Abilene, Texas - The Texas & Pacific Railway - Illustrations of Classic Railroad Technology

My virtual vacation in Abilene, Texas continues. Abilene is 1700 miles away from here as the Google drives, and the temperature easily tops 100 degrees F on many days during the summer. While we've only been reaching 88 degrees F here this week, our heat pump is working harder than normal in sympathy with its distant Lennox cousins.

In my previous piece on the Texas & Pacific Railway, I presented what I could find here in the way of photos, maps, published schedules and an employee timetable. This was done to depict some of the history of the railroad which gave birth to the city of Abilene in its first iteration as a railroad shipping centre for cattle.

That piece was atrociously long because I found so much material. This is an attempt to supplement the wordiness of the first piece with illustrations ... and still ... more words to interpret the images.

These images are presented in roughly the same order as the subjects appear in the previous Texas & Pacific piece.

Abilene, Texas - The Texas & Pacific Railway

from: Railroad & Photo Annual; 1953; Trains & Travel; Kalmbach.

Texas & Pacific locomotive 706 was built by Baldwin in 1919. It's Pacific-type - used in passenger service.

*  *  *

Elesco Feedwater Heater

These were often used to maximize efficiency on later Texas & Pacific freight locomotives.

from: Locomotive Boiler-Feeding Devices; JW Harding; 1937; International Textbook Company.

from: Locomotive Boiler-Feeding Devices; JW Harding; 1937; International Textbook Company.

from: Locomotive Boiler-Feeding Devices; JW Harding; 1937; International Textbook Company.

Elesco (and other brands of) feedwater heaters provided greater thermal efficiency - particularly for cold-climate railroads. But there was a lot of equipment needed beyond the heat exchanging tank at the front of the locomotive (13). 

At (8) you'll notice a powerful 2-phase, steam powered pump to run water through the whole system and to force the warmed feedwater into the boiler through the pipe at (11). 

*  *  *

A Conceptual Steam Locomotive Diagram

This diagram represents an 'intermediate' locomotive design ... when considering the full sweep of steam locomotive technology.

from: The Steam Locomotive, Part 1; JW Harding; 1934; International Textbook Company.

Fire and Smoke

Unlike many Texas & Pacific steam locomotives, this engine is burning coal, which sits on 'shakeable' grates, which allow the ashes to fall below for later disposal. 

Air for combustion enters the firebox (a) by coming up through the grates ... and it can also enter through the firebox door at the left. 

A brick arch over (a) causes the combustion gases to swirl, thus ensuring more complete combustion within the firebox. The 'roof' of the firebox is the crown sheet. Covering the crown sheet is a layer of water, with steam above that. 

Bituminous coal burns at 1200-1600 degrees Fahrenheit, so the crown sheet must always be covered by water to avoid metal failure and a boiler explosion.

The hot combustion gases pass through the flue pipes (b) and (i). I'm using simplified terminology throughout this piece.

At the extreme right, the smoke from the flues enters the smokebox, where it is forced out through the stack (c) by the discharge of exhaust steam coming from the piston (q). This force also does a good job of providing a draft for the fire.

Water and Steam

The boiler is a sealed vessel so it can accumulate energy up to a certain limit. As it heats up, and water is boiled into steam, the pressure inside it builds. At a design limit of 200 pounds per square inch, water boils at about 388 degrees Fahrenheit. 

A safety valve system (not shown) is designed to automatically vent excess pressure. When the main safety valve opens, the sound of escaping steam is thunderous and deafening. 

When the engineer opens the throttle lever (d), the throttle valve (e) opens and the resulting movement of steam will (with the correct setting of the reverser - not shown) cause the locomotive to turn its wheels.

Steam ... contrasted with condensed steam or water vapour ... is an invisible gas. It passes from (g) as saturated steam, goes back into the boiler area, and exits at (j) as superheated steam. This whole assembly is called a superheater. It will generally increase the temperature of the resulting dry steam by at least 250 degrees Fahrenheit, but the pressure will remain about the same.

