[PRCo] Re: The other Twin Cities - Oct 1891

[John Swindler]

 Part 3 - Supplement to Oct 1891 issue Street Railway Journal - pdf version also available from Google books   It may be of interest to visitors to know that when this plant was complete and ready to go into regular operation, an explosion of gasoline on February 18, 1891, fired the building, destroying the generators, switchboard and shafting and doing more or less damage to the engines. Three months later, to a day, the plant was started after having been rebuilt. PITTSBURGH, ALLEGHENY & MANCHESTER TRACTION CO.Capital stock $3,000,000Bonds 1,300,000$4,300,000Miles of track 18Number of cars 55Passengers carried during the yearended June 30, 1891 51789,510President, John H. Dalzell, Vice President, Joshua Rhodes, Treasurer, F. C. Hutchinson, Secretary, A. M. Neeper, Superintendent, J. C. Cotton. Di Hectors:John H. Dalzell, Frederick Gwinner, Joshua Rhodes, C. L. Magf.e. G. B. Hill. John H. Dalzell, the president of the Pittsburgh, Allegheny & Manchester Traction Co., has only recently come into the circle of active street railway men. He built the old Union Passenger road, now a part of the present company, but his business career has been chiefly in other lines. Mr. Dalzell was one of the fortunate men in the early days of the oil excitement, and his ventures in that line resulted very profitably. He was one of the active organizers of the Standard Underground Cable Co., in which he is still heavily interested. At present his attention is devoted to the road of which he is president.This is one of the oldest street railways in the two cities, but it is only within the past few weeks that horses have been discarded for electricity. The system embraces eighteen miles of track, covering the western portion of Allegheny and crossing the Union and Sixth St. bridges (Fig. 1) to an excellent terminal location at Market and Liberty Streets in Pittsburgh. The lines pass through a thickly settled portion of Allegheny, and for many years past have been handling a heavy traffic. The system is operated as four divisions, designated as the Main, Rebecca Street, Troy Hill and Union lines. The cars of all these lines enter and leave Pittsburgh by the Sixth Street bridge, but a few of the Union line cars are still taken across the Union bridge at the lower part of the city by horses. The Pittsburgh, Allegheny & Manchester Passenger Railway Co. was chartered in 1859 with a capital stock of $75,000, and the Main line was put in operation in i860. The other branches were added subsequently and the capital was increased from time to time until it reached $350,000 prior to the formation of the present company. The Rebecca Street branch was laid in i860, and the Troy Hill in 1866. The Pittsburgh Union Passenger Railway Co. was a separate company, which was started in 1881, and the two companies were consolidated to form the Pittsburgh, Allegheny & Manchester Traction Co. in 1890. The introduction of electricity was commenced during the past summer and has just been completed, making this the latest of the large street railways to adopt mechanical traction.The line is generally level, the heaviest grade being 6.9 for a distance of 600 ft. on the Union line on Allegheny Avenue. There are numerous curves, but none  wrought iron chairs. The ties are white oak, 6 x 8 ins., spaced thirty inches in the clear, and bedded in concrete. Over the ties there is a three-inch layer of river gravel and on this the paving is laid. On the Sixth Street bridge the old flat tram rails still remain. Walworth poles are used throughout the line. On the narrower streets the thirty foot poles, of seven, six and five inch pipe are used, but for the wide streets and at corners the heavier poles of eight, seven and six inch tube are used. The light poles weigh 1,000 lbs. each and heavy weigh 1,300 lbs. The Standard Underground Cable Co.'s feed wire is used and the other overhead work is of the regular standard Thomson-Houston types. The roadbed is well laid and the overhead work is taut and neat; in fact the entire plant of this com- pany shows careful work and an idea of permanence rather than economy in first cost. 
The streets through which the racks pass have been paved anew from curb to curb with granite blocks in place of cobblestones and the trans-formation of this road from a shabby horse railway to a first class electric railway has wrought immense improvement in the appearance of the streets of Allegheny (Fig. 2). 
