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

[John Swindler]

  This might lead to the 1891 volume.  A pdf version available, but very large - took 6 minutes to download.  The Pittsburgh convention supplement is at very end. As for 'secretary', you are correct, Phil.   - didn't like some lines, captions nor photos.  But the price was right, and worth every penny.  If link doesn't work, just type - Street railway journal - into google search.  http://books.google.com/books?id=QoZNAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false 
There was another Pittsburgh convention about ten years later.  Again, the existing street railway network is described.   CheersJohn      > Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2012 06:36:21 -0700
> From: pcc_sr at yahoo.com
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: The other Twin Cities - Oct 1891
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
> 
> Mr.Swindler,
> This is a difficult read isn't it.  It seems your secretary omitted some lines
> doesn't it.  The paragraph immediately below is near the bottom of the copy;
> it is as it appears with minor corrections (to join split words.)  After the
> underscore I rearranged the paragraph with "what seemed to fit."
> Could you please advise?
> 
> It wasn't humorous then but being annoyted at telegraph lines falling on
> overhead wires and snow blocking the track is interesting.  They had two
> consecutive big snows at Christmas.
> 
> 
> Phil
> 
> 
> 
> This increased cost per mile for conductors and motor men is a necessary
>  adjunct of rapid transit, and is not peculiar to the system. It would 
> be impossible to have rapid transit on our road except by the use of 
> electricity as the motive power. In the twelve months that our road has 
> been in operation, the total time lost was bxt twenty hours, three of 
> which were on account of the shutting off of the water supply to the 
> boilers, and three hours from engine and is a fine view of Pittsburgh 
> and Allegheny from the top of the hill, which well repays one for the 
> trip.We are able to present some data concerning the costs of operating 
> the Pleasant Valley system that may be of considerable interest to
>  street railway men. The figures that follow are based upon the 
> operations of the company during the last six months of 1890, and are 
> from a statement to the stockholders by the president.Analysis Of Costs 
> Per Car Mile. Cents.Conductors and motor men 6.80Motor and electric 
> repairs 1.68Mechanical repairs 1.14Motive power 1 -54Overhead system 
> 45Maintenance of way 1 â–  08General expenses 88Stables 46Officers and 
> salaries 84Interest 2.71Tolls 25General labor 2.43Total 20.26line 
> troubles. The rest of the lost time was caused by two of the most severe
>  snow storms experienced for many yea~rs. These storms commenced on 
> December 16 and 25, 1890. The first snow fall was sixteen inches, and 
> the last ten inches. With our narrow streets and sharp curves, our 
> sweeper piled the snow on either side of the track to the height of from
>  four feet to six feet, consequently the snow fell back upon our track, 
> thereby destroying our traction and derailing our cars, but not, as has been erroneously reported, interfering with the electric contact. Our wires during this storm gave us no 
> trouble, but we were somewhat annoyed by the falling of telegraph wires 
> upon ours, which were easily and quickly removed."When this road was 
> equipping all its lines with electric motors, the owners of the Seventh 
> and Ninth Street bridges refused to permit the use of electricity on the
>  bridges except upon payment of excessive toll. In this emergency the 
> controlling interest of the stock of the Ninth Street bridge company was
>  purchased by several of the officers of the Pleasant Valley company, 
> and the old wooden bridge, which had been in use for fifty years, was 
> replaced with a handsome iron structure of modern design. 
> 
> 
> ___________________________________________________
> 
> 
> 
> It would 
> be impossible to have rapid transit on our road except by the use of 
> electricity as the motive power.
> 
> 
> We are able to present some data concerning the costs of operating 
> the Pleasant Valley system that may be of considerable interest to street railway men. The figures that follow are based upon the 
> operations of the company during the last six months of 1890, and are 
> from a statement to the stockholders by the president.Analysis Of Costs 
> Per Car Mile. Cents.  Conductors and motor men 6.80  Motor and electric 
> repairs 1.68  Mechanical repairs 1.14  Motive power 1 -54  Overhead system 
> 45  Maintenance of way 1 â–  08  General expenses 88  Stables 46  Officers and 
> salaries 84  Interest 2.71  Tolls 25  General labor 2.43 Total 20.26  line 
> troubles.  This increased cost per mile for conductors and motor men is a necessary adjunct of rapid transit, and is not peculiar to the system.
> 
> In the twelve months that our road has 
> been in operation, the total time lost was bxt twenty hours, three of 
> which were on account of the shutting off of the water supply to the 
> boilers, and three hours from engine.......  The rest of the lost time was caused by two of the most severe snow storms experienced for many years. These storms commenced on 
> December 16 and 25, 1890. The first snow fall was sixteen inches, and 
> the last ten inches. With our narrow streets and sharp curves, our 
> sweeper piled the snow on either side of the track to the height of from four feet to six feet, consequently the snow fell back upon our track, 
> thereby destroying our traction and derailing our cars, but not, as has been erroneously reported, interfering with the electric contact. Our wires during this storm gave us no 
> trouble, but we were somewhat annoyed by the falling of telegraph wires 
> upon ours, which were easily and quickly removed.
> 
> "When this road was 
> equipping all its lines with electric motors, the owners of the Seventh 
> and Ninth Street bridges refused to permit the use of electricity on the bridges except upon payment of excessive toll. In this emergency the 
> controlling interest of the stock of the Ninth Street bridge company was purchased by several of the officers of the Pleasant Valley company, 
> and the old wooden bridge, which had been in use for fifty years, was 
> replaced with a handsome iron structure of modern design. 