So now our steam has reached a temperature of over 600 degrees Fahrenheit ... or higher if we want to brag about it. This dry superheated steam contains an awful lot of extra energy. This is excellent news because it saves us from repeating the energy-intensive work of taking cold water from the tender ... heating it up to the boiling point ... and adding the latent heat needed to turn it into saturated steam. 

Our superheated steam has tremendous expansive power, so only a small quantity needs to be used in the cylinder to keep a train moving.

It seems counter-intuitive that one superheats the steam, but its pressure stays the same. The explanation for this requires discussion of molecular structure, and how it relates to a substance's vapour pressure/temperature curve. But we're just here for the pictures!

The superheated steam travels down the branch pipe (k) to the cylinder valve (l) which is connected by driving rods and links to the piston inside the cylinder (q)

As the cylinder valve oscillates, it admits steam to one side of the piston, then the other. This provides power for both directions of piston travel. When you add the 'both directions' from the other side of the locomotive, you end up with four, alternating power strokes for every single turn of the driving wheels.

Without a reverser, our engine as shown will only travel forward. A reverser is an important tool of steam economy because it allows the engineer to taper the steam cutoff. 

For example: Steam would be admitted for the full travel of the piston when starting a heavy train. In contrast, if a light passenger train was travelling fast, only a short tick of steam would be needed to maintain momentum. (Short tick is not a legitimate mechanical engineering term.)

Finally, through the helpful work of the cylinder valve (l), the exhaust steam and smokebox smoke is pushed out through the stack (c).

*  *  *

The feedwater heater and the superheater were two of the most important refinements made to improve the fuel efficiency of steam locomotives.

*  *  *

A coat of paint, and it'll be as good as new!

from: A Locomotive Engineer's Album; George B Abdill; 1965; Bonanza Books.

Above and below. I have guessed that these photos are from around 1920. An older Union Pacific 2-8-0 type Compound experienced a boiler explosion in Wyoming. 

Above: The engine is rolled over on its right side for shipment. The hole at the front lower-left of the wreck is where the smokestack was. The big pipe you see is the branch pipe which would have carried steam down to the top of the right-side cylinder - the cylinder end of that open pipe is by that person's right hand. Just in front of the intact locomotive, the black perforated plate which appears out of the bottom of the firebox is probably the failed crown sheet. The author commented that most boiler failures were caused by a sudden flow of cold water onto an overheated crown sheet. Being of an older design, we are probably correct in noting that there are no superheater units or large-diameter superheater flues on this engine.

Below: That is the relatively intact running gear of the same locomotive. 

It seems very unlikely that anyone in the cab survived the explosion. An exploding boiler was often propelled hundreds of feet because most of the potential energy of tons of boiler water suddenly flashed into steam. 

In looking for historical boiler references, I found a 'boiler insurance' company's periodical preserved at archive.org . They published monthly listings of all of the railroad and stationary boiler explosions all over the US. Between problems with metallurgy, problems with rivets and staybolts, problems with keeping the crown sheet covered, and lack of preventative maintenance ... boilers were always blowing up all over the place!

from: A Locomotive Engineer's Album; George B Abdill; 1965; Bonanza Books.

*  *  *

from: History of Railroads in America; Oliver Jensen; 1975; American Heritage.

A map showing the status of the network at the end of the first major phase of railroad building in the US.

The strategic position of the Texas & Pacific line through Abilene is visible.

 *  *  *

Link and Pin Couplers

from: Yonder Comes the Train; Lance Phillips; 1965; AC Barnes & Co.

With a locomotive tender at our left and a freight car at our right, the brakeman is working to couple the locomotive to a car using the link and pin system. The locomotive pocket can accommodate rolling stock with three different coupler heights. The link was previously inserted into the locomotive pocket and the pin has been dropped to secure it ... so half of the coupling has been done.

The brakeman has signalled the engineer to back up so he can complete the coupling. The engineer must guess about when to stop and the brakeman must be quick and skillful to avoid injury or death if something goes wrong.

Imagine the brakeman coupling under more difficult conditions: Ten cars from the headend  ... at night ... in the rain.