The power house is situated at the foot of Juniata Street, close to the Ohio River, and the arrangement andX 83 ft. The engine room measures 107 ft. X78 ft. and is high and well lighted (Fig. 3). The generators are driven by two 500 H. P. Wetherill-Corliss compound condensing  engines, the first of these engines that have been used for this purpose, and they are calculated to save about fifty per cent, of the fuel that is required by simple engines of equal power. The engines are of forty-eightinch stroke and the high pressure cylinder is twenty inches in diameter and the low pressure thirty-six inches. The air pumps and condensers are driven from the crank pin, and the condensers draw water direct from the river, the average lift being about twenty-six feet. The cranks are set at right angles. The flywheels are twenty feet in diameter with fifty inch face and weigh twenty tons each. With 100 lbs. of steam the engines are run at eighty revolutions. There is an arrangement of valves by means of which direct steam can be admitted to both cylinders, and the engine can thus be run as simple non-condensing in case of mishap to the condensers or lack of water. The sandy soil necessitated piling the engine foundations. OnThe electrical equipment consists of six 100 H. P. Thomson-Houston generators and two 325 H. P. machine? of the same make, the first of this size that have been put in service. Each engine belts to a short countershaft at the opposite side of the room by a forty-eight inch Munson belt, running on a forty-eight inch pulley with fifty inch face on the countershaft. The 100 H. P. generators stand in the centre of the room between the engines, and are driven from the inner ends of the two countershafts by forty-three inch pulleys and fourteen inch Munson belts. The 325 H. P. generators are coupled direct to the outer ends of the two countershafts by a new insulated clutch designed for this plant by Mr. G. F. Green  The boiler room is separated from the engine room by a brick wall extending to the roof. The boiler room is 78 ft. X 45 ft. 6 ins. There are eight Wetherill boilers 18 ft. X 54 ins., with fifty four inch steel tubes. They are fired with bituminous coal which is delivered at the door by the railroad, but it is probable that oil will be used in the near future, as it can be obtained cheaply, makes no smoke, and requires much less labor. The boilers are arranged in two batteries on opposite sides of a square brick stack. The feed water is taken from the condenser at a temperature of about 180 degs. Fahr. There are two Keystone injectors and an Epping-Carpenter pump for feed service. The steam pipes are lagged with sheet abestos.wood, engineer in charge of the construction for the Thomson-Houston company. The plans of the plant provide for a future additional engine between the present ones and more generators in the centre of the room. The switch board is built against the wall of the engine room at the rear corner, and is a handsome piece of work in ash and cherry, measuring thirty-five feet in length and nine and one-half feet in height. For the smaller generators there are 150 ampere automatic circuit breakers, with a re-setting device, 150 ampere slate carrent indicators, 150 ampere triple pole station switches with slate base, and thirty ampere double pole, double throw station switches, also with slate bases. For the ,125 H. P. generator there are three automatic circuit breakers in multiple, a 650 ampere current indicator, a 600 ampere triple pole slate base station switch, and a seventy-five ampere double pole, double throw switch. The rheostats are of the usualother (Fig. 5). The roof is of light iron framing covered with wood and slated. The offices, which were formerly at Liberty and Market streets, the Pittsburgh terminus of the road, have been moved to this car barn, and now occupy very handsome quarters, finished in light oak. All the appointments of the building are of excellent quality and convenient arrangement.. Lying parallel ti.this new barn, and separated from it by a narrow alley, is an old stone stable 100X250 ft. This is a well built and very solid building, and it is to be remodelled into shops, storage room for cars, and a variety of uses. The plans for this work provide for a complete and well arranged plani when carried out.The new cars are fifty-five in number. Forty of these cars are thirty foot double truck Pullman cars of the same pattern as those first ordered on the Duquesne Traction Co.'s road. These are very large and heavy cars, weighing, complete, about eleven tons. They are very plain but neat. The interior finish is cherry with maple blinds and ceiling. The floors are double, with grooved maple surface. The seats are made of half inch beaded strips covered with carpet. The cab has an outside door and a door opening into the car. The cabs are hexagonal in shape, with a narrow front armed with a heavy cast iron bumper that make them as formidable as a coast defence ram. The brake is worked with , a. hand wheel and the cars also have air brakes, the pump being carried on the front truck and driven from the axle by a sprocket wheel and chain. It has been found that this apparatus requires considerable alteration to make it work well. The trucks are from the McGuire Manufacturing Co. The frames are made of four inch channel iron, the sides being made double with a one and one eighth inch strip of wood between the two channels. Thirty inch steel tired Allen paper wheels are used on these cars. Each car has two fifteen H. P. double reduction Thomson-Houston motors. For service on the Union line, which has a grade of nearly seven per cent, for a distance of 600 fc. on Allegheny Avenue, there are fifteen sixteen foot cars equipped with fifteen H. P. single reduction Thomson-Houston motors. There are also two snow sweepers, each with three fifteen H. P. single reduction Thomson-Houston motors.There has been considerable discussion as to the advisability of using cars as heavy as eleven tOrtS each, since the Duquesne Traction Co. found them unsuitable, and there have been many predictions by Pittsburgh street railway men that the next orders from the Pittsburgh, Allegheny & Manchester road would be for small cars. The grades of this road are light, and the traffic is heavy and these factors may render such heavy cars serviceable. Cars of about equal weight have been giving good results on the Pittsburgh & Birmingham road where there are also light grades and heavy traffic. Taking all things into consideration, the Pittsburgh, Allegheny & Manchester road is one of the best equipped electrcal roads in the two cities and well represents the latest practice in electrical traction.m • ■The Supreme Court of Michigan lately hejd, in the case of Archer vs. The Fori Wayne & Elmwood Railway Co., that the question whether it is negligence in a street railway company not to guard its horse cars so as to prevent passengers from getting on or off the front platfoms, was a question of fact for the jury, notwithstanding that the city ordinances required the cars to be so guarded. The court also held that it was for the jury to decide whether a passenger on a crowded horse-car was guilty of negligence in riding on the front platform.Murry A. Verner, the president of the Pittsburgh & Birmingham Traction Co., is one of the veterans of the street railway business, and he has seen a larger share of experience than falls to many men. His father, James Verner, was the first president of the Citizens' Passenger Railway Co., and has been in the board of directors ever since. Murry A. Verner entered the service of the Citizens' company as a clerk, and rose from that position to the superintendency of the road, a post which he occupied for many years, until he went to Buffalo, two or three years ago, to take charge of the consolidated roads in that city. He remained there until the Pittsburgh & Birmingham road came under the control of the present owners, when he was called hither to fill the office of