[PRCo] The other Twin Cities - Oct 1891

[John Swindler]

  Might be of interest - (more than you really want to know about Pittsburgh transit history) - John     In and About the Twin Cities,PITTSBURGH AND ALLEGHENY.Something of Interest to the Delegates who will attend the TENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN STREET RAILWAY ASSOCIATION. These two cities, virtually one, although they have separate city governments, are hemmed in by steep hills along the narrow valleys of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers at their confluence with the Ohio. The narrow tongue of land between the two rivers was a landmark in the early history of our country, for on this point was built Fort du Quesne (du kane), one of the chain of forts extending from Lake Erie to the mouth of the Mississippi, which was built by the French in order to establish their claim to the Northern and Western territory of our continent—a claim which gave rise to the French and Indian war. As early as 1753 George Washington, then a young man only twenty-one years old, was sent by the Governor of Virginia with a reauest to M. De St. Pierre, commander of Fort du Quesne, to withdraw from this post, a request which was politely, but firmly refused. In 1754, Washington, then in command of a detachment of Virginia troops, was forced to surrender to the garrison of this same fort. Again, in 17*55, we see him covering the retreat of the Virginia troops from this point, and saving the army from total ruin after the defeat and death of its commander, Gen. Braddock. In 1758 we learn that the fort surrendered to a body of British forces led by Gen. Forbts, who changed its name to Fort Pitt, in honor of Mr. Pitt, then prime minister of England,from which we have the present name of Pittsburgh. What a marvellous transformation in this locality would the actors in these early scenes witness to-day could they stand upon Washington Heights—reached by means of the Duquesne incline or at the head of any of the inclines—and overlook these two cities with their teeming population of 350,000. The two rivers seem to be alive with quaint looking steamers having in tow a countless number of coal barges, the contents of which constitute the chief source of wealth in all this region. Volumes of black smoke and flames belching forth from the forest of chimneys along the banks of each river make a magnificent view at night and mark the location of the various iron and glass works that have made this location famous as a manufacturing centre, and given it the name, everywhere, of "the great workshop of America." Not only have the natural advantages of this location been placed under tribute to the welfare of its inhabitants, but the natural disadvantages as well. The almost perpendicular bluffs which border the rivers have been scaled by numerous inclined railways, devised by modern engineering skill, and even the raging rivers themselves have been tamed, and the laws of gravity overcome, by means of dams and locks; so that the numerous rapids, that were impregnable to ordinary means of navigation, are now successfully traversed by steamers and barges drawing from six to eight feet of water, thus opening'to the steam craft, of Pittsburgh more than 20,000 miles of inland navigation.  Natural Resources and Industries. (deleted) The Manufacture of Glass.  (deleted) The Products of Iron (deleted)   We might speak at length of the other natural resources of this region, including petroleum; of the fifteen magnificent bridges which span the rivers at this point, and of many other prominent industries including the steam railway systems, which comprise parts of the great trunk lines of the country, known as the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Baltimore & Ohio, and the Vanderbilt corporations; but these not being of special interest to our readers, we devote the greater part of our space toThe Rapid Transit Facilities. Few cities present more or better opportunities for the study of the problem of rapid transit than are offered in the cities of Pittsburgh and Allegheny. The street railway system of these cities is essentially modern animal traction having been almost entirely supplanted by mechanical power. The accompanying map shows clearly the different routes and the different methods of traction employed on each. There are three excellent cable roads, which embody many of the best elements in that means of traction. There are nine electric roads, all of very recent construction, and among them may be found the most advanced ideas in the use of electricity in street railway work. Although as recently as four years ago the car horse and mule jointly held the situation, they have practically disappeared within that brief time. In the matters of construction, equipment and operation the different roads offer a considerable variety and an opportunity for instructive study. There is much to interest practical street railway men in the methods by which the various conditions of curves, grades, crowded streets and the demand for high speed have been successfully met. There are twelve distinct operating companies in the two cities, and there is very little community of interest among them; that is nearly