> 
> 
> and is a fine view of Pittsburgh 
> and Allegheny from the top of the hill, which well repays one for the 
> trip.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >________________________________
> > From: John Swindler <j_swindler at hotmail.com>
> >To: Pittsburgh Railways <pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org> 
> >Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2012 9:41 PM
> >Subject: [PRCo] Re: The other Twin Cities - Oct 1891
> > 
> >
> >  part 2  Supplement to Oct 1891 issue Street Railway Journal   The Whitton grip is used on all of the cars. The grip is h'ing to the body of the car over the centre of the front truck. Each car carries a differential tackle by means of which the grip can be hoisted out if necessary, an eye bolt being placed in the ceiling of the cars for the purpose. The grip jaws now used are of cast steel with rolled steel dies. These dies are made of mild open hearth steel, rolled with a groove, and they are fastened into the jaws with a single bolt at one end, the other end being dovetailed. These dies wear about fifteen days, as against six to eight days for the cast iron jaws formerly used, and the cost of renewal is only about one cent per car per day as compared with four or five cents for the cast iron. The Sharpsburg division commences at the end of the Butler Street line at Forty-seventh Street. There is a large car barn at this point, in addition to a
>  stable, machine shop, etc.,!
> >  and the electric power station for the future operation of this division is also here. This line has just been relaid with Johnson & Wharton girder rails, and will soon be operated by electricity, most of the plant and equipment being now ready. The wiring and overhead work was done by the company. There are ten new cars built by the Gilbert Car Manufacturing Co. of Troy. They have sixteen foot bodies with four foot closed vestibules, and are finished in oak and mahogany. The trucks are the Dupont type, with numerous modifications introduced by the superintendent. Two fifteen H. P. Westinghouse single reduction motors are used on each car.The power station contains three 125 H. P. Edison generators, driven by three 125 H. P. Buckeye engines, cylinders 14% X 24 ins. Steam is furnished by three 5X16 ft. Buckeye boilers. These boilers are fitted for burning coal, and have the Murphy stoker. The draft stack is of iron, four feet in diameter and 100 ft.
>  high, lined with fire br!
> >ick to about one-half its height. Provision is made in the power house
> >for increasing the number of engines and generators to five when needed.The traffic of the Citizens' Traction Co. during the past five years is of interest, as showing the result of the introduction of cable traction and the provison of rapid transit. The number of passengers carried during the year ending June 30 have been as follows:1886- 87 S»io5.4"1887- 88 6,298,2021888- 89* 8,070,3301889- 90 .... 10,832,1921890- 91 12,547,868....•The change from horses to cable was made on January i, 1889.PITTSBURGH TRACTION CO.Capital stock $2,500,000Bonds 750,000$3,250,000Miles of track:Cable 10.67Electric 2.0012.67Number of cars:Cable 74Electric 276Passengers carried during the year endedJune 30, 1891 8,649,788""1890 8,229,809President, George W. Elkins, Vice-President, Thomas S. Bigelow, Secretary and Treasurer, J. G. Traggard,      Superintendent and Engineer, E. VV. Davis, 
> >               Directors: 
> >George W. Elkins, Joseph W. Craig, 
> >P. A. B. Widener, Thomas S. Bigelow, 
> >W. L. Elkins, George C. Wilson, 
> >W. H. Kemble. MR. GEORGE W. ELKINS.Although a comparatively new man in street railway circles, Mr. George VV. Elkins, the president of the Pittsburgh Traction Co., has a firm grasp of the administration of the affairs of the road, and he enjoys the reputation of giving more time to the road than any man in the company's employ. Mr. Elkins was for many years in the oil business, lastly as president of the Globe Refining Co., but when the Pittsburgh Passenger Railway passed into the hands of the Widener-Elkins-Kemble party, he was placed at the head of the reorganized company.The Pittsburgh Traction Passenger Railway is the oldest of the three cable lines of Pittsburgh. It is the successor ol the Pittsburgh, Oakland & East Liberty Passenger Railway, the property and franchises of which were acquired by the Widener-Elkins-Kemble syndicate, of Philadelphia, on June 17, 1887, soon after which the work of introducing cable traction was commenced. The old
>  horse car line extended on!
> >  Fifth Avenue from the Court House to Oakland and East Liberty, the present line on lower Fifth Avenue being over the right of way of the old Central Transit Co., which was also acquired at the same time. The line of the Pittsburgh Traction Co. is the most centrally located of all the Pittsburgh railways, ranning from the lower end of Fifth Avenue along that street to East Liberty, a distance of five miles, passing through the principal business section of the city as well as the beautiful residence portion. The increase of traffic consequent on the change from animal to cable traction is strikingly shown by this road, the number of passengers carried durFIG. I.—LOOP—TWENTY-SEVEN FEET RADIUS—CABLE LINE. LOWER END FIFTH AVENUE—PITTSBURGH TRACTION CO.There is a double track nearly the entire length of the line on Fifth Avenue. The loop at East Liberty embraces several squares, and passes through a terminal building on Penn Avenue near Highland
>  Avenue. For a short dist!