president. Mr. Verner has an amazing faculty for organizing the working forces of a street railway, and his attention is given to the practical details of the management.The Pittsburgh & Birmingham Traction Railway is one of the older horse railways that has recently been equipped with electric motors. The present company succeeds the Pittsburgh & Birmingham Passenger Railway and the South Side Passenger Railway, which were purchased and consolidated in the present company on November 19, 1889. The line controls a very valuable territory, being the only road on the south side of the Monongahela river above the Smithfield Street bridge, and also having excellent terminal facilities in the heart of the city, reaching all the railroad stations. When the property was acquired by its present owners it was their intention to change it to a cable railway. To do this necessitated the widening of the Smithfield Street bridge, and this was undertaken by the owners of the road. The addition to the bridge was prepared for a conduit, butparallels the main line a portion of the way, crossing the river at Tenth Street and passing down Second Avenue, forming a loop over Grant Street, Third Avenue, Market Street and Fourth Avenue, the distance being about three and one-quarter miles of double track. This line is still laid with flat tram rails, but is to be relaid with girder rails.The construction of the roadbed of the electric line is a little different from the other Pittsburgh roads, most of which are laid in concrete. On this line the track is ballasted with broken stone to the depth of twelve inches beneath the ties. The stone is filled in to the level of the tops of the ties, and over this is spread a three inch layer of river gravel to receive the paving. It may interest visitors to know 1 hat almost all of the gravel used in Pittsburgh is dredged from the bottom of the Allegheny after the work on the bridge was undertaken the owners of the road changed their minds and decided to introduce electrical traction instead of the cable. The change has been made only on the old Pittsburgh «fc Birmingham Passenger Railway line, the former South Side line which crosses the river higher up, being still operated by horses.The work of rebuilding the track of the main line was commenced soon after the change in the control of the property, and during the spring and summer of 1890 the road was relaid with sixty-three and one-half pound Johnson girder rails, and the line was extended three or four squares above the former terminus on the south side. The main line now extends from Thirty-third and Carson Streets on- the south side of the Monongahela River along Carson Street to the Smithfield Street bridge (Fig. 1); thence across to the city proper and along Smithfield and Liberty Streets to the Union Station, returning by the same route. The total length of this route is three and one-half miles, all double track. The horse car lineRiver. There is a company that makes a business of dredging this gravel, and the dredgers may be seen at work at any time from the lower bridges on the Allegheny River. The gravel is clean and sharp, and is generally preferred to bank gravel. The Pittsburgh & Birmingham tracks have given excellent satisfaction, and during the year the new tracks have been in use there has been no trouble with loose rail joints. The rails are set in the usual Johnson wrought iron chair, on 6x8 ins. white oak ties, spaced thirty-six inches centre to centre. The wiring and overhead work was done by the company. The Milliken poles are used, set in concrete, with twentysix feet above ground, and spaced 125 ft.The electrical equipment was put in regular service on June 21, 1891. There are thirty double truck cars in service, all of them made by the Gilbert Car Manufacturing Co., of Troy, N. Y. These cars are of rather unusual size and carrying capacity, but are nevertheless handled without difficulty on the easy grades of the line. The carsare thirty-two feet long ovei all, about six feet of this length being taken by the vestibules. As there is no loop at either end of the line, the cars are made reversible, with controlling stands at each end. The vestibules were built with a door on each side but they have been altered considerably, one door at each side being closed, and the other widened and fitted with folding gates. The car bodies are richly finished in mahogany, with canvas head lining, and white maple lines. The windows are guarded by a heavy wire netting one foot high placed along the outside. This is a very necessary precaution as the tracks are close together, and in crossing the Smithfield Street bridge the window sills come perilously near the iron work. Stanwood steps and Lewis & Fowler fare registers are used. A lever brake is used, with ratchet and toothed segment on the same pattern as the grip lever of the cable cars. One of the cars has been running for severalliss engines, built by the Hooven, Owens & Rentschler Co., of Hamilton, O. The high and low pressure cylinders are twenty-two inches and thirty-six inches in diameter, and forty-eight inches stroke, using steam at 120 lbs. and running at seventy-two revolutions per minute. These engines have twenty foot fly wheel with fifty inch face, belting to a counter shaft with pulleys for each generator. All of the pulleys are fitted with friction clutches, made by the Falls Rivet & Machine Co., of Cuyahoga Falls, O. Forty-eight and twenty-two inch Munson belts are used for driving the countershaft and generators. The engines stand on a twelve foot brick foundation, which rests on one foot of concrete. The generator foundations are of brick, eight feet deep. Another engine like those now in use, and two more 200 H. P. Edison generators are being added to the plant to meet the demands of increasing traffic. The Bemis truck is used on all the cars. These trucks have a long wheel base, and the four wheels on one side of the car are spaced at about equal distances. The motors are hung to the axles nearest the ends of the cars, and the pivotal point of the truck is also located nearer to the motor axle than to the centre of the truck, thus compensating for the loss of tractive power by the division of the weight of the car between two trucks. Each truck carries a fifteen H. P. single reduction motor, ten of the cars having the Edison equipment and twenty the Short standard motor. The wheels are thirty inch chilled cast wheels, made by the Baltimore Car Wheel Co. With all equipment the cars weigh about ten tons each.The power station is a new structure of brick with iron and slate roof, standing at Thirteenth and Carson Streets, at the former terminus of the road. The engine and dynamo room is 80 X 80 ft., lofty and well lighted (Fig. 2). There are three Edison generators of 200 H. P. each, driven by two compound non-condensing Hamilton-CorThe boiler room directly in the rear of the engine room, is 50 X 125 ft., and forms a portion of the same buiiding. There are four Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers of 250 H. P. each. Bituminous coal is burned, run of mine costing $1.15 on board cars.The car barn adjoins the power house, and has a front of sixty feet on Carson Street, extending back 360 ft. There are six tracks running the entire length of the building with Hathaway transfer tables at each end. At the rear end of each track there is an inspection pit long enough to take three or four cars. In a wing leading from the centre of the car barn are situated the shops. There is a very complete machine shop, equipped with all the requisite tools and machinery for ordinary repairs and light construction work, power being furnished by a forty H. P. Belding motor. There is also a paint shop and a carpenter shop, enabling the company to do all of its work in its own shops. In another portion of the buildings is the stable for the horses that are still used on the old South Side line. Six sixteen foot cars are used for this service.SECOND AVENUE PASSENGER 
      RAILWAY CO. 