every company represents a separate and independent interest. The natural result of this condition of affairs is an active competition, the effects of which are manifest in the excellent equipment and service rendered. It was this spirit of aggressive competition that caused the introduction of mechanical traction to such a large extent, and the public is obviously the gainer thereby. The table presented below summarizes the statistics , of the lines of the twelve operating companies, giving the capitalization in stock and bonds, the number of miles of track, and the number of passengers carried during the year ended June 30, 189*:THE CITIZENS' TRACTION CO.Capital stock $3,000,000Bonds $1,250,000$4.2S°.000Miles of track:Cable 12Horse 6Electric 7- 25Number of cars:Cable 66Horse 4Electric 10— 80Passengers carried during the year endedJune 30, 1891, 12,547,868President, Jno. G. Holmes, Vice-President, H. S. A. Stewart, Secretary and Auditor, C. M. Gormly, 
    Treasurer, Nathaniel Holmes, 
           General Superintendent, J. E. Rugg, 
                  Directors: 
Jno. G. Holmes, C. L. Magee, 
H. S. A. Stewart, John B. Jackson, James VtRNER, A. F. Keating, James J. Donnell. For portrait of the president, see plate of local committee.MR. JOHN G. HOLMES.Mr. John G. Holmes, the president of the Citizens' Traction Co., was born in Pittsburgh, and comes from a family that has been identified with the street railway interests of that city ever since the running of the fust horse car in 1859, his father, Nathaniel Holmes, having been a moving spirit in its organization. After passing through the usual preparatory course of studies he entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pa. He began his business career in 1866, in the banking house of N. Holmes & Son, established in 1822, and is now the senior member of the firm, it being the oldest banking house in Pittsburgh, so that he has now followed a banking career for a quarter of a century without intermission. Mr. Holmes began his street railway career in 1859, when, as a boy, thirteen years old, he affixed the seal and ribbon to the bonds of the newly organized Citizens' Passenger Railway Co., which built the first street railway west of the Allegheny mountains, hence can be said that he was brought up in the company. This road began at the corner of Penn and Sixth Streets, in what was then the business heart of the city, and extended from Penn Avenue, running parallel with the Allegheny River, to Lawrenceville, where the U. S. arsenal is now located. In 1871 Mr. Holmes was elected treasurer of the company, and in 1882 became the president—an office which he has continued to hold ever since. During the' year 1888 the horse car line was converted into a cable line, and the road, with the twenty-five miles of track and ninety-one cars, operated by cable, electricity and horse power, is now one of the best paying lines in Pittsburgh. Mr. Holmes' connection with the American Street Ran way Association daUs from the firsf regular meeting of the organization. He has missed very few of the conventions. In 1883-4 he was a member of the executive committee. He likewise holds many other important offices in the various institutions with which he is identified. The Citizens' Traction Passenger Railway Co. is the present representative of the first street railway ever built in Pittsburgh. The Citizens' Passenger Railway Co. wasincorporated in 1859 by James Verner and Nathaniel Holmes, father of the president. The original horse-car line extended on Penn Avenue from Sixth Street to Thirtyfourth, and thence out Butler Street to Forty-first. Subsequently the line was extended out Butler Street to the Allegheny Cemetery, and then it was carried still further to the Sharpsburg bridge and across the Allegheny river into the boroughs of Etna and Sharpsburg. Some ten years ago the line was carried out Penn Street from Thirty-fourth Street, where the Butler Street line begins, to East Liberty, a distance of two and one-half miles. This East Liberty division was run for years as a branch, the passengers being transferred at Thirty-fourth Street and paying another fare. In addition to these lines, which constitute the active system of the company, the property of the Transverse Passenger Railway Co. is also owned by the company. The line of the Transverse company extends from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad station at Smithfield and Water Streets, along Water, Wood, Liberty and Smallman Streets to Forty-seventh and Plummer Streets. This road was built to parallel the Citizens' Passenger Railway about eleven years ago, and was consolidated w ith the Citizens'company about five years ago. A portion of this line is operated under lease by the Allegheny Traction Co., and the remainder is practically idle. The Citizens' Traction Passenger Railway Co. was chartered July 6, 1887, and all the lines of the Citizens' Passenger Railway Co. were taken under lease, September 1, 1887. The entire system was then operated with horses, but the work of changing to cable power was commenced at once under the direction of George Rice, then engineer of the company, and the cables were put in operation on January 1, 1889. Three cables were