> >ance on Penn Avenue the tracks of the Pittsburgh and Citizens' Tractio
> >n companies run side by side. At the East Liberty terminus there is an inspection pit where grips are examined. The office of the secretaryhouse to the Oakland power house at Fifth Avenue and Atwood Street, and the East Liberty division, from Oakland to East Liberty. The length of single track in each division is as follows:Loop 7,604 ft.Middle section 19,428"East Liberty 29,248"Total 56,280 ftThe track is all laid with sixty-five pound Johnson girder rails. The conduit construction is of the plan followed in the later cable railway work on the Philadelphia Traction Co.'s lines in Philadelphia. The conduit itself is shaped out of three-sixteenths inch steel plate, carried in cast iron yokes, spaced four and a half feet apart. The whole structure is kept in position by a solid filling of concrete. The carrying pulleys are placed thirty-one and a half feet apart. The pulleys are eighteen inch babbitted cast iron wheels with wrought iron spokes. In the
>  eniire line there are 1,5!
> >83 manholes, 116 grip hatches and 510 curve castings. On the curves forty-eight inch pulleys are used, with the exception of the city loop, where a thirty inch pulley is used. There are numerous curves on the line, but most of them are of easy radius. There are eleven curves on the loop, twelve on the middle section and thirteen on the East Liberty division. On the Soho hill, about midway between the two power stations, there is a beautiful double reverse curve on a grade of about four per cent. (See Fig. 2). The middle curve has a radius of about 250 ft. and the other two about 350 ft. In the two tracks on these curves there are 290 pulleys. Since the cables were first started there has been no trouble with these or any o»her of the cm ves.Roebling cable? have been used on this line since it was first started, the diameter being one and five-sixteenths inches. The lengths of the three cables are as follows:Loop 8,220 ft.Middle section 20,130"East
>  Liberty 29,920"The longes!
> >t cables weigh about fifty-five tons, and Superintendent Davis has a v
> >ery convenient method for handling them. He has built a heavy car about twenty-nine feet long, and mounted on eight ordinary twenty-four inch car wheels. This car is taken to East Liberty, where the reel of the cable is unloaded from the car on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The cable is hauled a short distance to the car, upon which it is loaded, and then hauled to the power house over the railway tracks. This has been done successfully several times. The life of the cables on this line is rather exceptional. It is rather singular, too, that the best life is obtained on the short rope of the city loop, in which there is the worst curve on the road. The average life on this portion of the line is about eleven months, and on the other two sections about nine months. A record of thirteen months has been made, however, on the middle section, and one rope has shown a life of twelve months on the east end of the line. The grips used are of the Whitton type, with
>  cast iron jaws, which!
> >  last, on an average, fifteen days.The city loop of the cable is run by the power house at Washington Street and Fifth Avenue. The middle and East End sections are operated from the Oakland station. The car barn, repair and paint shops and power station of the electric division are also at Oakland. The building containing the cable machinery at Oakland is a substantial brick structure with heavy plate floor girders. The engine room is about sixty-five feet square. Power is furnished by a pair of 500 H. P. Wetherill-Corliss engines with cylinders 28x60 ins. These engines use steam at ninety pounds, and run at seventy-two revolutions. The driving mechanism is of the usual Wetherill pattern. The cable driving drums are twelve feet in diameter, split and fitted with the Whitton compensating gear. The drumshave six grooves and the cables make six wraps. The idlers, of the same diameter, are also split, but have no compensating gear. Both driving drums are
>  upon the same line of s!
> >hafting, which is fitted with a clutch in the centre, so that either d
> >rum may be driven separately or one engine may be used to drive both drums. In ordinary service both engines are used together. The middle and eastern cables, which are driven from this station, are run at twelve miles per hour. The tension arrangements do not differ from ordinary practice in this respect. The carriages have a runway of about eighty feet, and the weights used are 3,000 lbs. for the East End cable and 2,500 lbs. for the middle section. The runway is in another portion of the building, lying directly in the rear of the engine room, and measuring 100X40 ft. The cables are led in from the street over eight foot pulleys, two pulleys placed at right angles for each cable. The steam plant consists of six Wetherill boilers, 18 ft. X 72 ins., with sixty four-inch tubes. Natural gas is used under the boilers.The car barn, adjoining the power house, measures about 175 fc. X 115 ft. and has nine tracks with two inspection pits. In the centre of the
>  barn are two Hathaway!
> >  transfer tables. The second floor over the engine room is used as a repair shop for cars and grips, and is well equipped with tools and machinery. On the same floor are also the paint and carpenter shops.The electric branch of the line starts from the Oakland power station and extends a distance of two miles. There is double track for only two squares from the power house, the balance of the line being single track. The generator is a 100 H. P. Short, and is driven by a 100 H. P. Ball engine. There are two sixteen foot St. Louis cars with Brill trucks, each car being equipped with two fifteen H. P. Short motors. Although a short line this branch is full of severe curves and grades with hardly a rod of straight level track. The grades range from two per cent, to seven per cent, and the curves from thirty feet to forty-five feet radius. Wooden poles are used on the line, and the track is laid with a flat tram rail. This branch is operated merely as a
>  feeder to the cable line!