Capital stock $300,000Bonds. ... 150,000$450,000Miles of track 10^Number of cars 20Passengers carried during the yearended June 30,1891 1,808,993Passengers carried during the yearended June 30, 1890 686,996President, James D. Callery, Secretary, Chari.es G. Milnor, Treasurer, John W. Taylor, General Manager, W. J. Burns, Superintendent, John Murphy, Directors: James D. Callery, William V. Callery, W. J. Burns, Charles G. Milnor, John C. Reilly. For portrait of the president, see plate of local committee.MR. JAMES D. CALLERY.James D. Callery, the president of the Second Avenue road, has as much pride and interest in the affairs of his road as any street railway president in Pittsburgh, and he has watched each step of the transformation from a moribund horse line to a profitable electric road with a great amount of satisfaction. Mr. Callery has not been long active in street railway matters. His chief business has been in hides and leather, his firm having been established years ago by his father. In addition to these interests, Mr. Callery is president of the City Savings Bank, vicepresident of the Pittsburgh & West End Railway Co., and president of the Troy Hill Inclined Plane & Bridge Co.The Second Avenue Passenger Railway was the first of the Pittsburgh street railways to introduce electricity as its motive power, and the history of this road presents several features of considerable interest to street railway men. The route of this line, from the centre of the city out Second Avenue on the bank of the Monongahela River, has been for many years a great thoroughfare, and long befoie even a horse railway was thought of a line of busses was operated over this route by Messrs. Burns and Reilly, both of whom are now closely identified with the present Second Avenue Railway Co. and the Pittsburgh & West End Railway. The Second Avenue Passenger Railway, which was incorporated July 6, 1871, bought out the old bus line and built a horse railroad, extending from Market Street to the locality known as Soho on Second Avenue, a distance of two and a half miles.This line was operated with horses, but was never a successful road, and its traffic, at the time the control of the property was acquired by the present owners of the stock, amounted to only 119,026 passengers in a year. The road passed under the present management in June, 1889, and the change to electricity was commenced at once. The line was also extended to its present terminus at Glenwood, and the old track was relaid with fifty-four pound Johnson girder rails, except that portion of the line lying below the tenth Street or Birmingham bridge. Flat tram rails are still in use on this end of the road and the track is not in good condition, but it is to be relaid with girder rails. Last year an extension was laid fromThird Avenue to the Exposition building on the Allegheny River front, making the total length of track at present ten and one-fourth miles. All of the Second Avenue track is double, except about one-half mile between Hazlewood and the terminus at Glenwood. The line is now being extended on Second Avenue to Homestead, a distance of four miles. Three miles of this will be double track and one mile single. There are crossovers at several points in the line, so that cars may be run a portion of the trip in case there is a block on the city end or at any point on the line. This track suffers from one serious disadvantage in the great amount of heavy teaming that is done on Second Avenue. An enormous amount of iron is hauled to and from the mills along Second Avenue in loads of four or five tons, and the teams always use the tracks of the street railway company. Under these conditions it is difficult to keep the track in good shape The road was put in operation with electric motors on March 4,1890. At the start there were ten sixteen foot open end cars, each fitted with one fifteen H. P. double retion Thomson-Houston motor. These cars are still running with one motor each, and are doing an average of 110 miles per day. The road is pretty straight, and has few grades of consequence, and the cars do very well with with one motor. The road had hardly commenced operation when it was found that there were not enough cars to handle the business. The car builders were so full of work that none of them would promise delivery inside of six months, so the Second Avenue company bought five old car bodies from the Citizens' Traction Co. and put new Brill trucks under them, with two fifteen H. P. double reduction Thomson-Houston motors to the car. In March of this year the equipment was still further increased by the addition of five new vestibuled cars, fitted with two fifteen H. P. single reduction Westinghouse motors. The first single reduction motor turned out from the Westinghouse factory went on car No. 14, and for four months it ran 140 miles per day without a hitch.Within the first six months of the operation of the the line it was necessary to make a complete change in the power plant, and put in new engines in the place of those then in use. Two of the engines broke down within twenty-four hours, and the company telegraphed to the Russell Engine Co. of Massillon, 0.,to ascertain how soon they could supply engines for the plant. Within fortyeight hours three 150 H. P. Russell engines were received, set up and put in operation. They have been in service ever since without any change. The engines were changed between nine o'clock and half past twelve o'clock one night in August of last year, and the road was stopped only for three and one-half hours. To make the change it was necessary to alter the foundations and change all the steam connections. The three engines now in use have cylinders 15 ins. X 20 ins., and run at 208 revolutions, with a steam pressure of eighty pounds. They havi fly wheels eighty-four inches in diameter, with fourteen inches face and belt direct to the generators. Steam is supplied by two 150 H. P. Lappin boilers, and one 250 H. P. Sterling water tube boiler. Natural gas is burned under the boilers, and feed water is supplied by an artesian well on the premises, 100 ft. deep and flowing about thirty barrels per hour.The plant at first constructed contained three eignty H. P. Thomson-Houston generators. These are two pole machines of the