ELEVATED RAILWAY
A COLLECTION OF FACTS
IN REPLY TO THE PAMPHLET ENTITLED
"The Opinion of Two Eminent
Civil Engineers"
ON
RAPID TRANSIT.
S> JciLv
Gilbert Elevated Railway.
A COLLECTION OF EACTS
IN REPLY TO THE PAMPHLET ENTITLED
ON
RAPID TRANSIT.
NEW YORK:
Metropolitan Job Printing Co., Broadway cor. Ann.
1877.
Certificate of Thomas C. Clarke, Phenixville Bridge Co.,
0. Chanute, Chief Engineer Erie Railway, and/. H. Linville,
President of the Keystone Bridge Co., members of the Amer¬
ican Society of Civil Engineers :
We, the undersigned, having read the pamphlet of General
Viele and Mr. McAlpine, upon Rapid Transit, and particu¬
larly the paragraph on page 5, in which, referring to elevated
railways built under the specifications of the Gilbert charter,
or those of the Rapid Transit Commissioners, they say: "We
"find that the proposed structure is inadequate to offer that
"resistance to the force of momentum which it will be com-
"pelled to sustain, and that its form of construction would
"render it unsafe and dangerous to life," we now have to
say, as engineering experts in the construction of railway struc¬
tures of all kinds, that we believe the apprehensions of
Messrs. Viele and McAlpine to be unfounded, and their opin¬
ion based on an inadequate knowledge of the conditions gov¬
erning the case. We feel sure that not only can an elevated
railway be made as safe as any surface railway, but that many
accidents, inseparable from surface railways, can be entirely pre¬
vented 011 a properly designed elevated railway and rolling
stock.
We have prepared plans of elevated railways, both accord¬
ing to the Gilbert and the Rapid Transit Commissioners' speci¬
fications, which we can endorse as perfectly safe ; and we are
now engaged in preparing plans of cars, which cannot be
thrown from the tracks.
New York, March 24th, 1877.
THOMAS C. CLARKE,
Member Institution of Civil Engineers, London, and
of American Society of Civil Engineers.
O. CHANUTE,
J. H. LINVILLE, C. E.
REMARKS ON THE AFFIDAVIT
OF
Messrs. McALPINE & VIELE,
AS TO
The Gilbert Elevated Railway.
In a late pamphlet containing the " opinion of two eminent
civil engineers on Rapid Transit," the general form of structure
prescribed by the Commissioners is denounced as insufficient
for the service to be reasonably required of it. Other civil
engineers, perhaps equally qualified to form a just opinion,
do not concur in this judgment of condemnation. Nor should
any right reasoner assent to it without question, however
little skilled he may be in the matter treated ; for the fact
itself that such a structure was prescribed unanimously by a
commission of intelligent and upright gentlemen, after three
months' studious examination of the subject, aided by com¬
petent professional advice, this fact itself will indicate to any
one minded for fair dealing that there are two sides to the
question and that the authors of the pamphlet may be wrong.
But the fair-minded questioner need not rest thus in gene¬
rals. No great learning is required to understand the matter
in its particulars well enough for an intelligent decision, even
as to the engineering points. Indeed, the main hindrance to
such an understanding arises, not from the difficulty of the
subject, but from the rambling, incoherent, and partial manner
in which it is handled.
Turn now to the pamphlet.
6
It sets out to give the result of an examination of engineer¬
ing questions connected with the proposed structure, but im¬
mediately diverges into a complaint that "absolute rapid
transit" has not been provided for, alleging that the construc¬
tion and operation of a steam railway does not necessarily
imply rapid transit. Certainly, it is a prime requisite at
least; experience has proven such a railway adequate to it,
and, even in the absence of specific requirement, the universal
principles of human nature may be trusted to put it to pro¬
fitable use ; so that notwithstanding the averment of the
pamphlet, rapid transit may be said to be necessarily implied
in the engineering, if not in the legal provisions made for it.
But sufficient legal provision is not lacking, as will appear by
reference to the Commissioners' Report, under date of Sep¬
tember 6th, 1875, in which they recite the exaction from the
companies of a formal obligation "to run daily special trains or
"cars to be known and designated as commission trains and
'' commission cars, in numbers sufficient amply to accmomodate
" the laboring classes, beginning at 5:30 o'clock A. M. to and
" until 7:30 o'clock A. M., and again beginning at 5 o'clock P.
" M. to and until 7 o'clock P. M." ; " and that certain of such
'.'trains may be through trains, at a rate of speed faster than
" that of the other commission trains, if such faster commis-
" sion trains shall be found to be necessary to accommodate the
" laboring classes." It needs no argument to show that these
conditions imply both frequent and rapid transit. Indeed,
the act of incorporation itself implies it plainly enough, for its
professed object is "to provide a feasible safe and speedy
" system of rapid transit through the City of New York."
The Legislature, and the commissioners also, wisely refrained
from specifying the weights of engines and cars, the length of
trains, and the times or speed at which they should be run,
which the authors of this pamphlet would seem to have
expected of them, well knowing that self interest might safely
be trusted to regulate those matters as it does the merchant's
trade, the mechanic's jobs, the farmer's crops and the time
tables of all other railroads.
The pamphlet next, after a general allegation that the speci-
7
ffcations are indefinite and the structure weak, which will be
hereafter referred to, proceeds to name as follows : " The chief
" destructive elements that are involved in an elevated rail-
" way."
These items are given below with the remarks made upon
them by the accomplished Editor of ''the Railroad Gazette"
in an excellent article reviewing the subject Dec. 8, 1876.
•'1. The vibrations due to the lateral movement of the"
" trains. Now that this is not practically injurious to such "
" structures is shown by the endurance of iron bridges on"
"ordinary railroads. '2. The oscillations incident to the"
" coning of the wheels and the strength of the winds.' If"
" the coning of the wheels has this effect, why cone them ?"
"There are thousands of wheels running without being"
" coned, and practically they do as well as those which are. "
"The only effect of the winds on an elevated road which"
" would differ from that on an ordinary railway would be"
" that its force exerted laterally might be greater than that "
" of the strength of the structure to resist it in that direc-"
" tion ; but that, too, is easy calculable. '3. The momen-"
"turn due to the velocity of the trains;' which will be"
" elsewhere discussed. ' 4. The centrifugal force developed "
" in passing curves, which, at high rates of speed, would be "
" dangerous to a structure of even a slight elevation.' If"
" this is true, why 'run at high rates of speed' on curves. "
" The streets of New York nearly all run in straight lines, "
" so that curves will necessarily be few, and therefore a di- "
" minished speed at such places will not interfere seriously "
" with the operation of a road of this kind."