> >, and passengers are transferred at the junction point without extra c
> >harge. The road was opened on July 4, 1890, and has been operated very successfully.The lower cable power house, at Washington Street and Fifth Avenue, from which the city loop is operated, is similar to the Oakland station on a smaller scale. The motive power in this plant is two 175 H. P. WetherillCorliss engines, with cylinders 20 ins. X 48 ins., and running at seventy-three revolutions. The driving drums are twelve feet in diameter. The drums are split and have compensating gear, and the idlers are also split. There are six grooves, the cable making four wraps. The usual speed on the loop is six and a half miles per hour. The pulley arrangements in the street vault are similar to those at Oakland, and there is also a twelve foot terminal sheave set at an angle for the cable of the middle section, which is driven from the Oakland station. After three years of heavy service these two power plants are running smoothly and steadily under a very heavy
>  traffic at the busy hour!
> >s of the day.The rolling stock of the cable line consists of seventyfour cars of several types and sizes, adapted to the various kinds of traffic the company is called upon to accommodate. The standard car is a twenty-eight foot combination car, about one-third of the length being devoted MR. GEO. I. WHITNEY.At the head of the Central Traction Co. is Mr. George I. Whitrey, a new addition to the list of street railway men, but one who has brought to the management of his road some good ideas of affairs. Mr. Whitney is the head of the firm of Whitney & Stephenson, stock brokers, in Pittsburgh. He was a stockholder in the old company before the cable was introduced, but he never had any active interest in railway matters until entering his present position. He is also largely interested in real estate on the line of his road.The Central Traction Co. is the youngest, and in some respects the most interesting, of the cable roads of Pittsburgh. The line was
>  built mostly during 18!
> >89 and was first put in operation on February 24, 1890. The company su
> >cceeded the old Central Passenger Railway Co., which operated a portion of the same route as a horse car line. A portion of the old horse road is still in operation, but it is to be altered into an electric road at an early date. The city loop of the cable line runs throughSixth Avenue, Wood Street, Fourth Avenue and Grant Street and the main portion of the line runs through Wylie Avenue and other streets to the car barn and terminal loop at Thirty-third Street and Madison Avenue, a distance of a little more than two miles. The territory served by this road lies between that traversed by the Citizens' Traction Co. on the north and the Pittsburgh Traction Co. on the south. The Central line climbs straight to the top of the high central ridge of the city and follows an exceedingly irregular surface. The grades are something astonishing to a stranger on his first trip over the road. The car climbs straight up a steep hill, and you naturally expect to
>  strike a piece of level gro!
> >und at the top, but you reach the summit only to plunge down a similar grade, and this process is repeated to the end of the road. There is hardly a rod of level track in the whole five miles of track, and in two instances the ascent follows so close upon the descent that depression pulleys have to be used in the ho.low. See profile, Fig. 1, which gives a good idea of the physical character of the line.The road is well built with fifty-six pound Wharton girder rails. The conduit is built of concrete, with castiron yokes spaced four feet. Ten-inch carrying pulleys are used, spaced thirty-two feet. On the curves thirty-six inch pulleys are used. The depression pulleys that are used on the upper portion of the line are se/en inches in diameter. At Fifth and Wood and Fifth and Grant Streets the line crosses the Pittsburgh Traction road and the cable is carried down by four and a half feet depression pulleys. The sharpest curve is one of thirty feet radius
>  at Webster and High St!
> >reets near the centre of the city. On this end of the line there are a
> >lso six curves of forty-five feet radius, one of forty feet and one of fifty feet. On the upper end of the line there are four curves of 150 ft. radius, four of forty-five feet and one of fifty feet. The grades range from one per cent, to twelve and three-quarters per cent., the worst of them being a section of about 2,000 ft. rising continuously twelve and three-quarters per cent, from Fulton Street a short distance east of the power house. There are three other grades ranging between ten per cent, and twelve and three-quarters per cent. Much of the section of the city through which this road passes is as yet thinly settled, but there is a great amount of good real estate that is available for development and will eventually yield a large traffic.There are two cables in use, designated as the downtown and uptown ropes, both being driven from one power house, situated on Wylie Avenue at the corner of Tunnel Street, a few minutes' walk east of the Court
>  House. Both ropes are !
> >one and five sixteenths inches in diameter. The downtown rope is a Washburn & Moen cable. This section is only 6,000 ft. long and the numerous sharp curves and the two depression pulleys give the rope a very short life, averaging not more than three to four months. The speed of this rope is seven miles per hour. The uptown rope is 21,500 ft. in length and runs nine miles an hour. A Roebling cable is now in use, and the average life on this section is between four and six months.The power house is a handsome building, faced with rough stone, and contains a well equipped plant of Wetherill machinery. The engine room has a front of sixty feet on Wylie Avenue and extends back ninety feet. Across the rear is a wing 120 ft. long and fifty-three feetwide, with an entrance at one end on Tunnel Street, where cable reels are taken in. There are two 500 H. P. Wetherill-Corliss engines, with 28 X 60 ins. cylinders, r u n n i n g at fifty-six revolutions. These
>  engines are both geared t!
> >o the same shaft and can be used together or separately (Fig. 1). Ordi
> >narily one engine is enough to do the work and the two engines are used alternately one week at a time. The driving drums are solid, that for the uptown rope being sixteen feet in diameter and for the downtown twelve feet. Split idlers are used, both being twelve feet in diameter, and the cable makes four wraps (Fig. 2). The tension arrangement is of the usual type, with weighted carriage,which travels underneath the floor of the engine roomwith a runway of about fifty feet. The cables are led in from the conduit on six foot pulleys, the other guide pulleys being twelve feet in diameter.  yearly contract without any meter. The wing in which the boilers are located is of ample dimensions, and givesplenty of room for storage and change of cables.The cars are of Pullman build. There are sixteen of them, twentyeight feet long over all. In general appearance they closely resemble the cars of the Citizens' line, but they are shorter by one foot. McGuire
>  trucks are used, with twent!