put in; one on Penn Avenue, from Sixth Street to the fork of the road at Thirty-fourth Street; one from this point on Butler Street to the Cemetery, and the third on Penn Avenue, from Thirty-fourth Street to East Liberty. The Sharpsburg line was left under operation with horses, and a short extension out Frankstown Avenue from the East Liberty terminus, a distance of three-quarters of a mile, is still operated by horses as a feeder. During the present year the changing of the Sharpsburg line from horse power to to electricity was begun, and is now nearly completed. This branch has also been extended from its terminus at Thirteenth Street in Sharpsburg to Guyasuta station on the West Pennsylvania Railroad. The lines of the Citizens' Traction Co. are well worth the study of street railway men as an example of a well managed system, upon which all the details of construction, operation and maintenance have been carefully worked out and are still closely studied. It is not possible, however, to give more than brief mention cf the various features in this connection. In their physical features the lines do not present much that calls for comment. There are some fotr)-eight curves in the cable lines, but they are chiefly of long radius. On the East Liberty division there is an interesting grade, commencing at the fork of the road and extending in a straight line about one mile. The grade ranges from four to six per cent. For any but a cable road this long grade would be very interesting, but under the circumstances it offers no obstacle. Prior to the introduction of the cable on this line four horses were required to pull a car to the top of this hill, and the trip consumed fifteen minutes. Beyond this hill the line descends into East Liberty, on a much shorter grade of five to six per cent. On the East Liberty and Butler Streetdivisions the cable runs eleven miles an hour, and nine miles on the down end of line on Penn Street. The cable lines are laid with girder rails, sixtyttve pounds to the yard. The conduit is built of concrete, and the rails are supported on cast i on yokes, spaced four feet. The carrying pulleys are twelve inches in diameter and are spaced thirty feet apart. Fourteen inch pulleys were formerly used, and many are still in service, but they were found to be troublesome when there is water in the conduit, and are being replaced with twelve inch pulleys as opportunity affords. On curves forty inch pulleys are used. The conduits are cleaned by scraping from the manholes. Formerly they were flushed with water, but the present method gives satisfaction at less cost and trouble. The conduits are cleaned twice a year, the work being done at night when the cable is idle. With cleaner streets, once a year would suffice. There are two steam railroad crossings on the line of the road, that of the Allegheny Valley Railroad at Twenty-eighth Street and Penn Avenue, and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago at Eleven? Ii Street. The loop at the down town end of the line is formed by passing from Penn Avenue, at Cecil Alley, to Liberty Avenue, thence along Liberty Avenue to Seventh Street and then to Penn Avenue again. The passing along Cecil Alley from Penn to Liberty Avenue, is through the company's property, and, as all the cars come through this point, an inspection pit is located there. As each car reaches the pit the cable is lifted from the grip by a lever, the grip is inspected, the spools are oiled and new dies are inserted if needed. All of this is done very quickly, not more than ten or fifteen seconds being consumed. During the busiest hours ol the day cars are run through this point at one minute headway, so there is little leeway for delay at the inspection pit. The power house of the company is located at Thirtythird Street and Penn Avenue, and is an attractive specimen of architecture. The motive power consists of three Wetherill-Corliss engines, with cylinders 28 X 60 inches. They are rated at 500 H. P. each. They are run at seventy-six, sixty-two and sixty-six revolutions respectively, on account of difference in the gearing. Steam is used at 90 lbs. pressure. Only two of the engines are required to operate the three cables, the third engine being kept in reserve for emergencies. The driving drums are split, with intermediate compensating gear, and the cables make four wraps. The tension carriages have a travel of about ninety-five feet, and the tension is maintained by weights of 5,000, 6,000 and 7,000 lbs. respectively, on each of the three cables. These weights are cylindrical in form, cast in small sections, and each weight rises and falls in a pit. Close beside these pits, at the reai end of the building, is a labor saving appliance that is worthy of attention. It is a fifty ton hydraulic elevator of the plunger type, which is used for lowering reels of cable from the street level above. The power house stands on the slope of the hill, and the street level at the rear is near the roof of the building. The steam plant consists of eight Wetherill boilers, eighteen feet long and six feet in diameter, with sixty four inch tubes. These boilers are set in two batteries of four on each side of the stack. Natural gas is used for fuel, and the