type D 62, and since they were firststarted the only expenditures on their account have been for oil and brushes. The plant is now being duplicated in an addition to the old building. Two 150 H. P. Russell engines are being set up, and three generators like those already in use. The engines stand on a foundation consisting of a concrete base 18 ft. X 32 ft. X 4 ft., upon which are brick piers seven feet high. The foundation for the generators has a concrete base 11 ft. X 36 ft. X 4 ft., and the brick piers are five and one-half feet high. Portland cement is used in the foundations.The power house is situated about in the middle of the system and the line is run without any feed wire. Both wood and iron poles are used. In the centre of the city the company was limited by the authorities to a seven inch base for poles, and as wooden poles of such a size could not be used, light tube iron poles of about five inches base were used on that portion of the line. Out on Second Avenue the poles are red cedar painted green. These poles are twenty-nine feet in length with seven inch top and are set six feet in the ground.For so light a line the Second Avenue road has been called upon to handle some pretty heavy traffic at times. On August 27 of this year, the road undertook to bring into the city a pic-nic of orphan children from the St. Paul's, St. Joseph's and St. Michael's Asylums. There were 870 of the children in all and it was desired to convey them from the pic nic grounds to the centre of the city in a body. To accomplish this twelve cars were coupled in a train, some of the cars having ThomsonHouston and some Westinghouse motors, both one and two to the car. This train, with its load of 870 children, was started on a three per cent, grade 3.3 miles from the power station, and was run without a stop to Grant and Wood Streets in the centre of the city, a distance of five miles. During the past month the road has been handling a heavy business from the Exposition building which is at the extreme end of the line. At the close of the building at night it is often necessary to start off five or six cars at once with very heavy loads, but the equipment has been equal to all demands that have been made upon it. Since the road was started it has not had a fatal accident, but it might be added that there have been some narrow escapes. Any road that can have a loaded car leave the rails on a down grade and stand on end without seriously injuring any of the passengers can safely lay claim to the ownership of an unusual share of good luck.The Second Avenue line commands a considerable share of attention as the first electric road in Pittsburgh, and also because of the manner in which it has upset the very general predictions of failure which were made when it was proposed to introduce electricity in place of horses. The result of this change in motive power is shown in the increase in the number of passengers carried, from 119,026 to 1,808,993 per annum in less than three years.A Root passenger, who, in order to avoid the deep snow in the rest of the street, walks along the street car track from which the snow has been cleared cannot recover for being run over by a car approaching from the rear, when it appears that she could have seen the car for a quarter of a mile<when she got on the track, and that the bells could be heard for forty rods, but that she did not notice the car until it was nearly upon her, and then failed to step far enough aside on account of the high banks of snow, and was knocked down by the rear part of the car.Warner v. People's St. Ry. Co. of Luzerne Co., Penna, S. C, April 20, 1891.The Suburban Rapid Transit Co. operates a short electric railway on the Daft system, starting on the heights on the South Side near the upper ends of the Mt. Oliver and Knoxville inclines, and running out to the south over the old Brownsville turnpike, a distance of two and one-quarter miles. The line is very hilly, and there is hardly a rod of level ground. There are fewgrades less than three per cent., and for a distance of 300 ft. there is an eight per cent grade. The running time for a single trip is eleven minutes. The company has right of way for a continuation of the line down to Eighteenth and Jane Streets, and this will be built at once. The proposed route is down the hill side on a grade of about six per cent., and the distance is about one and oneeighth miles. At present passengers travel by the inclines.The road has been in regular operation since April, 1888, power being formerly furnished by the Pittsburgh, Knoxville & St. Clair road. Upon the failure of this line the Suburban road was left without any power from December 26, 1890, to May 27,1891, pending the completion of a newpower house of its own. This new power house is a brick structure at Knoxville, about one-fourth of a mile from the city. The building is 40 x 100 ft., and contains two 150 H. P. Greene engines, built by the Altoona Manufacturing Co., and two 100 H. P. Mather generators. There are two steel tubular boilers 16 ft. X 66 ins., built by the Altoona Manufacturing Co. The cars were built by Brill & Stephenson. There are seven in all—two vestibule cars with one thirty H. P. Daft motor to each, two open end cars with one thirty H. P. motor, one open end with one fifteen H. P. motor, and two open cars with one twenty H. P. motor each. The road runs through a region where there is considerable activity in real estate, and property has increased greatly in value since the establishment of rapid transit.PITTSBURGH & WEST END PASSENGER RAILWAY CO.Capital stock $200,000Bonds 7S,ooo$275,000Miles of track 10.5Number of cars 26Number of horses and mules 150Passengers carried during the year endedJune 30, 1891 1,854,836Passengers carried during the year endedJune 30, 1890 1,412,453President and Treasurer, J. C. Reilly, Vice-President, James D. Callery, Secretary, Thomas S. Bigelow, General Manager, W. J. Burns, Directors: J. C. Reilly, W. J. Burns, James D. Callery, William V. Callery, Thomas S. Bigelow. chartered in 1879. Before that he was one of the proprietors of a bus line that ran over about the same route In addition to his street railway interests, Mr. Reilly is a dealer in real estate.There are but two street railways in the two cities that