> >yfour inch Whitney cast iron wheels. The cars . are.light and very simply constructed, but they are strong and neat. They are painted a bright yellow, and furthermore, they are kept clean. The grips used are of the Root pattern, taking the rope at the side,with an upper jaw of cast iron and a lower shoe of steel. These jaws are heavy and will wear for about one month. Lever brakes are used, with shoes between the wheels operated by a toggle movement. One of the cars is  
> >shaft of a small air compressor, which maintains a pressure of sixty-five pounds per square inch in a small cylindrical reservoir, under the body of the car. A threeway cock, in the cab controls the supply of air for the brake, which is a modification of the mechanism in use on steam roads. The admission of compressed air to the brake cylinder drives out the piston to which the levers of the brake rigging are attached. The air compressor works continuously while the car is in motion and the pressure is regulated by a valve that blows off at sixty-five pounds.The car barn of the Central Traction Co. is at the upper end of the line, the track forming a loop through the building, which is triangular in shape. There are inspection pits here and all grips are examined as the cars pass through. There is storage room for all the cars, and the tracks have conduits, so that it is not necessary to remove the grips.All the plant and equipment of this road is in
>  first class condition an!
> >d an excellent service is rendered, which adds as much to the interest in the road as do its engineering features.    FEDERAL STREET & PLEASANT VALLEY RAILWAY CO.Capital stock $1,300,000Bonds 525,000$1,825,000Miles of track 28Number of cars 60Passengers carried during the year endedJune 30, 1891 6,859,000Passengers carried during the year endedJune 30, 1890 4,583,900President, D. F. Henry, Secretary, Wm. H. Graham, as such has been identified with many of its notable enterprises. He was one of the original promoters of the Central District Telephone Co., originator and present chairman of the Henry Auction & Storage Co., vicepresident of the Keystone Land Co., president of the Brushwood Oil Co., president of the Pittsburgh Terra Cotta Lumber Co., Director of the Commercial National Bank, president of the Ninth St. Bridge Co., and one of the prime movers in the demolition of the old wooden bridge and the substitution of the present handsome steel and
>  iron structure. In stree!
> >t railway affairs Mr. Henry has taken an important part He has been an
> >active managing director in the Federal St. & Pleasant Valley Passenger Railway Co. for over twelve years, the present success of which road is largely due to his indomitable will and perseverance. He was elected to its presidency nearly three years ago, at the time of the change from horse to electric traction, and has shown, in his administration of its affairs, keen business sagacity and perception. Treasurer, R. F. Ramsey, Gen'l Superintendent, Wm. J. Crozier, Superintendent of Electrical Service, Wm. M. Ramsey, Directors: James Andrews, Wm. Roseberg, R. H. King, O. P. Scaife, James Hunter, Samuel C. Grier, Wm. H. Graham, Arthur Kennedy. For portrait of the president, see plate of local committee.DAVID F. HENRY.David F. Henry, member of the executive and local committee, was born in Pittsburgh, May 22, 1839, and received a thorough education at the Allegheny University. After leaving college he entered into mercantile life, and being possessed of a
>  progressive spirit, s!
> >oon took front rank with the energetic men of his city, andThis system merits considerable attention on account of its extent and the heavy traffic which is successfully handled on the various lines by electricity. The present company is a consolidation of three separate organizations, namely, the Federal Street & Pleasant Valley Passenger Railway Co., which went into operation as a horse railway October 15, 1868; the People's Park Passenger Railway, also a horse line, put in operation July 5, 1882, and the Observatory Hill Passenger Railway, which started with the Bentley-Knight electric conduit system in the summer of 1888. These three companies were consolidated July 12, 1889, and electricity was introduced throughout the entire system. All the lines terminate in Pittsburgh, the cars passing over a loop formed by Sixth Avenue, Smithfield Street and Seventh Avenue, giving a fine central terminus. The line crosses the Ninth Streetbridge to Allegheny
>  and spreads out in diff!
> >erent directions, passing all important points in the city, including 
> >the celebrated Carnegie Library, and reaching out into the suburbs. There are five divisions, each designated by its characteristic emblem, painted upon the ends of the cars. The divisions and their marks are as follows: Irwin Avenue and Charles Street, a red Maltese cross; California Avenue and Fremont Street, a gilt keystone; East Street and Madison Avenue, a blue shield; Mount Troy, a green diamond; Perryville Avenue and Federal Street a white, eight-pointed star.The system embraces twenty-eight miles of single track, occupying about sixteen miles of street. For a considerable distance on Federal and Ohio Streets, Allegheny, there are four tracks abreast. The Johnson sixty-six pound girder rail is chiefly used, except on the Observatory Hill line, where forty-five pound Johnson and Wharton girder rails are employed. On the suburban portions of the road the track is ballasted withtermediate countershaft, the pulleys on which are all fitted with
>  friction clntches (Fig. i). !
