In Europe, the cars developed into the compartment system, with side doors, there being high transverse partitions with seats on each side, so that in a full compartment half the passengers must ride backward. The cars are usually short, with two or three axles, but about 1872 the American system of mounting cars on trucks was introduced, and longer cars on trucks are now somewhat extensively used. Within later years corridor cars have been introduced, with a corridor connecting the compartments. Such details as steam heat, toilet arrangements, ample light, luxurious finish, etc., which have long been a matter of course in this country, are quite “end of the century” improvements in Europe, and generally below the standards observed in this country.
AN AMERICAN FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE.
Sleeping cars were used on the Cumberland Valley Railway (U. S. A.) in 1836. In 1856, Mr. T. L. Woodruff built a sleeping car, and in 1857 two were built by Mr. Webster Wagner and operated on the New York Central Railway. Mr. George M. Pullman began his experiments in 1859, and in 1864 he put in service on the Chicago & Alton Railway the first sleeping car with the berth arrangements now almost universally used. He pushed the business more vigorously than his predecessors and acquired many of their patents. The Pullman Palace Car Co. was organized in 1867, and in 1879 its various works were all concentrated in a new industrial town—called Pullman—near Chicago. In 1898 the company owned 2,428 cars, which were operated on 121,236 miles of railway, ran 190,562,758 miles, and carried 4,852,400 passengers. Most of the cars are in the United States, but some are in Europe and Australia. The Wagner Palace Car Co. owns 560 sleeping cars and 143 parlor cars. In Europe most of the long distance sleeping and dining car service is operated by the International Sleeping Car Co., which runs cars between Paris and Constantinople (72 hours), Paris and St. Petersburg (120 hours), Calais and Brindisi (25 hours).
Passenger cars are now usually lighted by oil, the mineral oil used in America being superior to the vegetable oils commonly used in Europe. Oil gas, compressed in tanks, is very extensively used, and gives an excellent light. The system was invented by Mr. Julius Pintsch, and was introduced in Germany in 1873, and in the United States in 1881. It is now applied to about 85,000 cars in 22 countries; 32,000 of these cars being in Germany, 17,000 in Great Britain, and 15,000 in the United States. The electric light is as yet used only on a few of the finest express trains, the current being generated either from a steam engine and dynamo in the baggage car, or from a dynamo on each car, driven from one of the car axles. Storage batteries maintain the light when the cars are at rest. American cars were heated by stoves at a very early date, and this developed into the hot water system, with a stove and circulating pipes in each car. Steam from the locomotive, however, is now generally employed, and its use is compulsory in some States. In Europe the passengers have to rely largely upon their own wraps and rugs.
EXTERIOR OF LATEST SLEEPING CAR.
In American freight cars, great improvements have been introduced, increasing the carrying capacity while reducing the weight. The capacity has been increased from 10 tons of load in 1870, to 30, 40, and even 50 tons in 1899 (an increase of 300 to 500 per cent). The weight has increased only from 10 to 15 or 17 tons (or 50 to 70 per cent). Cars are now being built entirely of steel, and while their first cost is greater, the cost per ton and the expenses of maintenance are less than for wooden cars of similar capacity. As sleeping, dining, parlor, tourist, and other special cars have been introduced for passenger traffic, so refrigerator, stock, horse, fruit, poultry, and furniture cars have been introduced for special requirements in freight traffic. In other countries, however, the use of such special equipment is much more limited. The ordinary foreign freight cars are the same as those of 30 or 40 years ago, being short four-wheel cars, weighing 5 tons, and carrying 8 to 10 tons. These are not well adapted to the handling of bulk freight, and greatly increased economy and facility in such traffic would result from the introduction of the American system, as has been done in Australia. In modern American practice, too, the cars are equipped with automatic couplers and power brakes, thus greatly increasing the safety and facility of operating heavy fast trains. In 1893, Congress passed a law requiring that by January 1, 1898, all freight cars should be equipped with automatic couplers and enough cars equipped with power brakes (operated from the engine) to put the trains entirely under the control of the enginemen. The date was afterwards extended to January 1, 1900.
INTERIOR OF A PULLMAN SLEEPING CAR.