Worldfairs Forum - Expositions Universelles et Spécialisées

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The quaint little railroad train here pictured is a duplicate of the DeWitt Clinton train, the first to make a regular trip in the State of New York. It made its initial trip in August, 1831, and thereafter maintained a regular schedule over the Mohawk & Hudson Railway between Albany and Schenectady, running at the astonishing speed of 15 to 17 miles an hour. The cars were in reality stage coaches, with space for six passengers inside and four on top. The engine, tender and three coaches constituted a full train. Barrels of water and rides of wood were carried on the open tender. Fourteen passengers ventured on the initial journey, with a feeling of trepidation that was not without reason, for when the train was fairly started on its way the cinders, sparks and smoke threatened destruction to all. This pioneer train seems all the more primitive when contrasted with the magnificent Empire State Express shown by the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, which, in its daily flight from New York to Buffalo, follows the same route as the DeWitt Clinton train of 1831. This is one of the swift and luxurious trains that give the United States first rank in railroad equipment and operation.

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The Baldwin Locomotive Works’ display in the Palace of Transportation comprises about a dozen locomotives, and the monster engine here shown, which stands near the revolving turn-table in the center of the building, is the largest coupled engine ever built and successfully operated, representing the type used on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe System. This engine alone weighs 287,000 pounds, and with the tender about 450,000 pounds. As will be noted, this powerful locomotive has five pairs of driving wheels, with a single pair of small wheels in front and another at the rear, and there is an arrangement of parts that enables the engineer to throw some of the weight from the small trucks to the drivers for the purpose of increasing tire traction in starting the train. With a steam pressure of 225 pounds, the engine will develop 2200 horse power, and a tractive force of about 60,000 pounds under the best conditions, Such locomotives require a perfection and solidity of track unknown a few years ago, and represent an advance that was until lately thought impossible.

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The visitor is reminded of a great railroad station as he notes the architecture of the Palace of Transportation, which stands west of the Palace of Varied Industries and north of the Palace of Machinery. The building is 525 feet by 1,300 feet, covering fifteen acres. Beneath the expansive roof are displayed all the modern methods of transportation together with historical exhibits of great interest. The historical display of old locomotives shows graphically the long struggle from the time of the stage coach to the era of the modern palace car. Visitors are permitted to inspect the most palatial trains. A huge locomotive stands in the center of the building upon a turn-table. In the western end of the building is a laboratory for testing the efficiency of locomotives. The old horse car and the modern trolley car stand side by side. The display of automobiles shows the remarkable possibilities of this new means of travel. Motor boats and other water craft are here in goodly numbers while the road vehicles for all sorts of purposes are not forgotten. Models of railway stations, cars and other railway equipment are displayed.

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In the Palace of Transportation is a full-size section of the Pennsylvania Railroad tunnel between Jersey City and Long Island, extending under the Hudson River, the City of New York, and East River. Tire tunnel is an iron tube and when complete will be eight miles in length. Much of the construction through the river beds is through silt and the problem of securing a safe foundation was solved by the use of huge piles made of steel and fashioned so as to screw into the silt, section by section, till the solid rock is reached. The silt is then removed from the hollow pile and cement poured in, making a supporting column of steel and cement. The outer jacket of the tunnel is of cast-iron sections bolted together and lined with concrete, and the space at the sides, near the tracks, is utilized for conduits for wires, imbedded in cement. The size of the tube is manifest when one notes the figures of the two men and the full-size section of a passenger coach. To obviate the nuisance and danger of smoke and gases in this long tunnel, the third-rail electric system is employed, as may be Seen by reference to tile illustration. Such an exhibit as this is really more instructive than the actual tunnel, for here one sees the details.

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Centrally located in the Palace of Transportation is the working exhibit of the C., C., C. & St. L. Railway (Big Four Route), a monster locomotive and tender mounted on a turnable resembling an inverted bridge-truss, the whole assemblage of parts revolving easily on a relatively small horizontal circle of steel, so that the headlight, carried high in air, illuminates in turn every corner of the great building. As the turnable, with its well-poised burden, revolves in its 75-foot circle, the 79-inch driving-wheels rotate rapidly. Electric power is used for moving all the mechanism, and only the result is seen. The American Locomotive Company built the engine, and the Chicago Bridge and Iron Works supplied the turntable. In the circle of floor-space below the sweep of the turnable, the railroad company has laid out a map showing the route traversed by its lines. Besides its own weight, the great turnable carries that of the locomotive, 184,000 pounds, and the tender, 140,000 pounds - 162 tons in all. To balance the greater wight of the engine and give steadiness to"the motion, 55,000 pounds of sand are carried in the tender. Engines of this type haul ten cars at a rate of sixty miles an hour.

Covers fifteen acres and contains a mammoth display of cars, locomotives, automobiles and water craft.


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