> >There are two 400 H. P. Buckeye engines, with cylinders 24X33 ins., running at 126 revolutions, and one 250 H. P. engine of the same build, with 18x32 ins. cylinders, running at 124 revolutions. The 400 H. P. engines have fly wheels twelve feet in diameter with thirty-eight inch face, and the wheel of the 250 H. P. engine is of the same diameter with thirty inch face. These wheels belt to sixty inch pulleys on the countershaft, and the generators are driven from pulleys of the same size. There are five 107 H. P. Edison generators and two 200 H. P. dynamos of the same make. These two larger generators are driven from seventy inch pulleys. In a corner of the engine room there is a 200 H. P. Westinghouse compound automatic engine, which drives without countershaft a 200 H. P. Edison generator. This is a later edition to the plant. This engine runs at 256 revolutions.The switchboard of this station is one of the features broken stone, the company having its
>  own quarry and crush!
> >er for this purpose. The overhead work of this road is hardly up to pr
> >esent ideas in this respect, at many points, but it must be remembered that some of this line was built several years ago. A great amount of work is constantly being done in replacing the light feed wire with heavier copper and bringing the system into better condition. While much of the older overhead work may not look quite as neat as some of the newer roads, it answers all the requirements of service. On the greater portion of the road light tube iron poles are used, the suburban sections being equipped with wooden poles.There are car barns at the end of each division, but the power plant, shops, offices and principal car barn are located on the Irwin Avenue and Charles Street division on Taggart Street. There is a very complete establishment at this point. The power house is a substantial brick structure with roof of terra cotta lumber, supported upon iron rafters, making the building as nearly proof" against fire as can well be done. The engines
>  and generators are place!
> >d on opposite sides of the room with an inthat is likely to attract attention, and its construction is something of a novelty in electrical street railway appliances. The illustration (Fig. 2) gives a good idea of the construction of this board. The board stands twelve and a half feet high, is forty feet long and is built of terra cotta lumber, plastered on the face with cement and adamant. The entire thickness is about nine inches. The lumber out of which it is built measures 8x12X4 ins. Of course, a board like this is thoroughly fireproof and it was on this account that it was put in about a year ago to replace a wooden board that had been several times scorched by short circuits. The cost of such a board is something more than a wooden board but considerably less than a board of slate or marble.The steam plant of this station is one of its most interesting features. There are two 5°° H. P. Hazelton tripod boilers, each equipped with three Roney
>  stokers. The coal for th!
> >ese boilers is dumped into pockets from the street level. A spiral con
> >veyor runs along under the pockets their entire length and carries the coal to a bucket elevator at one end of the pockets. The coal is raised to the upper part of the boiler room and is there distributedby an ingenious arrangement of conveyors to the hoppers that feed the stoking machines. These hoppers are made of plate iron and are circular in form with a funnel bottom from which spouts lead to the stokers. Each hopper holds about ten tons. Thus the labor of handling the coal, from the time it enters the building to its removal in the form of ashes, is all accomplished by mechanical means, and labor is thereby reduced to a minimum. A mixture of nut and slack coal is chiefly used, costing ninety-five cents per ton delivered. Slack alone costs sixty-five cents on board the cars and nut coal is delivered for one dollar per ton. There are also two 125 H. P. horizontal tubular boilers, with Roney stokers.which are kept in reserve for emergency uses. There
>  is an artesian well f!
> >or feed water supply and tanks for storage in case of a shutting off of supply. The storage capacity of the bins is 1,200 tons of coal, which is equal to forty days'supply. The entire arrangement of the steam generating plant is very interesting and shows a proper regard for economy of a very practical kind.Adjoining the engine house are the shops of the company,which have been arranged with a view to meeting all the requirements of the road for repairs or new work. The tracks for inspection and small repairs are in the front of the shops next to the engine house. There are five tracks, all over pits, which will accommodate fifteen cars* At the rear end of the tracks there is a Johnson transfer. There is a very handy arrangement for use in changingwheels, which saves a good deal of time and labor. At the side of one of the pits there is a small crab or winch, the chain of which passes through snatch blocks on the floor of the pit and up into the car
>  where a temporary tripod!
> >  is rigged. With the winch and tripod a pair of wheels can be lowered 
> >to a small truck, running on a narrow gauge track in the bottom of the pit, and then removed to the machine shop or elsewhere. By means of this device a pair of wheels has been changed in twenty minutes.Under the same roof there is a quite extensive machine shop with a full equipment of tools and machinery, where about ten men are usually kept at work. There is also a carpenter shop and a paint shop, the latter of which has a terra cotta fire proof closet for paints and oils. The cars of this company testify to the character of the work done in this paint shop. The superintendent's office occupies a portion of this building, and then on the street front come the linemen's room and the stable. Over the linemen's room there are store rooms for all kinds of supplies, a heavy stock of materials being constantly on hand. The stables are for the accommodation of the two wire wagons, wrecking wagon and two tower wagons. There is a very efficient signal service
>  by means of which the!
> >wagons can be put on the street with a celerity equal to that of a trained fire department. The best record is twenty seconds from the time of receiving a call to the appearance of the wagon on the street. The company maintains quite an extensive private telephone system, with fourteen stations at the various buildings and at points on the lines. Within the past year the construction of a large car barn at the end of this division, a short distance beyond the power station, was commenced, but it has not been entirely completed. There will be fifteen tracks in this barn, with accommodations for about seventy-five cars. This shed is for storage of cars at night and for inspection.There are sixty cars on the various divisions. The standard car is a twenty-seven foot single truck vestibule Pullman car of a very handsome design and finely finished. These cars have the plain oak ceiling, used on so many of the Pullman cars,with mahogany sashes, doors and
>  finish. The seats are of !