*  *  *

Janney-style Couplers

from: Advertisement; American Association of Railroads; June 1948; Trains.

Apparently, Janney was inspired by the human hand when he came up with this major improvement in safety. The left coupler is 'open' with the knuckle rotating on a heavy pin (seen with an 'A' on its top). 

A brakeman simply opens the knuckle and gets out of the way before the cars come together. With just one coupler open, when the cars come together, the knuckle will close and lock automatically. 

To open a coupler (see the one at the right) a brakeman stands at the car's side, actuates the cut lever (that rod), and the attached pin is lifted, allowing the knuckle to open.

Coupler knuckles are designed to be the weakest link in a train to prevent costly damage to car underframes. If there is bad slack action in a train, the 80 lb knuckle part will break and a brakeman would be assigned the job of replacing it.

*  *  *

Why they were called brakemen ...

from: A Locomotive Engineer's Album; George B Abdill; 1965; Bonanza Books.

Upon hearing the whistle signal from the engineer to 'down brakes' ... brakemen from the engine and caboose would run along the roofwalks and turn the brake wheels to set mechanical brakes on each car.

In this undated photo on the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, you can see the engine has a link and pin coupling rod lying in the centre of its pointed cowcatcher (pilot). The locomotive was built in 1868. 

The author reports this is a 10-car train - the caboose didn't quite make it into the book. In addition to the two brakeman, the conductor is standing on the roadbed, the fireman is standing in the gangway and the engineer is sitting in the cab with his arm on the window ledge. 

*  *  *

from: The Central Pacific & Southern Pacific Railroads; Lucius Beebe; 1963; Howell-North Books.

This photo was taken on the Central Pacific in the Sierra Nevada in 1865. There are not many photos showing brakemen serving as the primary method of train control. 

When a train was running too fast down a grade, the handbrakes would have little likelihood of bringing the train under control. If a train broke in two, it was up to the brakemen to try to stop the cars separated from the engine.

The train is posed for the photo. You can see a brake wheel rising above the roof of each car. The brake shoes can be seen pressing on the treads of the wheels.

*  *  *

Corporations are often resistant to regulatory changes to improve safety.

from: Statistics of Railways in the United States; 1909; Interstate Commerce Commission.

After the invention of knuckle couplers and automatic train air brakes (a break in the train air line applies the brakes in 'emergency' on every car) it took decades for the railroads to settle on standards and to implement the changes. Other statistics in this book include deaths and injuries and how they occurred.

*  *  *

Breaking the Ice

Refrigerator Cars

from: Right-hand Man in the Cab, article; Howard W Bull; May 1948; Trains, Kalmbach.

This photo shows an intermediate icing station at Roseville, California in the 1940s.

These cars were probably carrying fresh produce from southern California terminals. There, sophisticated mechanical equipment would have been used because every car would need to be loaded with ice. Money would be saved if cars could be loaded as quickly as possible with produce and ice during a peak harvesting rush at a busy terminal.

This location was where a steam helper locomotive (for mountain grades) was added to the train consist, so it was a convenient point to top up cars designated for checking and re-icing. The worker at the right with the fork is 'optimizing' the block of ice to provide an increased ice surface area. 

*  *  *

from: Yonder Comes the Train; Lance Phillips; 1965; AC Barnes & Co.

Gustavus Franklin Swift (1839-1903) was a Massachusetts-born butcher who saw the business potential of changing consumers' meat-buying habits in the eastern US. There, people were accustomed to freshly-butchered local meat. 

Swift developed the idea of locating his business at the meat-packing centre of Chicago and transporting dressed meat by rail. The invention of the refrigerator car came from his efforts to develop the most effective way to provide refrigeration for a journey halfway across the country.

The image above is a depiction of a typical ice refrigerator car. It has ice bunkers at each end, and it is designed so cold air can circulate throughout the car, including under the floor on which the shipment was placed.

You'll also notice that the car features air brakes and Janney-type couplers!

*  *  *

Freight House

from: PE's Bustling Freight, article; no author; photo from: Pacific Electric Magazine; Trains June 1948; Kalmbach.