Obviously these causes of destruction or deterioration are
not peculiar to elevated railways. They exist also in connec¬
tion with the mechanical structures of all railways, and the
authors of the pamphlet themselves say truly that " it is
" perfectly practicable, and by no means difficult to determine
" in advance all the elements in detail of strength and stability
"required in a properly constructed railway of any descrip-
" tion, and such unquestionably should be done in this case,
"above all others." Why presume erroneously that it has
8
not been done ? Why make injurious reflections upon the
work of fellow craftsmen and jmt omit to point out just where
as to locality, and just wherein as to dimension, and just why
as to the laws of strength or endurance, their work is defec
tive ? An old proverb says that it is a sign of a weak cause
to rail at your adversary.
The writers then proceed to examine in order the Commis¬
sioners specifications, thus: "No. 1. The General plan or
"plans of the structure shall be of an elevated railway with the
"track or tracks supported on two rows of columns. The
'' track or tracks shall be carried by longitudinal girders resting
" either upon the tops of the columns or upon transverse
"girders supported by the columns. In this specification
"there is no provision for arrested momentum. Thelougi-
'' tudinal girders cannot be continuous in consequence of the
" necessity for providing for extreme expansion, and the ver -
'' Meal posts are thus forced to the disadvantage of along
"leverage in offering resistance to the moving force." This
" moving force" they speak of on page 7 as equal to the max¬
imum weight of the longest and most heavily loaded train, and
the maximum speed at which it " may be driven." On page
11 they again refer to it as " the effective force of impact pos-
" sessed by a train at its essential rate of speed when in full
" motion, and the force which the structure should be strong
"enough to resist," estimating it at "10,000 tons." They
repeat on page 4 that the sufficiency of the structure for rapid
transit "depends, among other things, upon its capacity to
" resist the momemtum of the trains when brought to a sud-
" den stop."
Particular attention is invited to the foregoing extracts, for
the reason : first, that they really comprise the gist of the
pamphlet, considered as an engineering document, and con¬
tain the only statements of a professional nature in it ap¬
proaching sharp definition ; second, that they embody not
less than four misleading or erroneous allegations which in¬
validate the whole opinion.
The momentum of a moving body is a purely conventional
quantity derived by multiplying the weight of the body by its
9
velocity, the velocity being usually reckoned in feet per
second. Thus the momentum of a stone weighing one pound
thrown against a wall with a velocity of 40 feet per second
would be 40 pounds. It would be said to impinge upon the
wall with that force ; in other words its force of impact would
be 40 pounds, impact being the abrupt extinguishment of mo¬
mentum by reason of sudden stoppage of the moving body.
So, likewise, the momentum of a railroad train weighing 270
tons and moving at the rate of say 25 miles an hour, which is
equivalent to about 37 feet per second, would be 10,000 tons.
By that process and by means of some such data the authors
of the pamphlet no doubt determine the "effective force of
" impact possessed by a train at its essential rate of speed "
to be 10,000 tons. They fail to designate what they consider
the " essential rate of speed." If it be taken at 30 miles an
hour, the train must weigh 227 tons ; if 35 miles, 200 tons.
More than this they could hardly demand ; yet all these
weights are extravagant, being based on ordinary railroad
practice. But with a track so perfect, as will be maintained
on the elevated railway, and with trains so frequent, neither
need the trains be so large nor the cars so heavy as on surface
railroads. Responsible manufacturers are prepared to build
passenger cars with 50 seats, not to exceed eight tons in
weight. Reckoning passengers at three tons per car the gross
weight of a loaded car would be 11 tons, or a train of 5 cars
would weigh 55 tons. Probably the heaviest train on the
road would not exceed one-third part of the weight which
seems to have been assumed by the authors of the pamphlet.
Their allegation, therefore, as to momentum is misleading and
erroneous.
2d. It would appear to be hardly credible, beforehand, but
the idea is certainly conveyed in the pamphlet, that the sti uc-
ture m\ist be strong enough to withstand 10,000 tons as a
force of impact. It is indeed insisted on repeatedly. The
question naturally arises, supposing the structure to be made
strong enough, what would become of the train and the pas¬
sengers if moving at the essential rate of speed and brought
10
to a sudden stop witli a force of impact amounting to 10,000
tons ? The question is its own sufficient answer to the observ¬
ant. Yet this mountainous absurdity is so curiously distrib¬
uted up and down through the text that its mass does not
strike the cursory eye. It hulks together afterwards in the
mind and is there first revealed in all its astounding propor¬
tions. The truth is, as Mr. Forney well remarks in the able
paper before referred to, that in this case no such abstruse
calculations are needed, because, no matter what the speed of
a train is, or the perfection of the brakes employed, all that
can be done is to slide the wheels, which will subject the
structure to a strain equal to the friction of the wheels on the
rails, so that the maximum force to be resisted is not propor¬
tional to the speed. The friction of the wheels is easily cal¬
culated, and will never amount to more than about one-fourth
of the weight of the train, so that the problem presented is :
Can an elevated road be built to resist a horizontal strain equal
to the friction of the wheels exerted longitudinally at the top
of the rails %
This is readily calculable and can of course be safely pro¬
vided for, the amount of it being really less than 10 tons, in¬
stead of 10,000, as affirmed.
3rd. " The authors further say that the longitudinal girders
"cannot be continuous in consequence of the necessity for
" providing for extreme expansion, and the vertical posts are
" thus forced to the disadvantage of a long leverage in offering
" resistance to the moving force." It does not clearly appear
how this leverage would be lessened by making the girders
continuous. The resistance of the girders to movement
lengthwise, on their bearings, would really be somewhat
greater than the sliding friction between the wheels and
rails, owing to the fact that friction is as the weight imposed
and the weight on the girder bearings is the greater of the two
by the weight of the girders themselves. This, as will be seen,
however, is a frivolous objection. The point to be borne in
mind heie is, that no one span can be required in any case to
withstand the whole push of a sliding train, but manifestly
11
only of that part of the train actually on it for the time ; such
part of a train would probably never exceed one car and
engine, say 30 tons, one-fourth of which, or 71 tons, would
be the push to provide for on the foregoing supposition.