immense meter registering as high as 10,000,000,000 ft, is one of the things that strikes a visitor's eye. The scrupulous cleanliness of the boiler and engine house illustrates the possibilities of this fuel. The vault beneath the street contains a complication of sheaves, carrying the incoming and outgoing cables. As there are three cables issuing from this house the arrangement of pulleys is necessarily intricate. The conduit above the power house is relieved of one cable by dropping the incoming East Liberty rope into a subway a few hundred feet above the station and allowing the cars to come down by gravity. The guide sheaves in the vault are twelve feet in diameter, and are set at various angles. As the power house stands on a grade it necessarily requires care on the part of gripmen to make passage on the up trip, but failures are infrequent, averaging not more than three or four in a day. The three cables that are run from this power house are the city, 25,800 ft.; the East Liberty, 28,400 ft., and the Butler Street, 12,000 ft. The diameter of the ropes is one and five-sixteenths inches. It has been the practice to cut the long cables when partially worn and finish their life on the Butler Street line. The rope now in use on that division, is a new Lang cable, made by Washburn & Moen, and put in service in August of this year. There is a Roebling rope in use on the East Liberty branch, which was started in April last, and which will be replaced by a Lang cable from the same makers. On the city division a plain Broderick & Bascom rope has been in use since June of this year. The average life of the cables on all three divisions is about seven months. This company has an efficient signal system for use in case of accident on the line. Signal boxes are placed at suitable intervals along the lines and in the cab of each car is a printed sheet of instructions and a list of the locations of the boxes. From any box an alarm can be rung, which sounds a gong in the engine room of the power house. At the same time a card is displayed, showing, in letters large enough to be seen from any part of the room, the line on which the trouble is located, so that the proper Lable can be stopped with small delay. As an example of the efficiency of this system, it may be mentioned that when a grip recently caught in one of the cables, an alarm was sent to the power house and the car was stopped within a distance of 300 ft., although three miles from the power house.The car barn for the cable lines is located at East Liberty, at the terminus of that division. The cars pass through the house and are inspected at a pit similar to that at the down town end of the line. The barn is built in the shape of an L, the larger arm forming the car house proper. This is a substantially constructed building 180 X 60 ft., and two stories high. The second floor is used for repair work and is supported by heavy plate girders. The roof is of iron and slate, but it might be mentioned in this connection that fire removed the roof and second floor together with eight cars last March. In the second floor of the shorter wing there is a stable for the horses used on the short feeder that runs out Frankstown Avenue from this point. As opportunity offers here for an examination of the cars, some notes concerning the rolling stock of the company may be pertinent. There are sixty-six cable cars in service, all of them of the Pullman build. The cars are twenty-nine feet over ill, with closed octagonal cabs. The interior finish is plain, but of a character that is easilycleaned, and after all that is the chief consideration. The ceiling is oak, the doors, sashes and framing are mahogany and the blinds have maple slats. All of the later cars are equipped with the Rugg truck designed by the superintendent of the road. In these trucks the number of parts has been reduced to a minimum, and the smallest possible number of bolts and nuts is used in order to reduce the liability of loosened parts. The car body is supported by a circular bearing about forty inches in diameter which rests within a slightly larger circle upon the truck. The weight is borne upon two shoes, one on either side, which gives the truck sufficient play in crossing tracks, frogs, etc., but permits no rocking of the car body upon the truck. In these trucks the brake is mounted entirely upon the truck frame instead of being suspended in part or entirely from the car body. This insures complete independence of the load in the car. The Bemis box and pedestal are used on the cars. Another of the superintendent's new ideas is the use of a plate iron front for the cabs. They look fully as well as wood and, of course, stand much heavier usage. Headlights are placed within the cab so that the glass comes flush with the front of the cab. The superintendent is putting on new pilots on the cars, using an idea of his own. It is merely a stout wire netting held in a frame of one and threequarter inch pipe, and carried four inches above the pavement. A few of the cars are equipped with air brakes, the pump being carried on one of the trucks and driven by gearing from one of the axles. These have been in experimental use for about six months and have given good satisfaction