A mention was made in the previous piece about a freight house - a railroad facility used by the many shippers whose business did not require their own siding. Draft-horse-drawn wagons or trucks would be used for transportation between a shipper's facility and the freight house.

An interesting technique which is shown here is the aligning of multiple 40-foot boxcar doors with a single freight house door. Multiple boxcars could be loaded or unloaded at once. As many of the interior surfaces of boxcars were 'nailable' ... gaps between the boxcars could be spanned safely using metal plates nailed to the door thresholds. 

*  *  *

The Considerations Behind Block Signaling in ABS and CTC

from: The Railroad - What It Is, What It Does; John H Armstrong; 1978; Simmons-Boardman.

At the time of publishing: Medium Speed was 30 mph and Limited Speed was 45 mph.

Telegraphs were first used by railroads in the mid-1800s to make temporary modifications to the paper timetables used by employees ... to deal with unforeseen traffic circumstances on a given day. Since that time, railroads have divided their busiest lines into 'blocks'. Typically, these blocks were several miles in length.

On single track railroads, before electric signals, a key safety feature of train separation rules was that trains must enter sidings ... to clear for opposing or following trains ... respecting a rules-specified time interval. 

Similarly, a train following another from a particular point on the line must wait for a prescribed amount of time before departing. 

... To give you some idea ... depending on the railroad ... this time interval might be 10 or 20 minutes. In the event of a train breakdown, this period of time gave the tailend brakeman time to run back with a flagging kit ... to protect the back of his train. One could argue this was probably the most important reason why cabooses were invented in the first place - to have someone back there, ready to protect the train.

As railroad technology improved, and trains became faster and heavier, it became even more important to ensure trains had adequate warning when it was time to slow down and/or stop. Steel wheels on steel rails are nearly frictionless.

In the previous piece, looking at the Texas & Pacific employee timetable from 1974, I referred to ABS (automatic block signal) and CTC (centralized traffic control) systems. 

The nice, clear diagram above, shows how automatic block signals are used to protect trains. 

Above, at the left side, the signal indications are shown from most restrictive (stop) to least restrictive (clear). 

To the right are shown sample sections of track which are divided into blocks ... each block having its own electrically-isolated track circuit. The track circuits are connected to trackside signals. For very basic protection, a railroad could use just three indications (i.e. green, yellow, red). If a train was stopped, its entire block would be protected because a red signal would prevent a following train (or an opposing train) from entering into its block without proper authority.

For high traffic lines where maximum capacity must be provided along with maximum safety, more signal indications (combinations of more lights of changeable colours on the same signal mast) need to be used.

He was present when the CTC system was implemented at Schreiber, Ontario on the Canadian Pacific Railway and Rolly Martin told me a few times that CTC on single track could safely carry the same traffic load as non-CTC double track.

Imagine a single track line which enables a Dispatcher (Rail Traffic Controller) to use electric switches and signals to remotely control every train's movements ... while train separation is automatically taken care of in all cases by the block signals. 

In setting up a CTC traffic control system, the civil and electrical engineers of the system vendor would work together with the railroad's own professional engineers to plan the optimal placement of signals and the design of the logic to operate the track switches and coloured light signals. 

They'd consider typical train tonnage, train speeds, significant grades on the track profile, typical stopping distances at different points, signal visibility from the locomotive - any variable which should be considered to run trains as safely as possible ... while also running them as close to each other as reasonably possible.

While the Four-Block, Five Indication system at the bottom of the diagram will be more expensive to install, it is designed to maximize the capacity of the railroad line.

*  *  *

from: Popular Mechanics Railroad Album; John O'Connell; 1954; Popular Mechanics.

In doing the research to find Texas & Pacific items, I found this curiosity. It was probably tested near large population centres - where it could be near to rescue locomotives (it has standard couplers). I've included this in case ardent fans of the Texas & Pacific find the reference interesting, or in case they collect mentions of this unusual trainset. 

The locomotive section also includes a mail hook for picking up mailbags 'on the fly' (first door) and a baggage and express section (second larger door).

