library
bureau of railway economics,
washington, q. cj.
RAPID
TRANSIT.
1 8 7 5.
NEW YORK :
E. S. Dodge & Co., Steam Printers, 12 Warren Street,
1S78.
rF&W
' Sg"3
RAPID
TRANSIT.
1875.
To Messrs. O. Ciianute, M. N.Forney, Francis ('oluxowood,
Asiihel Welch and Gen. Ciias. K. Graham,
Special Committee on Rapid Transit of the American Society
of Civil Engineers :
Gentlemen :
In response to your circular of Sept. 15th ult., I beg
leave to submit the accompanying sketch of a plan of Elevated
Railway, and Estimates for the same.
Most of the plans heretofore presented are upon a scale of cost
entirely beyond the present views of capitalists, and Rapid Tran¬
sit is delayed by the effort to make it something magnificent and
and grand, instead of plain, simple, and practical.
The splendid schemes, which found favor when there was
"money in the air," will now undergo the closest scrutiny as to
whether they are the most economical possible means of accom-
lishing the end proposed, before private capital will touch them ;
and unless the city is to enter upon a new era of extravagance
and corruption, private capital must be the reliance for works of
this kind, and plans must be found which will attract it.
The primary conditions of such a plan are, that it shall be
cheap, safe and unobstructive; the secondary, that it shall be of
quick construction, easy access, and creditable appearance.
Of the six chief plans offered, viz : the underground, the via¬
duct through private property, the archway over the street, the
causeway in the centre of the street, the Greenwich Street plan,
and the single rail, or saddle bag road, the first three are appar¬
ently too costly to attract capital, since their charters have been
sometime in existence and nothing is done toward them.
4
The Underground, besides requiring years to construct, would
meet serious difficulties in ventilation, and in tire popular preju¬
dice against underground travel.
The Archway would render the street a tunnel, completly ob¬
structing the view along it, and destroying the architectural
effects of its buildings, while its great height makes it difficult of
access and especially dangerous.
The Viaduct, requiring the purchase of a right of way, is the
most costly of all.
The Causeicay plan is cheaper; but, in occupying the centre
of the street, already overcrowded, with columns or masonry for
the support of two tracks, it presents so monstrous an obstruc¬
tion, and when multiplied, as it would in time need to be to
accomodate the various parts of the city, would be so vast aud
fatal an injury to other interests, that it ought not to be con¬
sidered, except as a last resort.
The Greenwich Street plan, of two rails supported by one row
of posts on the edge of the sidewalk, presents no obstruction, but
employs a large amount of material in spreading the tops of the
posts, and in connecting the rails, and has, at best, a top-heavy
and insecure appearance that is not inviting to travel.
The Single Rail plan—or more properly that of three rails,
the center one raised and supporting the car while the others
receive guiding wheels to steady it—has never received much
attention in this country, though in Europe it lias been the sub¬
ject of much study and some successful experiment. Owing to
the cost and difficulty of elevating the rail, it has not come into
extended use for ordinary railways ; but where an elevated road
is needed, it presents advantages which make it well worth con¬
sidering. When arranged as shown in the plans submitted here¬
with, and with proper attention to details in construction, it is
apparently the most economical structure possible for support¬
ing a load and resisting lateral pressure and torsion while it per¬
mits the double-tier arrangement of cars, which will largely
reduce the cost of equipment, and of stations and platforms.
It is absolutely and evidently safe, as the car cannot leave the
5
track, and the track may easily be made too strong for the pos¬
sibility of breaking down. It does not obstruct the street or
walk, nor the light or view of the buildings. Its capacity is
fully equal to that of any of the costly roads. It can be built
in a few months. It is easy of access, the floor of car being only
14 feet from the ground, while in some of the arch plans it is 25. Its
appearance is not objectionable, and it may do away with unsightly
telegraph poles by carrying the wires inside the hollow girder.
In operating a road of this or any kind, it would seem,
instead of running small trains every forty-five seconds each way,
as proposed—which will compel all through passengers to make
the way stops and make the passengers uneasy by the fear of collis¬
ions—it.would be better to start two trains or sections, of eight or
ten cars each, from each end, at intervals of 5 or 6 minutes, running
together—but not connected—as far as the first way station,
when the forward section continues as express train, and the other
becomes way train. The express having a clear track and making
only such stops as may, by experience, be found necessary to givef
it its proper share of passengers, overtakes the preceding way
train at the terminus, and returns as way train to it as express,
while the way train arrives in time to become the next express.