4th. But the supposition is a violent one. Longitudinal
strains, in the structure contemplated by the Commissioners,
are not allowed to act thus directly and wholly on the sus¬
taining spans. Special provision is made for their diffusion
along the superstructure, and distribution over a long series
of spans. The writers, indeed, make affidavit that "in
"this specification (No. 1) there is no provision for arrested
"momentum." True, there is none in this specification.
But by referring to specification No. 20, which the authors,
on page 3, acknowledge to have been in their hands, though
they omit to mention it, the Commissioners will be seen to
require that " upon every track there shall be two continuous
"longitudinal stringers, of sufficient size, of the best quality
" and kind of timber suitable for the purpose. The joints of
" such longitudinal stringers shall be scarfed and bolted, and
" such stringers shall be securely fastened to every support on
"which they rest, so as to tie the structure firmly together,
" and give it stiffness in a longitudinal direction."
The pamphlet indicates a possible want of candor and fair¬
ness in this suppression.
The writers then go on to rehearse the other three leading
specifications as to form of structure. The main objections
made to these are that more material than necessary is used ;
that there is a lack of lateral stability, of which averment, by
the way, the much reviled Greenwich Street Railroad is liter¬
ally a standing refutation ; that the structure is weak and has
no merit of beauty ; that it is imperfect or impracticable in one
or more of its varieties ; that it will cumber the street, and
that to cross an avenue thus occupied from a transverse street
will be next to impossible, with the imminent certainty of a
serious accident. The reader who has followed the preceding
remarks and caught the secret of this grotesque paper will
have no difficulty in appraising these statements at their true
worth.
12
The pamphlet closes with an opinion as to the effect on
property values to be looked for from the construction of the
elevated rail way, using as an example the Fourth Avenue
Railroad. This objection is not of an engineering nature, but
it may not be amiss to quote, in reply to it, the apt comment
made by Mr. Forney, "that the injurious effect of the rail¬
road on Fourth Avenue on adjoining property was due largely
and chiefly, we believe, to the danger resulting from having
the tracks on the surface of the street, and also to the great
difference in the character of the traffic and rolling stock
employed. On Fourth Avenue the heaviest class of engines,
cars and trains were run. The crossings of the streets were
often obstructed by long freight trains, and the frequent
deaths and injuries to persons caused by these trains running
at high speed on the surface of the street indicated the danger
to inhabitants living in the vicinity. With an elevated road
the element of danger would be entirely eliminated, and there
would be as much difference in the character and appearance
of the light cars and trains on the one road compared with
those on the other, as there would be between heavy freight
wagons and light carriages driven on an ordinary street.
We have thus gone rapidly through this singular produc¬
tion, pointing out, as we passed, its more conspicuous errors
and curious extravagances. Of course the right of gentlemen
to their own opinions, and the free expression of tbem, is un¬
disputed. It is only when such expression, as in this case,
tends to do injury by misrepresenting the profession, and
misstating scientific truths or facts of record that it becomes
a proper subject of adverse criticism. Nor would we reflect
undue blame on the authors of the paper. The paper alone
is our proper adversary ; partly for the reason that a wicked
book being the wickeder because it cannot repent, it is doing-
good service to destroy the evil effect of its wickedness as far
as possible ; partly because the wri ters of such a book, always
having the way of repentance open, it is charitable to hope
that they may already be of a new mind, or at least to believe
that a day of larger intelligence is coming, when they will
look with unaffected remorse at this husk of error outgrown.
13
Meanwhile the pamphlet lives and works evil. Its opinions,
as is obvious, are not fortified by citations of acknowledged
truth or sound argument. But do they commend themselves
on their face ? Do they challenge confidence for inherent truth-
seemingness ? Does it look likely, in view of what precedes,and
in view also of the persistent fact that the Greenwich Elevated
Railroad, imperfect as it may be, an anomalous growth from
rude beginnings, does nevertheless do good service in direct
practical contravention of all the engineering dogmas laid
down in the pamphlet—thus indicating what may reasonably
be expected of a more perfect structure,—does it look likely,
in view of these tilings, that science and experience are in the
wrong, and this unsupported, irresponsible opinion in the
right ?
So much for sufficiency of structure.
Having exposed the groundless and fantastic character of
the objections, it is not thought needful to demonstrate the
affirmative side of the question. The pamphlet writers them¬
selves, in the extract hereinbefore quoted, acknowledged it to
be practical "to determine in advance all the elements in
"detail of strength and stability required in a properly con¬
structed railway of any description," and the experienced
engineers who have done this work for the Gilbert Elevated
Railway may be presumed to have done it with judgment and
skill. Thoughtful readers of the pamphlet will not fail to
perceive that its authors confine themselves exclusively to
general assertion, carefully ignoring particulars ; they say it
is weak, but omit to show where, and why, and how it is weak.
It is due both to the Commissioners and to the engineers
who aided them that some notice should be taken of the nu¬
merous slights and unbecoming words scattered here and there
through the pamphlet injuriously reflecting upon the " indefi¬
nite," "reckless" and "slipshod" character of the specifica¬
tions. These aspersions can be palliated only by considering
them the result of misapprehending the object of these speci¬
fications. On this point the Rapid Transit Comrnissioneis, in
their report of October 6th, 1875, remark as follows .
"It will be observed that, with regard to the structure, we
14
"have limited our requirements to essentials, exacting atten-
" tion only to the necessary conditions of strength and safety.
" As to all matters of detail, we have allowed the widest range
" of choice to those who shall build the road. Our purpose
",lias been to secure the roadway of the streets against ob¬
struction wherever it is practicable to do so; and, though
" we have allowed a certain range of choice for selection, by
" the companies building the roads, of the plan of structure to
"be used in any particular street, it will be found, we think,
" that they are required to employ in each street a structure
"which affords least occasion for objection in that locality."