are still operated by horses. These are the Pittsburgh & West End and the Allegheny Traction lines, and electricity will probably soon take the places of the horses now in use on both roads. The Pittsburgh &West End Road is a really important line, and with electric motors and with the extensions that are projected, it will occupy an important place in the street railway system of the twin cities. The West End road, as it is generally known, has its city terminus at the foot of Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh, inside the loop of the Pittsburgh Traction cable line. The route of the road is on Liberty street, from the foot of Fifth Avenue to Penn Avenue, to Water Street to the Point bridge. Crossing the bridge the line follows Carson and Main Streets and Wabash Avenue to the stables near Independence Street in the Thirty-sixth ward. At Main and Carson Streets a branch leaves the main line and follows the river to Chartiers, about two miles below. The company was incorporated and the main line of the road was built and put in operation in 1879, the Chartiers branch being added in 1888. For some years before the street railway was projected a bus line was operated over the same route by Burns & Reilly, who also ran the bus line on Second Avenue. The old stone tavern, which formed the terminus of the stage line, is still one of the landmarks of the Thirty-sixth ward. The line is doubletracked throughout and is laid with forty-pound steel flat tram rails.There is not much to be said about the equipment of the road, except that it is of about the type prevailing in Pittsburgh prior to the advent of electricity and the cable. There are about twenty-six fourteen foot cars, chiefly of the Brill make, with a few Pullmans. Both horses and mules are used, and the experience of the company has been that there is no difference to speak of in the relative merits of the two animals, so far as that road is concerned. Horses cost about $140 a head, and good mules are worth $150. The average complement of live stock is about 150 head, perhaps one-third of them mules. The principal stable and offices, shops etc., are located at the terminus ot the main line in the Thirty-sixth ward. The stable is a brick and frame structure, with accommodations for 110 horses. At Chartiers there is also a frame stable for forty-five horses.This company is now preparing to introduce electricity in the operation of the entire road, and with this change there will be a considerable extension of the system. The main line will be extended from its present terminus to Mansfield a distance of four miles, and the Chartiers branch will be carried several miles further down the river, to Neville Island. Other extensions are also under consideration. These additions to the road will open a valuable traffic, affording territory that will probably add very largely to the business of the company. This is the only company in the two cities that still charges a six cent fare, but like several other lines the West End is subjected to a heavy toll for its use of a private bridge. It is worthy of note in this connection that there is not a free bridge on the two rivers at Pittsburgh, and the street railways have to stand a pretty stiff to\"\.One feature of the West End Road that is Ukelv toCo., in the construction of which he was actively identified four years ago. When the old Squirrel Hill road was reorganized, Mr. Noble took a hand in the matter and has since served as the president of the new company.This company is the successor of the Squirrel Hill Railway Co., which was organized three years ago and came to grief after partially constructing its line. The chartered route of the Squirrel Hill line extended from Forbes and Boquet Streets in Oakland, through the Schenley estate, past the Homewood cemetery and several miles beyond. The line was graded for three and a half miles, two miles of track were laid and two bridges had been built, when the dedication of a portion of the Schenley property to the city for Park purposes upset the whole enterprise and threw the matter into the courts to determine the right of the company to run its line through a public park. Pending a decision the city authorities tore up what track had been laid. After the settlement of the matter, the property and franchises were purchased at receiver's sale in October, 1890, by the present company, and possession was obtained on January 3, 1891. The restoration of the track was commenced at once, and about 6,000 ft. have been relaid with 45 pound Johnson girder rails. As the business and means of the company shall warrant, the balance of the three and a half miles will be completed and an extension of about one and one-half miles will be built. The present equipment consists of five twenty foot vestibuled Gilbert cars, four of which have twenty H. P. Daft motors, one to each car. Neither car barn nor power house has as yet been built. Power is at present rented from the Pittsburgh Traction Co., the line ending quite near to the Oakland power station of that company. A temporary car barn is used, located near the starting point of the line at Forbes and Boquet Streets. As soon as possible a power station and car barn will be built and a 150-H. P. New York Safety Power Co's engine, with two 50-H. P. Daft generators, will be installed. The route of this road is through a section of the city at present without rapid transit facilities, and the line connects closely with the Duquesne and Pittsburgh Traction roads. The road has membership in the National Association.ALLEGHENY TRACTION CO.Capital stock $350,000Bonds 150,000$500,000Miles of track 7Number of cars 16Number of horses and mules 125Passengers carried during the year endedJune 30. 1891... 