> >narrow strips of ash and cherry with Axminster carpet covering. The ve
> >stibules are of unusual size and are of octagon shape. A nickel hand wheel is used for the brakes. There are thirty-five of these cars. In addition there are twenty-five open end sixteen foot cars, chiefly of Brill and Stephenson build. All the cars are painted the standard Pullman color, a dark olive, which gives a rich finish and wears exceedingly well. Edison motors are used, two fifteen H. P. to each car, except on four of the cars. One of these has the Westinghouse double reduction motor, one is equipped with the new Westinghouse gearless motor, one with the single reduc tion and one with the Bentley-Knight motor. Last year the company built a car of extraordinary size for experimental use on the road. This car (Fig. 3), is thirty-seven feet long, and has two Brill trucks, with two fifteen H. P. Sprague motors. This car has been tried on the heaviest grade of the Observatory Hill line and it took a thirteen per cent, grade without difficulty.One of
>  the most interesting !
> >features of this road is the old Observatory Hill line, which was the first attempt at electric traction in either of the cities. This road now forms the Perrysville Avenue division of the Federal Street & Pleasant Valley road, with which it was consolidated on July 12, 1889. As originally built, this road was operated with Bentley-Knight motors,using a conduit on a portion of the line, and overhead double trolleys on the balance. The line starts directly up the hill, and the heaviest grade, equal to about thirteen per cent., comes on the first few hundred yards. It was on this lower section that the conduit was formerly used. Above this first sharp grade the line twists around the hill by a series of curves and grades, rising 295 ft. in the first 4,900 ft. of track. After reaching the summit of the high ground the road runs off for two or three miles into the suburbs. ThereCents.Total receipts per mile 27.55Total expenses per mile 20.26Net profit per
>  mile 7.29Commenting up!
> >on these figuues, Mr. Henry says: "Separating the above into strictly 
> >operating expenses and fixed charges, we have operating expenses of 12.74 cents per car mile, and in comparing the same with the cost of operating the horse line, which was ten cents per car mile, we must remember that we then paid but one man on a car where we now pay four, or three cents per mile then as against 6.80 cents now. This increased cost per mile for conductors and motor men is a necessary adjunct of rapid transit, and is not peculiar to the system. It would be impossible to have rapid transit on our road except by the use of electricity as the motive power. In the twelve months that our road has been in operation, the total time lost was bxt twenty hours, three of which were on account of the shutting off of the water supply to the boilers, and three hours from engine and is a fine view of Pittsburgh and Allegheny from the top of the hill, which well repays one for the trip.We are able to present some data concerning the costs of operating
>  the Pleasant Valley sy!
> >stem that may be of considerable interest to street railway men. The figures that follow are based upon the operations of the company during the last six months of 1890, and are from a statement to the stockholders by the president.Analysis Of Costs Per Car Mile. Cents.Conductors and motor men 6.80Motor and electric repairs 1.68Mechanical repairs 1.14Motive power 1 -54Overhead system 45Maintenance of way 1 â–  08General expenses 88Stables 46Officers and salaries 84Interest 2.71Tolls 25General labor 2.43Total 20.26line troubles. The rest of the lost time was caused by two of the most severe snow storms experienced for many yea~rs. These storms commenced on December 16 and 25, 1890. The first snow fall was sixteen inches, and the last ten inches. With our narrow streets and sharp curves, our sweeper piled the snow on either side of the track to the height of from four feet to six feet, consequently the snow fell back upon our track, thereby destroying our
>  traction and deraili!
> >ng our cars, but not, as has been erroneously reported, interfering wi
> >th the electric contact. Our wires during this storm gave us no trouble, but we were somewhat annoyed by the falling of telegraph wires upon ours, which were easily and quickly removed."When this road was equipping all its lines with electric motors, the owners of the Seventh and Ninth Street bridges refused to permit the use of electricity on the bridges except upon payment of excessive toll. In this emergency the controlling interest of the stock of the Ninth Street bridge company was purchased by several of the officers of the Pleasant Valley company, and the old wooden bridge, which had been in use for fifty years, was replaced with a handsome iron structure of modern design.  R. C. L. MAGEE. The actuating spirit of the Duquesne Traction Co. is Mr. C. L. Magee, whose prominence as the Republican leader of western Pennsylvania, has given him a national name. His street railway experience extends over a considerable period, commencing with the
>  organization of the Transvers!
> >e Passenger Railway, ten or eleven years ago, as a parallel to the Citizens' Passenger Railway, by which it was subsequently absorbed. Until he organized the Duquesne Traction Co. to parallel the Pittsburgh Traction Co's. road, Mr. Magee was a prom'nent figure in the latter company. He is also a director in the Citizens' Traction Co. and the Pittsburgh, Allegheny & Manchester Co.The Duquesne Traction Co. is the most recent addition to the street railways of Pittsburgh and Allegheny, having been in operation only since May 18 of this year. The entire property of the company was new from the start, no portion of the line having been previously in operation. The system embraces twenty-eight miles of track, reaching from the centre of the city to the various outlying sections in the East End. At the city end of the system there is a loop through the business portion, running from Forbes Street through Grant. Sixth, Wood, Fourth, and Ross to Forbes Street
>  again. The portion of t!