Accordingly the specifications will be found to prescribe a
safe maximum of weight on foundations, an adjustment of
column dimensions by "Gordon's formula," a rule for that
purpose generally received as trustworthy by the profession,
a restriction of strains in the superstructure within limits
which have been found by experience to be safe, numerous
detail conditions looking to perfection of material or work¬
manship and the security or convenience of the public, and a
general requirement that "the different parts of the structure
" and their connections shall be properly proportioned to re-
"sist all of the momentum of the train, which can, by the ap¬
plication of brakes or in any other manner be imparted to
" the structure."
The Commissioners being thus specific as to essentials, they
are "indefinite," if the word be permissible, only where rigor¬
ous definition would deprive the public of the benefit of com¬
petitive plans, prepared by experts, from which the best might
be selected for adoption. That benefit, distinctly contem¬
plated in the preparation of the specifications, has been real¬
ized. The leading bridge-builders of the country found no
difficulty in apprehending the several plans and in devising
structures conformably thereto. The reproach cast upon
specifications is therefore gratuitous and undeserved.
It may be added that not only have nearly all the eminent
bridge engineers of this country presented plans in general ac¬
cordance with the Commissioners' requirements or those of t he
Gilbert charter, but furthermore that in no instance have they
15 -
found any difficulty in assigning to the structure sufficient
strength to meet all the contingencies of practical service. The
same may be said of the French and English engineers who
have contributed plans; notably among them Mr. R. M. Or-
disli and Mr. B. Baker, the last-named being engineer of the -
London Underground Railway to which the authors of the
pamphlet refer. Plainly, then, they assume too much in
claiming that the bulk of the engineering profession assent to
their extraordinary opinions.
WM. F. SHUNK,
C. E.
As Engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission and Con¬
sulting Engineer of the Gilbert Elevated Railway, and of the
New York (Greenwich Street) Elevated Railroad, my duties
have caused me to examine over 200 plans submitted for
elevated railways, and to consult with the authors of them.
Among these gentlemen have been some of the most prominent
bridge engineers of the country. At these consultations
every point that could affect an elevated structure has been
very fully discussed, and I feel warranted, from this experi¬
ence, in saying, not only that the views expressed above by
Messrs. Clarke, Chanute and Linville would be fully and
generally endorsed by those members of the profession who
make bridge building a specialty, but that it would be diffi¬
cult to find a. practical engineer who would agree with the
opinions of Messrs. Yiele and McAlpine, on the engineering-
points of Rapid Transit.
S. H. SHREVE,
Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
16
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
Rapid Transit and Terminal Freight Facilities—a
Report by O. Chanute, M. N. Forney, Ashbel
Welch, Charles K. Graham and Francis Colling-
wood, Members of the Society.
February 3d, 1875.
(Extracts from pages 12 and 13 of said report.)
"3d. The Elevated System. If properly located and de¬
signed, this is the cheapest system. It is free from difficulties
of ventilation or drainage, from any obstruction by snow,
or interference with sewers or pipes. It involves far fewer
contingencies than the other systems, and the cost may be
estimated beforehand with reasonable accuracy. The princi¬
pal objections against it are the following :
1st. That if built, as once proposed, of masonry, it would be
nearly as expensive as an underground road, and by obstruct¬
ing light and ventilation, would seriously injure adjoining
property.
2d. That if built of iron, it would be deficient in stability
and permanence.
3d. That there would be great danger to passengers in case
of derailment.
******* Your committee while fully recog¬
nizing the validity and weight of many of these objections, is
of the opinion that they are more than balanced by those which
exist against the underground and the depressed systems, and
the saving of the first cost is so essential a matter that some
form of elevated railway should be made the leading feature
of rapid transit roads in most parts of the city.
As the committee recommends the adoption of some form
of elevated railroad, it will be expected to express its views
17
upon each of the above objections. The following are the
opinions of its members :
1st. Masonry Viaduct. The road should not be built of
masonry, except possibly on those portions which will be
through the blocks in passing from the line of one street to
another. It should generally be an iron skeleton structure.
2d. Want of Stability. There is no warrant whatever for
any supposed lack of stability and permanence in a well de¬
signed iron structure. Iron bridges and trestles are built
every day on our railroads, exposed to much greater loads
and vibrations than those which will ever be imposed upon an
elevated railroad.
3d. Danger to Passengers. This must be guarded against
by the system of construction of the road and rolling-stock,
and safety appliances on the cars. It involves very careful
examination and design, but we are satisfied that serious ac¬
cidents may be rendered almost impossible. The New York
Elevated Railroad, with a confessedly inferior construction,
has now been in operation three years and seven months, and
has carried about 1,800,000 passengers without injuring any
of them in any way.
The Underground System.—This system was, unfortunately,
recommended by the Committee of the New York Senate,
appointed in 1866. The apparent financial success of the
London underground railways, had probably, then much to
do with this recommendation, and it was, perhaps, made
without sufficient estimate of cost, or consideration of the
differences in the extent of lines required, and of the materials
to be excavated in New York and in London.
In consequence of the configuration and formation of the
City, underground railways in New York must be located
upon long north and south lines, excavated largely through
rock, while in London they are upon an irregular circle, form¬
ing a belt within the City, and excavated through clay.
Since the report of that committee, three charters have been
18
granted for underground railways in New York, careful
plans and estimates liave been made further-, and they have
been considered by able financiers, but thus far not a single
one of them has been able to secure the necessary capital.
The following objections have been made against this system.
1st. That roads could not be built and equipped under it,
much short of two or-three millions of dollars per mile. * * *
2d. That it would during its construction seriously interfere
with the present surface traffic on the streets.
3d. That it would require expensive and inconvenient
alterations of the sewerage, and of the water and gas pipes of
the City.
4th. That at many points it would be below high water
mark, and the cost of artificial drainage would add materially
to the maintenance charges.
5th. That the ventilation would be difficult and expensive.
Serious trouble already exists in similar tunnels (although
much shorter), both in this vicinity and in London. The use
of locomotive engines would make expensive mechanical
ventilation necessary.
6th. That the patronage might be limited by the unwilling¬
ness of many persons to travel in tunnels, and the operating
expenses and maintenance be greater than above ground.
19
Extract from Letter accompanying the Report of B.
BAKER, of London, Associate Institute of Civil
Engineers, and Assistant Engineer of the "Metro¬
politan District Underground Railway," on the
Gilbert Elevated Road.