1,034,910President, George B. Hill, Secretary, A. M. Neeper, Superintendent, Jesse Hkdebrand. Directors: Joshua Rhodes, F. M. Magee, John H. Dalzell, J. D. Nicholson, C. L. Magee, George B. Hill. The Allegheny Traction Co. is the other of the two remaining horse railways, and electricity is being considered for this line, although no definite steps have yet been taken towards making the change. This company was organized in June, 1889, and has been *n operation since that time. The property operated by this company is a portion of what was formerly the Transverse Railway, which was built some ten or eleven years ago to parallel the Citizens' Passenger Railway, and which was subsequently purchased by that company. A portion of the line was practically abandoned, and the balance is now operated by the Allegheny Traction Co. The route of the road is from the Baltimore & Ohio station by way of Water, Wood and Liberty Streets, to Sixteenth Street; thence across the Allegheny river by the Sixteenth Street bridge and traversing the northeastern section of Allegheny to the stable on Spring Garden Street at the city line. There is a double track all the way, laid with forty-five pound flat tram rails. The franchise for this line is a valuable one in many respects, as the route is through the very heart of Pittsburgh and reaches both the Baltimore &, Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad stations. The equipment consists of sixteen fourteen-foot Stephenson cars and 125 horses and mules. The horses of this company are much above the average of street car horses, so that the small remnant of the species that remains in Pittsburgh is at least a very creditable one. The stable is an old wooden building with no features to demand attention.The history of the street railways of Pittsburgh given in this Souvenir issue will be appreciated, not only by all identified with street railways of Pittsburgh, but by everyone interested in the study of cable and electric railways generally. The country affords no better opportunity for studying the different systems than the present Convention City.    The Inclined Planes.A FEATURE OF RAPID TRANSITTHAT ISPECULIAR TO THE CITIES OF PITTSBURGH AND ALLEGHENY.Of the many engineering features that are offered by Pittsburgh, there is no one that is likely to have more interest for a stranger than the inclined planes which afford access to the high lands that surround the city. There are eleven of these planes in the two cities; seven on the south side of the Monongahela river in Pittsburgh, two rising to the top of the central table in Pittsburgh proper, and two in Allegheny. The utility of these planes is especially apparent on the south side, where the rise of the bluffs is so abrupt that the summits are inaccessible, except by steep and circuitous roads. The first plane was built in 1870, and since that one went into operation they have increased stepdily in favor. Nearly all of them carry teams as well as foot passengers, and on some of them the travel is very heavy. The rates of fare for foot passengers range from one to five cents. The principal dimensions and chief features of interest of each plane are presented briefly in the articles that follow and their position is indicated on the map, page 9. We also present, in this connection, a portrait of Mr. Samuel Diescher, the engineer who has designed and built most of the Pittsburgh inclines, as well as many others in various parts of the country.THE MONONGAHELA INCLINES.The oldest of the inclines, and the one that is likely to attract first attention on the South Side, is the Monongahela passenger incline, which rises from Carson Street, just below the southern end of the Smithfield Street bridge. This plane was designed and built by John J. Endres, in 1870, the original structure being of wood. In 1882 it was rebuilt, and the present iron structure, designed by Samuel Diescher, was then erected. The plane is 640 ft long, and is built on a grade of seventy-one and one-half per cent., with a total rise of 375 ft About 250 ft. of the lower portion of the structure is built over the tracks of the "Pan Handle" railroad, and this portion of the structure is built of five feet plate girders in spans of sixty feet. The remainder of (he plane is constructed of fifteen inch I beams, the supports being both piers and posts. The gauge is five feet, and the track is laid with forty-five pound steel T rails. The hoisting plant consists of two 12x20 ins. connected link motion engines, built by J. & J. B. Millholland, of Pittsburgh. Although one car ascends while the other descends, after the fashion of a gravity road, each car has a separate hoisting rope and drum. These drums are eight feet ten inches in diameter, made of cast iron with wooden lagging on the hoisting surface. This surface is plain with no grooves. The hoisting rope is one and one-quarter inches in diameter, made of crucible steel. The speed is about 600 ft. per minute, and the rope has an average life of five to seven years. This average fairly represents the life of cables on all of the inclines. There is a safety rope of the same size, which passes round a single large sheave at the top, from one car to the other. The cables are supported on the plane by rollers of gum wood. This incline is operated continuously, at five minute intervals during the day, and fifteen minutes during the late and early hours. The passenger traffic amounts to upwards of 1,000,000 per year. The cost of the original structure was about $75,000, and about $30,000 was spent in rebuilding.Close beside the Monongahela passenger incline is the freight plane, owned by the same company. This was built by Endres in 1883, and cost about $125,000. The structure is similar to the passenger incline, but made stronger, to suit the required purpose. The lower portion, crossing the railroad tracks, is constructed of five foot riveted plate girders, and the rest of the structure is made of thirty inch riveted girders in spans of thirty feet. The gauge is ten feet, and a seventy pound steel T rail is used. The cars are built wholly of iron, with a floor space 17x32 ft. A great amount of heavy teaming goes over this incline, and the cars are calculated to carry a load of fifteen tons. The hoisting engines are a pair of 20x30 ins. Robinson & Rea engines, and the drums are cast iron, twelve feet in diameter, with wooden lagging. There are two hoisting ropes, two inches in diameter and made of crucible steel. The safety rope is the same size. The speed on this incline is 500 ft. per minute. The incline is operated from 7 A. M. to 7 P. M., but no regular interval is maintained between trips, the cars running whenever there is a load.MOUNT OLIVER INCLINE.The construction of the first Monongahela incline was immediately followed, in 