Commercial Geography: A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business CollegesRedway, Jacques W. (Jacques Wardlaw)
General
Commercial Geography: A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges
Redway, Jacques W. (Jacques Wardlaw)
Commercial geography
[14] A single locomotive of the New York Central has hauled 4,000 tons
of freight at a speed of twenty-five miles an hour. A "camel-back" of
the Philadelphia & Reading hauled 4,800 tons of coal from the mines to
tide-water without a helper.
[15] The Vanderbilt boiler with cylindrical corrugated fire-box invented
by Cornelius Vanderbilt, great-grandson of the founder of the New York
Central, marks an important step in locomotive building. The cylindrical
form largely obviates the necessity of an array of stay-bolts to prevent
warping; the corrugated surface gives greater heating power.
[16] The Central-Atlantic type of locomotive illustrates a modern
improvement. The driving-wheels are placed a little forward of their
usual position, while the fire-box, formerly set between the wheels, now
overhangs each side of a pair of low trailing-wheels. By this means the
heating surface of the fire-box is increased nearly one-half. A lever
controlled by the engineer enables the latter to transfer 5,000 pounds
weight from the trucks to the driving-wheels when a grade is to be
surmounted. The daily run of such a locomotive is greatly increased.
(_See cut, p. 61._)
[17] A line from Vienna to Triest was opened about 1854; Germany was
joined to Italy across Brenner Pass in 1868; France was connected with
Italy through a tunnel near Mont Cenis in 1871; in 1882 the traffic of
Germany was opened to Mediterranean ports by a tunnel under St.
Gotthard. In this manner trunk systems have gradually developed.
[18] The building of the West Shore Railroad is an illustration. After
both roads had suffered tremendous losses the New York Central settled
the matter by purchasing the West Shore. This was one of a great number
of similar cases both in the United States and Europe.
[19] In Great Britain the ton-rate is about $2.30 per hundred miles; in
Germany, $1.75; in Russia, $1.30; in the United States, $0.70. The
difference is due as much to the length of distance hauled as to
economical management.
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