'' The strength proposed, originally, to be given to the main
trusses was based upon the assumption that this railway is an
ordinary line, with heavy goods, trains, &c. This is entirely
unnecessary, so, in my calculations, as you will see, I have
assumed a couple of 18 ton locomotives, which is three tons
heavier than Mr. Gilbert thinks necessary, and, I may add,
would conduct the traffic on the Metropolitan Railway at
present speed. I have taken this train and calculated the
strains occuring during its passage across a span, and not
dealt with as a rolling load of uniform intensity per foot run.
This explains why my strains are not a constant per centage
lower than the original ones. The cross girders and arched
rib carrying the main girders required the most careful inves¬
tigation, as there is some perplexity in the problem. The
original calculations were framed upon a false hypothesis, but
the weights will be slightly affected, I believe, thereby. The
arched rib requires to be stronger, the cross stiffening girder
not nearly so strong, and the columns rather less than before.
The ordinary cross girders should be cut down considerably
in weight.
I have not time to work out weight of the main trusses, but
I have given the modified section side by side with those origi¬
nally proposed, so the connections may be easily effected."
Yours, faithfully,
B. BAKER.
20
[New York " World," Feb'y 22d, 1877.]
A bill was introduced into the Legislature yesterday by our Arctic friend, Dr.
Hayes, entitled: "An Act in relation to proceedings, whether in Courts of
" Record or otherwise, to ascertain and provide compensation to owners of pri-
" vate property taken for public or private use, as contemplated by Section i,
" Article 1, of the Constitution of this State." This bill, we are sorry to say, is
evidently intended to prevent the accomplishment of all present and future plans
of rapid transit in the City of New York. It ought to be called : "An Act to
" promote the interests of horse railroads and to prevent the carrying-out of rapid
"transit." Section 1 provides that no person shall construct, operate or use an^
elevated railway on any public street or road without compensation to any person
interested in any property, real or personal, which may be injuriously affected by
it. Section 2 provides that there shall, in all cases of alleged damages, be a trial
by jury, and that the jury shall give damages for injury past, present and pro¬
spective, actual or consequential, sustained or liable to be suffered. Section 3 pro¬
vides that an inspection shall be granted by any Judge of the Court in which an
actoin shall be commenced. These three sections are abundantly sufficient to
show the animus of the bill. Under such a law it would, of course, be impossible
to build an elevated road. If, for instance, by the operation of an elevated rail¬
way on Sixth avenue, trade was drawn to that avenue from adjacent streets, and
from avenues running parallel to it, every property-owner on these streets and
avenues who suffered, or fancied that he suffered injury by reason under this
bill, of the loss of trade, would have good cause of action against the Elevated
Railway Company. Dr. Hayes is an excellent explorer, no doubt, and his views
with regard to the relative efficiency of Esquimaux dogs and reindeer on a long
Polar tramp would be received by Americans with interest and respect, notwith¬
standing the great contempt with which his services have been generally regarded
in Europe—where he is looked upon, we are sorry to say, as a palaverer and a
charlatan ; but when he meddles with practical questions nearer home, he exposes
himself to the merciless investigation of people who care very little for the North
Pole, but a great deal of getting home from their places of business in the short¬
est time possible and the cheapest rate. If he thinks he can bear this investiga¬
tion, he will persevere in his present plan. If he does not think so, the sooner
he retires and devotes himself to the great mystery of toboggins, the better it
will be for him and for the people who sent him to Albany.
[New York Herald, Sunday, March 18, 1877.]
Rapid Transit en the State Legislature.
In the Assembly on Friday, during the discussion of the bill to secure a better
administration of affairs in New York City, Mr. Graham, of Monroe County,
made use of the following language, which, on the motion of a New York mem¬
ber, was written out by the official stenographer :—"I, for one, have arrived at
the conclusion, after a good deal of consideration and after a membership of two
years in the Committee on Cities, that the salvation of that city lies more with the
21
countiy members than with the city members. Leave them alone and they will
go to their own destruction, and they will carry that city so that it will be a dis¬
grace to the Empire State and so that no business man can afford to do business
there. The object of the representative in requiring the formal report of the
words to the House was to declare Mr. Graham in contempt for having made an
unpadiametitary charge against his associate, but the Chairman of the Committee
of the Whole very properly ruled the point of order not well taken, the remarks
being general and not reflecting upon any individual member.
Without pausing to inquire how much or how little of justice there may be in
Mr. Graham s arraignment of the New York representatives in the State Legisla¬
ture on general principles, we are constrained to admit that it seems to be justified
when applied to the course pursued by the city delegation on the question of
rapid transit. The necessity of rapid transit to the progress of the city, and to
the prosperity and happinesss of the people, is no longer an open question. The
special interests which, on selfish considerations, oppose some particular plan of
rapid transit do not venture to deny that steam transportation through the city is
a public need. Only they desire that it may follow a route which will save them
individually from some real or imaginary sacrifice. It is notorious that the prin¬
cipal opposition comes from the horse car railroad companies, whose business
would, no doubt, be injuriously affected by the completion of a rapid transit line
running from the Battery to Harlem Bridge through any of the main thorough¬
fares of the city. To these opponents of the great public improvement may be
added a few unenterprising property owners, who would be found denouncing any
work, however important, which, in their contracted views, would be likely to take
a few dollars out of their own pockets. This is in reality all there is of the oppostion
to rapid transit, while on the other hand it would directly benefit nearly a million of
people; would increase the value of more acres of real estate than it would depreciate
feet, and would improve the health, morals and comfort of the entire population.
When, therefore, we find New York Senators and Assemblymen arraying them¬
selves in this matter on the side of a selfish few in opposition to the general good
of the people they pretend to represent, we may fairly conclude that their duty
to their constituents is sacrificed to corrupt considerations, and that the Monroe
county member is not altogether incorrect when he declares that " the salvation
of the city lies more with the country members than with the city members."