1871, by the erection of the Mount Oliver plane, which rises from Twelfth and Frederick Streets to the summit of Mount Oliver, also on the South Side. This incline was originally constructed by Endres, with a wooden structure, but it was rebuilt in iron in 1875. The total length is 1,600 ft. and the total rise is 377 ft. There are two grades, the lower 400 ft. rising twenty per cent, and the balance twenty-five per cent. The difference is so small that the weight of the cables is sufficient to keep them down to the carrying pulleys. There is one hoisting rope one and one-quarter inches in diameter and a safety rope of the same size. The cars carry no teams, but accommodate thirty-five passengers with ease. The hoisting engines are 14x24 ins., and there are two drums of the pattern already described, eighteen feet in diameter. The gauge is five feet, and the hoisting speed is 600 ft. per minute. This is one of the best patronized and most profitable of the inclines, as may be judged from the published reports of the company. During the year ended June 30, 1890, there were dividends of $22,000 in cash and $16,000 in stock on a paid in capital of $54,000. This was done on a traffic of 1,269,668 passengers. The cost of the incline, including rebuilding, was about $150,000. The company also operates a short horse car line at the foot of the incline to connect with the Pittsburgh & Birmingham Traction Co s electric line on Carson Street, and at the top of the hill there is another short horse road.   DUQUESNE PASSENGER INCLINE.The Mount Oliver incline was followed by the Duquesne Incline, also a passenger plane, which rises from Carson Street on the South Side, near the Point bridge. This incline was built by Samuel Diescher, and was opened in May, 1877. The first structure was part wood and part iron, but it was rebuilt entirely of iron in 1888. The total length is 780 ft., the grade is fifty-eight and one-half per cent, and the total rise is 400 ft Like the Monongahela inclines, the Duquesne crosses the Pan-Handle tracks, and the lower 300 ft. is built of five-foot riveted girders in spans of sixty feet, the remaining portion being constructed of twenty four inch riveted girders in thirty-foot spans. The gauge is five feet, and the rails are forty-five pound steel T. There is one hoisting and one safety rope, each one and one-quarter inches in diameter. The engines are a pair of Millholland engines, with cylinders 14X25 ins. A novelty of this incline is the location ofthe hoisting machinery at right angles with the plane,this method being adopted in order to save the purchase of an expensive piece of real estate at the head of the incline. With this arrangement a single drum suffices, as the spacing of the cables can be effected by the guide pulleys at the head of the incline. The one drum is all cast iron with grooved circumference. The cars carry forty passengers at one trip. The entire cost of this plant was about $55,000.THE FORT PITT INCLINE.The Fort Pitt incline rises to the central plateau of Pittsburgh from Second Avenue at about the point where Tenth Street would be if Providence had provided enough horizontal surface to build a cross street at this point. The incline was built by Samuel Diescher in 1882, and it rests on solid ground all the way, being built parallel with Second Avenue. The total length is 350 ft. and the rise is 135 ft. The gauge is ten feet and the rails are laid on cross ties with rock ballast, like a surface road, but the ties are fastened to 12x12 ins. stringers, making a solid and secure road bed. The cars are 16x38 ft, built of iron, the traffic of the incline being chiefly teams, and the hoisting capacity is fifteen tons. There are two hoisting ropes one and one-half inches in diameter and one safety rope of the same size. There are two fourteen foot wooden lagged cast iron hoisting drums, driven by a pair of 16x24 ins. engines, built by the Atlas works, Pittsburgh. The cost of this incline, as reported to the State, was $97,936, which is probably above the actual cost of constructionTHE PENN INCLINE.The largest of all the Pittsburgh inclines, and probably the most heavily built plane in existence, is the Penn incline, which rises to the central plateau of the city, from Seventeenth Street, crossing the tracks of the Pennsylvania railroad by a heavy single span. The illustration of this incline (Fig. 1) gives an excellent general idea of the construction. This plane was designed by Samuel Diescher and was opened for business in 1883. When this incline was projected it was intended that it should carry coal to the top of the hill, the purpose being to take an ordinary car with twenty tons of coal to the top of the incline, and thus save the heavy cost of hauling small loads by horses over a long and steep road. This was the original plan and the incline was constructed to fill these requirements, but just about the time the plane was completed natural gas swept coal out of the way and the use of the incline for its first purpose was gone. It is nevertheless an interesting piece of engineering.The total length is 840 ft., the angle is twenty-three degrees and the total rise is 330 ft. The Pennsylvania Railroad tracks are crossed by a single span of 232 ft; beyond this there is another span of 120 ft to reach the hillside, and the remaining portion of the structure is in sixty foot spans. The road bed is carried the entire length on heavytieth Street bridge nnd climbs Troy Hill. This incline was also built by Samuel Diescher, who has built nearly all of the inclines in this country, and was completed in 1887. The total length is 370 ft., and the grade is forty-seven per cent. The tracks are laid partly on the ground and partly on wooden trestles. The incline is intended for both freight and passengers, and the cars are 16x38 ft on the floor, a portion of which is occupied by a cabin for passengers. The capacity is fifteen tons. The hoisting machinery consists of a pair of Scaife engines 16X 24 ins., and two wooden lagged cast iron drums twelve feet in diameter. There is one hoisting rope and one safety cable, each one and onehalf inches in diameter. The Thirtieth Street bridge is also owned by the same company. The cost of the incline is figured at $94,047 in the reports of the company.