Early self-propelled railcars had problems with dependably getting from Point A to Point B. Passengers often received a rough, jarring ride at high speed on fast streamlined trainset prototypes. 

At least in this experimental vehicle, they enjoyed rubber-tired comfort!

*  *  *

from: Photo Section, Rail Photo Service; May 1948; Trains, Kalmbach.

In this undated photo, the Sunshine Special is leaving Dallas. 

Of course, this train's history is recorded at Wikipedia. 

It operated south from St Louis, beginning in 1915. 

It is shown as Train 1 and Train 2 (along with its routing and equipment) in the 1916 Official Guide section of my previous piece on the Texas & Pacific.

Abilene, Texas - The Texas & Pacific Railway

CNJ 1898 Bernard Baruch's Special + Meet the 51st State!

" I hired a locomotive and tender with a coach attached ... What a thrill it was! "

In the late 1990s, I was studying for my second or third career and Maria Bartiromo was employed by CNBC to report facts from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. On a few occasions she mentioned the 'legendary investor' Bernard Baruch. A few years later, at a local used book store, I purchased the autobiography he had written in 1957.

I thought readers might enjoy imagining themselves in the situation he describes below.

(Manila Bay and Santiago are explained further down the post.)

I have recently prepared a piece on the New Jersey Central 

and it seems likely this was the railroad Baruch used for his trip.

CNJ 1951 Public Timetable, Suburban Trains

On the map below, Baruch departed from Long Branch (bottom, centre) and took the ferry from Jersey City to New York.

from: 1928 Handy Railroad Atlas of the United States; Rand McNally; Kalmbach, reprint.

Short version (events mentioned by Baruch) :

Commodore of the US Asiatic Fleet, Commander George Dewey (1837-1917) had begun his naval career at age 16 and had served with distinction in the US Navy during the Civil War. On 1 May 1898, he destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron during the Battle of Manila Bay (Philippines).

On 3 July 1898, Commodore Winfield Schley and Rear Admiral William Sampson sank all of the Spanish warships they engaged during the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. 

It was the news tip about the decisive victory at Santiago which caused Baruch to rush to New York and telegraph instructions to buy up depressed American stocks on the London Stock Exchange when it opened on Monday, 4 July 1898.

But what was the American motivation to attack Spanish ships?

from: The Modern Age; Richards & Cruickshank; 1955; Longmans Canada.

* * *

from: Cartoons of our war with Spain; 1898; Frederick A Stokes Co. (at archive.org)

from: Cartoons of our war with Spain; 1898; Frederick A Stokes Co. (at archive.org)

There were many cartoons showing the mast and crowsnest of the USS Maine protruding above the waters of Havana's harbour in US newspapers in the months after the explosion. President McKinley is seated and in contemplation in the image above. Like many of his political contemporaries McKinley understood armed conflict, having fought in the Civil War.

The armoured cruiser USS Maine (in service: 1895-1898) arrived at Havana, Cuba on 25 January 1898 'to protect American interests'. Cuba was a colony of Spain with extensive US sugar and tobacco operations. Roughly 90% of these exports were shipped to the US - not Spain. 

In Havana harbour, on the evening of 15 February 1898, the 5 tons of naval gun propellant (I think the charges were in 'stick' form) aboard the Maine exploded, killing 261 of its crew. This explosion was caused by ...

Choice 1: A mine planted by Spain.

Choice 2: A fire in the coal bunker ... which was adjacent to the magazine holding the 5 tons of naval gun propellant.

If you have ever read an old book about firing steam locomotives, you'll remember that firemen are discouraged from over-firing and creating too much smoke ... as half of the coal's energy is contained in its volatile gases - primarily methane - which are lost in that smoke.

The US Navy at this time was changing from ('smokeless') anthracite to the more heat-dense bituminous coal (as used by most railways) because of its greater heat content. Low-smoke anthracite was a more desirable coal to use in cities and increasing urban demand may have made it too expensive for the Navy. 