This will give speed to the through passengers, accommodation
to way passengers, and a feeling of safety to all. Supposing the
express trains to make four stops in the 5 miles—constituting the
city division—the way trains may make ten or twelve additional
of half a minute each, bringing a station every third of a mile,
or within three minutes' walk of any place on the line. By
reserving the front seats for way travel, the exchanges will be
made almost instantly, as it is but two or three steps from those
seats to the platforcn.
It is not important to preserve an equilibrium in the car, since
the overloading of one side, if it tends to incline the car in that
direction, brings, in addition to the guiding wheels on that side at
bottom, a pair of wheels against the opposite side of the upper
rail to hold the car level, and the girder, from it form, is
abundantly strong to resist the twisting strain which results,
while the friction is not materially increased.
The guiding wheels, being connected with the bearing wheels,
c
maintain a constant position with relation to the bottom rails
however mnch the car may rise or fall on its springs, and their
flanges do not come into actual contact with the rails.
The short axles of the supporting wheels, together with a slight
flexibility of their bearings, enable/ them to adjust themselves to
any curve independently of the car and of each other, avoiding
all friction of flanges or danger of climbing the rail, and by in¬
clining the entire structure, including posts, toward the centre;
the centrifugal force may be completely neutralized, and a very
short curve made at either end of the route for turning the trains.
By letting the roofs of cars meet so as to completely shelter
the platforms, and placing six seats on each end, which fold up of
themselves when not in use, each 16-ft. car will seat 48 passen¬
gers ; and having 110 standing room there can be 110 crowding or
overloading, the side platforms being reserved for the guards,
and connected so as to give them a walk the whole length of the
train. Of the upper tier of seats, four at each end are reached by
. the end doors, and the six in center between the wheels by the
stairway from the central door 011 the station side. These seats
are to have the same space as those in an omnibus, and to be in all
respects as comfortable as those in the lower tier, while the out¬
side seats would be in demand, except in a few extreme cold days.
The locomotives would be built in the same shape as the cars,
bringing the center of gravity below the rail, and having guide,
wheels in the same manner.
If necessary, for heavy trains or steep grades, horizontal driv¬
ing wheels may be used, as 011 some of the Alpine railways where
the tractiçjfciorce is increased at pleasure by pressure, this form
of road being specially adapted to that arrangement.
It is estimated, by competent builders, that a road of this kind
will-cost $ 100,000 per mile of single track ; that the stations will
cost $20,000 per mile for each track; that the cars will cost
$1,750 each, and the locomotives $4,000 to $5,000 each.
For the "city division" of five miles
the double track would cost, - $1,000,000
Stations, 200,000
$1,200,000
7
It is said by those who have investigated the matter that
it will be necessary to provide for 25,000 passengers in one
direction in three hours, or over 9,000 in the busiest hour.
This will require sixteen trains of eight cars each to be in use at
once. These making the round trip in forty minutes, will give
two trains each way every five minutes, or twenty-four per
hour, carrying 384 persons each, or 9,216 per hour.
This will require sixteen locomotives and 128 cars, but as the
daily mileage of each train will be too great for one locomotive
suppose the number to be doubled, one half being lighter and
kept for the hours of lighter traffic. Adding twenty-five per
cent, to locomotives and cars for surplus, gives
40 Locomotives averaging $4500 each, $180,000
160 Cars @ $1,750, 280,000
Total Rolling Stock, - $460,000
Brought forward, - 1,200,000
The cost of offices, engine-house, shops and tools, will be so
much a matter of taste and circumstance, that no estimate is
made of it at present.
It is not supposed that Rapid Transit will stop at the limit
named, but the amount of travel beyond will be so much less
that a lighter road with lighter equipments would answer the
purpose. This would cost less in proportion, and could be branch¬
ed and extended in every direction to and beyond the city limits.
Total,
$1,660,000
I am gentlemen, very respectfully,
29 West 17th Street
New York, Jan. 14th, 1875.
Your obedient s