lines between Lake Erie and Lake Michigan; and as each road had a gauge of its struction when freight-cars of compromise gauge own, it was regarded as a triumph in car con

were built to run over all five roads.

In 1869, however, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern lines came under a single head.

When, in October 1865, a combination was formed among eight railroads to establish a fast freight line between New York and Boston and Chicago, the maximum difference in the gauges of the several lines was one inch; and this was compensated for by a broad tread wheel. Each company contributed a number of cars proportionate to its mileage, one car for every three (afterward increased to one for every two) miles. In 1865 the quota of the Lake Shore & Northern Indiana was 179 cars; while in 1894 that road's quota of Red Line cars was 2,200.

In 1862 the United States government conducted the greatest railroad business known up to that time. With headquarters at Nashville, the government operated 1,500 miles of road with 18.000 men, whose monthly wages amounted to $2,200,000. The rolling stock consisted of 271 engines and 3,000 cars. No entirely new locomotives were built, but the 3.000 men employed in the locomotive repair shops pieced out fully equipped engines founded on a serviceable boiler or a pair of sound driving-wheels. Among the triumphs of the national car-shops were, first, a headquarters car for Gen. Thomas, the car being 50 feet long, iron-plated, and provided with a kitchen, a dining-room, a sleeping apartment, and an office; and, secondly, the hospital-trains, in which the jars and jolts were reduced to a minimum. It was during the year 1864 that Gen. McCallum and Col. Wyman came to Detroit and summoned the managers of the Michigan Car Company to stop all building then in progress and to work solely for the government. They gave a contract for a number of box- and flat-cars to be operated

cn southern roads; and inasmuch as the gauge differed from that of the northern roads, the new cars were loaded on flat-cars and sent to Cincinnati. The government officials fixed the price of the cars and made payment in certificates, some of which the company exchanged for materials, and the remainder were held until money could be obtained for them.

The enormous transportation business developed by the war, together with the labor conditions and the paper-money issues, combined to raise the price of cars; so that the standard freight-car of 1864, a car 28 feet long and with a capacity of 10 tons, cost $1,000 or more. About 30 years later a car 34 feet long, with a capacity of 30 tons, and provided with automatic couplers, air-brakes, and other improvements, could be purchased for about $500.

When the war ended the managers of railways were called on to face a heavy decline in both freight and passenger traffic, due to the disbanding of the armies. Money was not plentiful, cars were very expensive, and the mania for extending lines into new territory had begun. Under these conditions the roads began a system of borrowing cars from the builders or from car-trust companies. The Michigan Car Company was probably the first to make contracts on a car-loaning basis; be that as it may, this company had at one time loaned to railroads between 6,000 and 7,000 cars, payment being made according to the car's mileage. With better times and better credit the roads began to buy cars for cash or on long time, as was most convenient; and loaning freightcars to railroads on a mileage basis was practically discontinued. A majority of the refrigerator-cars, however, continued to be owned by private parties and run on a mileage basis. The reduction in the mileage rate practically killed the business of private ownership, since the new rate did not much more than pay for the repairs.

The sleeping-car had its beginnings as early as 1838. The Baltimore Chronicle for 31 October of that year described one such car that had been put on the line between Baltimore and Philadelphia. The enthusiastic reporter related that the car had berths for 24 persons, and that for a small consideration the weary passenger might spend the six hours of travel between those cities as pleasantly as if he were asleep in his own bed. Nothing then seemed to be wanting except dining-cars, and those were promised for the near future – a promise, alas! not fulfilled for many a long year. Twenty years later, in 1858, George B. Gates invested $5,000 in two sleeping-cars to run between Cleveland and Buffalo; but passengers could not be persuaded to use them. The same year the line between Toledo and Chicago was equipped with two sleeping-cars built by the Wason Company, of Springfield, Mass., and owned by Mr. Bates, of Utica, N. Y. These cars were 50 feet long, with 16 sections in summer and 14 in winter. When not in use the bedding and curtains were stored in an end section; and a single wash-basin and one saloon furnished the toilet conveniences for the 48 persons the car was expected to carry. A sofa along the side of the car formed the lower berth, the middle one was hinged to the windowcasing, and the upper berth rested on cleats fastened to permanent cross-partitions. It was

while traveling in one of these cars, in 1858, that Mr. George M. Pullman began to plan the sleeping-cars that have revolutionized railway travel in this country, and are making their way in Europe, where comfort is less an essential to the traveler than it is in America.

In 1859 Mr. Pullman transformed two Chicago & Alton coaches into better sleeping-cars than any others; but it was not until 1863 that the Pioneer, the first Pullman, was placed on the road. The car cost $18,000-an astounding price in those days. It was higher and wider than most roads could admit, and it was not until President Lincoln's funeral that the roads between Chicago and Springfield narrowed their platforms and adapted their bridges so as to allow the Pioneer, carrying the funeral party, to pass over their lines. Shortly afterward Gen. Grant's trip from Detroit to Galena, Ill., in the same car, opened those lines to the Pioneer, After that time progress was rapid. The Pullman Company was organized in 1867, and its success is too well known to need comment here. From the palace sleeping-car to the parlor- and the dining-room car is a short step. But a long jump was taken in the vestibule, invented by Mr. Pullman in 1887, by which trains are made solid and the platform is robbed of the last of its terrors.

In the winter of 1868-9 the first Westinghouse air-brake was used on the Steubenville accommodation train running on the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad. The Pennsylvania road adopted it, and since the automatic feature was added, in 1873, it has come into almost universal use on passenger-trains, while by far the larger proportion of new freightcars built are equipped with it. In 1887 a train of 50 freight-cars made a triumphal tour of the great lines, and by repeated tests, under varying conditions, proved that the Westinghouse brake can stop a train in one tenth the space required by the hand-brake. In 1867 Col. Miller placed his patent platform, buffer, and coupler on three cars building in the shops at Adrian, Mich.; and with great rapidity the dangerous old platform, with its loose link coupling, disappeared. In 1860 the Post-Office Department began to demand more room from the railroad companies, and year by year the mail-cars were increased from 17 to 20 feet in length, then to 35, and finally to 60 feet.

The interchange of cars among the various roads made it necessary to adopt standards in car construction, in order to facilitate repairs to cars when away from the home road. Some authority, too, was needed to settle disputes between roads, arising from charges for repairs; to investigate new brakes and couplers; and, in general, to keep the work of construction fully abreast of the times. The Master Car Builders' Association, organized in 1867, amply fills this need; and the reports of its annual meetings contain the latest word on all subjects relating to car-building. Its arbitration committee also acts as a court of conciliation for the various roads.

Prior to the panic of 1873 all the car-works were busy. That panic caused the failure of a large number of new railroads, which, in turn, forced into bankruptcy and eventual reorganization many car companies. From 1873 to 1879 the car-shops throughout the country were practically idle; but with the revival of business in