The question of rapid transit for New York is not one on which an honest dif¬
ference of opinion can well exist. The conformation of the city is such that the
people are compelled to live at long distances from their places of occupation or
to crowd into inconvenient, unliealthful and demoralizing downtown tenement
houses. They are thus necessitated to ride in the horse cars, and their patronage
creates the wealth which is used to prevent any improvement of their condition
or any removal of their discomforts. New York cannot grow without rapid tran¬
sit. Its business men prefer to seek residences in the suburbs, on Long Island or
in New Jersey, to the fatigue and hazard of riding up town in horse cars, some
of which are nests of filth and disease, while others are convenient operating
places for thieves who ply their trade under the protecting friendship of diiveis
and conductors. Two-thirds of the one million and a quarter residents of the city
22
earnestly desire the construction of a steam railroad which shall carry them from
the Battery to Harlem bridge in twenty-five minutes at a low rate of fare. It is
admitted that such a road would add half a million to our population forthwith,
would largely increase the assessable value of our real estate, would give an im¬
petus to the building business, which employs labor, would increase the retail
trade of the city, improve the public health and morals, and give the poorer
classes cheap and decent homes. Yet all these advantages are to be withheld
from the people because selfish corporations, which have received a free gift of
valuable franchises from the city, desire to monopolize the business of transpor¬
tation and corruptly use the money they have made out of the people to defeat
the people's comfort, convenience and prosperity.
It seems plausible enough to insist that where private interests are sacrificed to
the public convenience a fair compensation should be made. But no individual
can have any rights in a public street that must not yield to the public good.
The horse car companies, as a public convenience, were permitted to use the
streets, and out of the franchises bestowed upon them may have realized enor¬
mous fortunes. They have no more right now to exclaim against rapid transit
because it is likely to decrease their profits than the old stage companies would
have had to denounce the chartering of the horse car lines because they would
interfere with the omnibus travel. As to those few property owners along the
proposed rapid transit route, who imagine that they may suffer damage by the
construction of an elevated railway, we should like to know upon what they can
base their claim for compensation and in what manner their loss is to
be estimated. Their fears is purely imaginary. They insist that people
will not drive or walk on an avenue occupied by a rapid transit
road, and that custom will thus be diverted from the stores and
rents will in consequence decline. But whether their conclusions are
correct or incorrect, can only be settled after rapid transit h«s become an accom¬
plished fact. The same plea was urged by property owners against the horse car
lines, but it is notorious that the street railroads have increased the business of
all the avenues they occupy. If such visionary sufferers are to interfere with the
work we shall never enjoy rapid transit in the city. Whatever avenue may be
selected as its route the same grumbling will be heard that now resouuds from a
noisy clique in the interest of the Sixth Avenue horse car corporation.
The sessicn of the Legislalure is now nearly two-thirds over, and this most im¬
portant subject has been so treated as to excite the serious apprehension of those
who earnestly desire the progress and prosperity of the city. Some bills have
been introduced—notoriously those of Senators Bixby and Wagstaff—which are
impudent attempts to defeat rapid transit altogether, and should have been framed
by Senators selected by the horse car companies and not by the people of New
York. It will be better to leave the law of 1875 as it is than to allow any such
insidious and mischievous measures to pass. Nevertheless, that law needs
amendment, and one bill, now before the Legislature, introduced by Mr. Sel-
kreg, is designed to render it more efficient, This bill enables roads now under
unforfeited charters from other laws to organize, construct and operate under the
]$w of 1875, and seeks to prevent the vexatious issue of injunctions against rapid
23
transit roads obtained for the sole purpose of blocking the work. It requires
that the construction of a road shall not be stopped by an injunction until a full
trial or hearing has first been had upon notice, or until the plaintiff shall have
filed bonds of not less than ten thousand dollars to pay all damages caused by such
delay, and it allows the construction to go on between the issuing of a provisional
injunction and the final determination of the case, provided the defendant files a
similiar bond. If the Legislature will pass this bill and reject all others it will do
a good work, and if the New York members are willing to betray their trust it is
to be hoped that the city may find truer friends among the rural representatives.
[From the N. Y. Herald, March 24, 1877.]
THE STATE CAPITAL.
TIIE SUPPLY BILL PASSED TO A THIRD READING—BROOKLYN RAILROADS—A RE¬
PORT AS TO THE STATE CAPITOL.
Albany, March 23, 1877.
**************
**************
Senator Bixby appeared before the Railroad Committee with reference to two
bills which were introduced by him at the request of certain residents of Brooklyn.
These bills, the Senator says, were intended to repeal an unused charter granted
eleven years ago to construct a railroad in Sackett street, Brooklyn. One was
specific and the other general in its character, and both were submitted for con¬
sideration of the committee. Senator Bixby claimed that the unused privilege
was made a terror to residents of Sackett street and should be repealed. He had
been an advocate of rapid transit too many years to be regarded as its enemy now,
and he would ask for non-action or an adverse report on the general bill, not
wishing to interfere with other rights. He stated as his opinion, however, that a
railroad franchise which had not been exercised for five years was not a valuable
auxiliary of rapid transit.
Both house3 adjourned to Monday evening at eight o'clock.
[ From the N. Y. Tribune, March 21, 1877.]
OPPOSITION TO RAPID TRANSIT.
The opponents of rapid transit schemes in this city are unusually and sus¬
piciously active at present. A new suit to restrain the inevitable has been begun
in the Courts, which have already decided upon every point advanced in favor of
the companies ; and a temporary injunction has been obtained only that it may
be dissolved in the early future. Frequent protests of a few owners of property
on the selected routes are heard unheeded in public meetings just now ; and dele
gations of these same gentlemen utter their complaints in person to the Mayor-
and through him to the press. A civil engineer has been put foi ward who afiiims
that a handsome two-legged structure will not sustain its own weight, in spite of
the daily experience of thousands on a one-legged road which is admittedly an
eye-sore. Another equally mistaken individual has been lately heard crying the
24
startling tale that $25,000,000 is to be paid for a road which is to cost only $3,
000,000, and the rest divided between a few speculators who form a sort of local-
Credit Mobilier, with capacity for plunder equal to that of the late national
company. And lastly, the story is started, to die of denial in a day, that
William H. Yanderbilt is to build the underground road which his father
pronounced impracticable as an engineering experiment and ur profitable as a
speculative enterprise.
It is just possible that some persons may be deceived by these simultaneous
efforts on the part of the opponents of rapid transit into the belief that there is a
general and spontaneous opposition on the part of the whole public to the two
enterprises which are already practically successful—namely, the Greenwich
Elevated Railroad and the Gilbert Elevated Railway. The first has demonstrated
the feasibility of an elevated road on the rudest and simplest plan ; the second
applies the same principles on a larger scale to a more sightly structure, strong
enough to carry trains of any weight, and admit of the highest speed. There
exists in fact no such insane opposition except upon the part of one or two
corporations whose special interests will possibly be injured, and of a few owners
of houses who;e tenants will doubtless leave them, but only to give place to
others of different character, but just as capable of giving good and prompt pay.