> >he line traversing Fourth Street is also used by theCentral Traction c
> >able line and the Second Avenue electric line. From the city loop the line runs with a double .rack out Forbes Street to the car barn on Craig Street in Bellefield, a distance of about three miles. The car barn forms the central point in the system, and lines branch out from this point to reach the suburbs that lie beyond. The Forbes Street 'inehas the heaviest grade of the system, a 6.9 per cent, grade on the hill rising east from Soho. This grade extends for a distance of 977 ft. with a long curve. With the double truck cars first used, weighing about eleven tons, this curve and grade were taken at a speed of about seven miles per hour. There is a lighter grade rising towards the city from the foot of this same hill.This road, like all of the other roads in the city, is of five feet two and a half inches gauge, the standard fixed by law in Pennsylvania. The rails are Wharton grooved girder, No. 8, weighing forty-eight pounds to the yard. This rail has
>  no base, but the web !
> >is tapered and stands in a split cast iron chair. There is a groove for the wheel flange seven-eighths inch deep, and broadly dished on the inner side of the rail in order that carriage wheels may free themselves easily. The chairs are spiked to 6 X 8 ins. oak ties, spaced thirty inches clear, laid in concrete pockets. The roadbed is filled with concrete flush to the tops of the ties. Upon this a layer of sand is laid two inches deep for paving. The pavement is granite blocks. The Walworth poles are used (Fig. 1). These poles are made of three sections of extra heavy lap-welded tube, repectively seven, six, and five inches in diameter shrunk together in telescopic fashion. The poles are set with a six inch cant, and are spaced 125 ft. They are planted six feet deep in a bed of Portland cementWhen the road was first put in operation it was equipped with sixty double truck Pullman cars, measuring thirty feet over all and weighing about eleven tons each.
>  For the light traffic !
> >of the new line, and the heavy grade on the city division where speed 
> >was most desired, these cars were found to be unsuitable, and they have recently been replaced with single truck sixteen foot cars of lighter build. There are fifty-five of these cars, forty of which were built by the J. G. Brill Co., of Philadelphia, and fifteen by the Laclede Car Co., of St. Louis. The cars have open ends and standard platforms. They are all painted the same color and have reversible signs. Fifty of the cars have the Brill independent rigid motor truck No. 13, and the other five have the McGuire truck with pressed steel frames. On all the trucks thirty-three inch wheels are used. The wheel base measures six and a half feet. Two fifteen H. P. Thomson-Houston double reduction motors are used on each car.The car barn (Fig. 2) is a spacious and substantial structure of brick, with light sandstone trimmings. All the cars pass the house on each trip, either in front on Craig Street or at the side on Ellsworth Street. The building has a
>  frontage of 140 ft. on Cra!
> >ig Street, and extends back 400 ft to Neville Street. The offices, repair shop and car entrances occupy the Craig Street end of the building to a depth of seventy-seven feet. The repair shop is 77x84 ft., and contains four tracks. An electric elevator at one corner lifts cars to the paint shop on the second floor. An addition to the building at this end contains a machine shop 25X77 ft. The portion of the car barn devoted to storage and cleaning tracks is 140X333 ft., and contains twelve tracks spaced five and one-half feet in the clear. This gives storage room for about 100cars, making liberal allowance for switches, cross-overs, transfer tables, etc. The floor falls 2.55 per cent, towards the rear end, and there is a Hathaway double transfer table at each end of the house. At the lower end of the house there are eleven pits, each accommodating two cars. These pits are four feet deep, with cemented floors, and there is direct communication from one to
>  the other. They are w!
> >ired for incandescent lamps. There is a light iron truss roof to the b
> >uilding, covered with matched flooring and slate. Ample light is afforded by forty-eight skylights. The sand bins are conveniently arranged along the side of the building, and there are excellent accommodations for the motor men and conductors. A stable with accommodations for eight or ten horses, for repair and other work on the line, is built beyond the north wall of the barn.The location of the power house presents a radical departure from usual practice, being about a quarter of a mile from the line at the nearest point. The power house is at Ben Venue station of the Pennsylvania Railroad, standing in a deep hollow 100 ft. below the level of the station and the Duquense tracks. This site was chosen on account of the facility with which fuel can be delivered directly from the railroad tracks. Had the company chosen to rely upon natural gas, a site nearer the carbarn would doubtless have been circulation to the  ture of brick and iron, with iron and
>  slate roof, Fig. 3. The!
> >  dimensions of the building are 130 X 140 ft. Of this space the engine and dynamo room occupies 85X127 ft., and the boiler room measures 127 x48 ft., both inside measurement. The steam plant, with boilers, engines, shafting and all fittings were built by Robt. Wetherill & Co. of Chester, Pa. There are ten boilers 18 ft.X72 ins. with fifty-four four and one-half inch tubes. These boilers are set so that there is a return flame through the tubes and over the top of the boilers. The plant was started with bituminous coal, much to the distress of the neighboring residents, but an oil burning arrangement, devised by the engineer, J. E. Smith, has recently been applied with good results, so far as reducing the volume of smoke is concerned.With this system crude Lima oil and steam are admitted at the rear end of the boiler, the oil being sprayed by the steam jet. The fire space underneath the boilers is divided into three sections by firebrick walls running
>  from the back almost to!
> >  the front of the boiler. The flame passes from back to front through 
> >the two side spaces, uniting at the front and returning through the central division. Then the flame traverses the tubes from back to front, returning to the rear over the top of the boilers. This arrangement gives a maximum of heat and is economical in the matter                               
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