The secret of this sudden zeal in denunciation of elevated roads and in com¬
mendation of the underground system which the conformation of the island ren¬
ders practically impossible, lies in the fact that there are pending in the Legisla¬
ture several bills adverse to the Elevated companies' interests, and that next
week in the Court of Appeals the final argument to all the questions involved in
the several suits begun here months ago is to be heard. The bills in the Legisla¬
ture are likely to be ignored during the last hours of the session; hence the agita¬
tion which serves as an excuse to call them up and urge them once again. The
decision of the lower Courts on the appeal to the Court of last resort have all been
in favor of the companies and the general public; hence the anxiety to create the
impression that a local feeling exists against these enterprises, and that Mayor
Ely and Commissioner Campbell and the City Government favor another sys¬
tem.
The simple truth is that there is no other opposition to rapid transit than that
excited by special interests, such as the surface railways which the projected
Gilbert road effects. For every person and property owner opposed there are a
thousand citizens heartily in favor of the roads. The only difficulty is that the
one opponent is extremely noisy and active for fear his special ox will be
gored, while the thousand who have no absorbing individual interest in the mat¬
ter do not combine to approve and forward the enterprises; for in this, as in all
like affairs, what is every man's business is no man's duty. Neither Legislature
nor Court is likely to be misled by such weak, though ingenious, opposition to
what is plainly a necessity of a city with such a peculiar conformation as New
York.
25
[New York Evening Post, March 23,1877.]
A POSSIBLE SOLUTION OF THE RAPID TRANSIT PROBLEM.
Just how far the experiment with steam cars on a street railroad in Philadel¬
phia was successful we are not prepared to say ; hut the report of it suggests the
possibility of a sudden solution of the rapid transit problem in this city some day.
The property-owners who churlishly resist every effort to furnish needed facilities
of transportation, whether by elevated roads or underground roads, or in any
other way, undoubtedly would make an especially loud outciy against steam
power on the surface of the streets. Yet nothing is more certain than that the
public patience with the obstructions to rapid transit will by and by become
exhausted ; and when opinion is thoroughly aroused on the subject there will be
less scrupulousness than there now is in respect to the means of securing the
desired accommodation. If the improvement should then take the shape of sur¬
face steam cars nobody need be surprised. When the surely-coming time to
which we have referred actually arrives, Legislators, Mayors, Aldermen and
Courts may find a way to give effect to public opinion. Some persons who have
seen the self-propelling fire-engine making its way through the streets, and not
making much disturbance about it, are already asking themselves whether the
substitution of steam for horses is a very dangerous thing after all. ■
For our part we are utterly opposed to the use of surface steam cars in the
streets, but, we repeat, the public demand for rapid transit in some shape will at
some time become irresistible, and there is no certainty that the most objection¬
able form will not be chosen. Later we should probably have to pay for sinking
the tracks, as in the case of what is known as the Fourth avenue Improvement,
or in some other costly way providing for the protection of the public.
[Commercial Advertiser.]
PUT DOWN BY A PLAIN TALE.
A week ago a few of the owners of property on Sixth avenue, published a pro¬
test against the construction of an elevated railway on the line of that street,
contending that such a work would destroy the value of real estate, drive business
to other localities, and produce general disturbance.
A week goes by and the authors of the protest are answered by a fact so potent
that there is no possible way of setting it aside. Yesterday an auction sale of
real estate took place, and two valuable pieces of Sixth avenue property changes
hands at these rates : brick house and lot, northwest corner of Sixth avenue and
Twenty-eighth street, 24.8 by 77.6, $58,200 ; brick house and lot, adjoining, 24.8
by 77.6, $44,000 ; neither, it will be noticed, being a full lot. These high prices
were paid in full view of the probable construction of the Gilbert Elevated Rail¬
way in front of the property sold ; and it is understood that the advance upon
fonner values is due to the fact that such a line of rapid transit is virtually
secured. As a solid fact is worth a bushel of theories, the protest of the discon¬
tented goes for nothing, and the arguments intended to frighten property-holders
are summarily upset. The protesting parties have clamored for a change in the
route of this road, declaring that there are other streets in which the value of
26
property "might even be increased " by the establishment of a new line of com¬
munication—but now that the increase of values on Sixth avenue is proved bj'
incontestable evidence, there is no more to be said.
The question at issue is simply one of convenience. The people of this city are
determined to have rapid transit, and they do not propose to be over critical as to
the ways and means, so long as distances are abridged and fares are cheap. The
company earliest in the field will get all the custom it can accommodate, and pro¬
perty on the route of the improvement will rise in value, just as the lots on Sixth
avenue rose to a high figure in the sale of yesterday.
[The Daily Graphic.]
July 28th, 1875.
The Rapid Transit Commissioners have given a generous hearing to the men
who have plans, schemes, ideas, theories, hobbies, crotchets and dreams. They
have advertised for lunatics, and every man whose bonnet is full of bees has
emptied the contents on the Commissioners' table. They have had a fair sample
of what they may expect in this way, and seen how perfectly useless and futile it
would be to protract an examination that can lead to no practical result. The
time has come for them to act. What is wanted now is a comparison of the plans
that are backed by a sufficient capital to carry them out if they were accepted.
Plans are as thick as flies about the Fulton market and almost as boresome, but
those which have been able to gain the confidence of capitalists can be examined
very easily, and it is between them that the choice must lie. One of these is
known as the Gilbert Elevated Road. This plan has been carefully considered by
business men who are willing to invest their money in it, and if it is preferred,
the capital is ready to build it at once. To morrow a hearing is to be granted the
petitioners, whose plans and specifications have already been submitted to the
Commissioners. They mean business. They will solve the problem of rapid
transit at short notice. They will give the city a good, swift, convenient, in¬
valuable railway at once. It is to be hoped that the Commissioners will
thoroughly and carefully consider their proposals, and compare them with those
of other companies which are likewise backed with capital, instead of wasting-
time and attention on schemes that have no financial support if they are not
wild. * * * * * * We have had a surfeit of plans for
possible and impossible railways until everybody has become weary of
them. Most of them are impracticable, and most of the others are
vitiated by some fatal defect. The Commissioners have been overwhelmed
with projects and suggestions, and specifications of all sorts,, most of which
reduplicate each other in all essential respects. The Gilbert plan embodies all
the important features of a practical working road, and has a cash backing to
build it besides. It is a plan that capitalists and business men have confidence
in and are willing to build. * ******* ^ p]an that is g0 feaqWe
and admirable that cautious capitalists will invest all the money needed to build
it, and that already has the right of way secured, by a Legislative Charter, has a
two-fold advantage over all other applicants.*
27
["Telegram," May 23d, 1876.]
THE LAW'S DELAYS.
The fight on the injunctions against our rapid transit undertakings -will evi¬
dently last all Summer. The Ninth Avenue Horsecar Company has its injunc¬
tion on the Greenwich street road, the end of which we cannot conjecture; and
the further hearing of arguments in Court on the injunction of the Sixth Avenue
Horse car Company against the Gilbert Rapid ^Transit Road is postponed on ac¬
count of the continued illness of Judge Monell, for the first Monday in June. If,
however, the contest upon these injunctions shall be much longer continued, the
people of this island, who have some interest in these rapid transit enterprises,
and some reserved rights in our public thoroughfares, will be called upon to take
a hand in the controversy. They are certainly not prepared to recognize the
horse car companies as the absolute owners of the streets through which they are
granted the right of way.
[New York Times, Sunday, March 11, 1877.]
HALTING RAPID TRANSIT.
It is nearly 20 years since the people of New York began to feel the pressing
need of more speedy communication between the upper and lower ends of the
City than is afforded by the horse railroads. From that time to the present,
this necessity has become, every year, more apparent and more pressing, until
now it is generally admitted that Rapid Transit in some form or other is ab¬
solutely indispensable to the growth and prosperity of the City. * * * *
When Commodore Yanderbilt obtained his charter for an underground road,
from 42d street to the City Hall, it was believed that Rapid Transit was
secured. ******* But the public were disappointed. After spend¬
ing $12,000 in surveys, and getting the opinions of the best engineers at home
and abroad, Commodore Yanderbilt came to the conclusion that the enterprise
would not pay, and gave up his charter. Since that time, the attention of
capitalists and friends of rapid transit has been turned to elevated roads as the
only possible means of solving the problem. ******* There only
remains, therefore, the Greenwich Street Road and the Gilbert Elevated, lfom
which the citizens of New York can have any reasonable hope of securing rapid
transit for many years to come.
[New York Evening Mail.]
Property owners are still pretesting against the Gilbert Elevated Railway in
Sixth avenue. It is altogether probable that any scheme of Rapid Transit on any
plan, and with any route whatever would bring just such protests from a short
sighted minority of property owners along the line. The convenience of the
citizens at large is of the first importance in this matter, even if it were to be sub¬
served at some little loss or inconvenience to a few persons.
28
[.V. T. Times, March 11,1877.]
NEW YORK'S MOST PRESSING WANT.
The 1,300,000 inhabitants of this city still content themselves in their daily
travels from the upper to the lower part of the island with a rate of speed which
old Gov. Stuy vesant would have scorned in the days when he rode on his dapple
gray from the fort at the Battery to his farm or "Bowerie" on the East River
The great patronage awarded to the Elevated Road which serves a comparatively
remote portion of the town at a moderate rate of speed, is an earnest of the
immense business in store for a steam road through the backbone of the island,
going at the rate of forty miles an hour. With us speed is an object of primary
importance. In the conveyance of passengers from their homes to their places
of business in the lower part of the City, the effect of speed assumes another
aspect. We have to look not only at the distance traveled, but at the manual and
intellectual work for which time is gained by the merchant, the artisan, and the
laboring mam. ******
29
The following Underground Charters have for a number of
years been before the public and capitalists, and not one of
them has ever been able to obtain the capital required ; a
careful examination by competent parties of all these plans
was made at different times, and in all cases, resulted in
refusal of capitalists, both in this country and in Europe, to
undertake the work, as the great cost in all cases, as well as
the great engineering difficulties, would not warrant the in¬
vestment, as will be seen by Report on Rapid Transit to So¬
ciety of Civil Engineers, page 16. The Commissioners of Rapid
Transit carefully examined all the plans submitted, and those
companies that were selected to do the work, were the only
ones that represented any real capital, and gave any guaran¬
tees for a prompt fulfillment of the desired necessity for
rapid transit.
" Metropolitan Transit Company." Under general Act of
1872, April 2d, filed, February 23d, 1867. Depressed Surface
and Elevated.
South Ferry, between Greenwich and Broadway, as direct a
line as possible to 59th street, between 5th and 6th
avenues, thence east and west to Harlem road, and to H. R.
R. R., and to High Bridge, at or near Harlem.
"Metropolitan Railway Company.'''' General Act, April 2d,
1850, filed March 22d, 1864.
Underground. Battery, under Broadway to 34th street,
then under or near 6th avenue to or near Central Park, thence
east and west to Harlem R. R. and H. R. R. R.
"Manhattan Railway Company." General Act, April 2d,
1850, filed, October 4th, 1866.
Underground. Under Broadway, from Battery to 64th
street, thence east and west to Harlem and H. R. R. R.
"Union Pneumatic Railway:'' General Law, April 2d,
1850, filed December 24th, 1856.
Underground. Brooklyn to New York, City Hall, and by
two routes under 3d and 8th avenues to Harlem River, and
from City Hall to Battery, under Broadway.
30
"New York Central Underground Railway Company,"
Chapter 280, Law 1868.
Underground.—City Hall to Harlem. Under Centre, Mul¬
berry, Pearl, La Fayette Place, Union Square, Madison
Square, Madison Avenue to Harlem.
"Beach Pneumatic Transit Company," afterwards changed
to Broadway Underground Railroad, Chapter 842, Law of
1868, and Chapter 185, Law 1873.
Underground. Battery, under Broadway to Central Park,
at Eighth Avenue. Branch under Madison Avenue to and
under Harlem River.
"New York City Rapid Transit Company," Chapter 834,
Law 1872.
To Cornelius Vanderbilt and others.
Underground. From City Hall to Grand Central.
fcUGlSl"75