In addition to its tendency to fill up enclosed coal bunkers with natural gas, iron sulphide deposits within the bituminous coal react exothermically when exposed to oxygen ... and ... these iron pyrites can also produce sparks when struck by something metallic - like a shovel.

from: Dictionary of American naval fighting ships; 1959; United States Navy. (at archive.org)

 

After posting: 

Brother Eric kindly sent me the stamp image commemorating the event's centennial. 

The full historical quote was: 

"Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain."

(I guess the bellicose sloganeers could not rhyme "firedamp" and "spontaneous heating")

 *  *  *

Another overview:

from: World History; Hayes, Moon, Wayland; 1946; Macmillan, New York.

* * *

Thinking of the Civil War military service of the future President William McKinley and so many of his political contemporaries, here is a table from the time just before the Spanish-American War. 

As you can see, it was a feature of the culture back then to regularly call on professional soldiers, militia and volunteers to attend to problems by igniting gunpowder. The period between the Civil War and the Spanish-American War was the longest interval in which there was no armed conflict - 33 years.

from: The World Almanac, Commemorative Edition; 1992; Pharos Books.

The United States had a population of 31 million at the time of the Civil War.

*  *  *

The USA and its possessions are shown on a map from 1912.

This fascinating historical map has always intrigued me. The colour overprinting isn't as precise as it could be. You can see that some long island chains are overlaid over other possessions so they all can be shown in the correct scale over the continental US.

from: A Descriptive Review of the Empire State [part of a world atlas]; 1912; George F Cramm.

As this post is being prepared, there is talk about a new 51st state being added to the Union.

If you look at Virginia on the map above, you'll see Puerto Rico superimposed on it. Today, Puerto Rico has a population of 3.2 million. 

Puerto Rico's population is greater than that of each of the following states: Nevada, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nebraska, Idaho, West Virginia, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont and Wyoming (19 states).

After 127 years of being part of the USA, if there was reasonable democratic fairness, Puerto Rico would be the 51st state.

The Gods of AI tell me that the state of Puerto Rico would be entitled to 2 Senators and at least 5 representatives in the House of Representatives. 

Wiki indicates that statehood for Puerto Rico has long been an election plank of the Republican Party ... however this item was removed from its 2024 campaign platform. 

*  *  *

To finish off ...

For the purpose of illustrating the engagement which precipitated Bernard Baruch's special train from Long Branch to Jersey City, 

here are two images from the naval battle at Santiago, Cuba, 3 July 1898.

from: Harper's pictorial history of the war with Spain; Nelson Miles; 1899; Harper & brothers. (at archive.org)

from: Harper's pictorial history of the war with Spain; Nelson Miles; 1899; Harper & brothers. (at archive.org)

I think you can see from the map above that the battle began at Santiago in the east, and the chase proceeded westward with fewer ships remaining as the Spanish fleet was destroyed over a period of about four hours (0935hr-1315hr). You can see the surviving Spanish ship Colon beached at the extreme left.

Each ship has its abbreviation (eg. NY for the USS New York). Up to seven positions are shown for each ship by ascending numbers (i.e. starting at position NY1 and ending at position NY7). 

Toronto Junction Postcard, 1900

Stub switches and the three engines shown suggest that this photograph was perhaps taken at an earlier date. The Valentine postcard serial number indicates a 1905 year of publication.

This poor, battered card seems to have been mailed in 1910 from Harrowsmith, Ontario. Perhaps their western trip began via the CPR's Kingston & Pembroke. Limerick is a small settlement near Watertown, New York. 

There are at least three installations of stub switches - including a dandy 3-position switchstand at the right. The building and platform behind the Erie boxcar at the left have the character of an icing facility. The interlocking tower might or might not mark the location of the junction switch. The pole beside the smoking locomotive seems to be topped with an arc lamp. With the sun at the left, the roundhouse and perhaps a heated watertank can be seen on the north side of the yard at the right.

Generally, in this obsolete field of interest, nobody sits you down and explains the 'junction' term. If you were walking from here - Toronto Junction - it would take you about an hour, walking beside the track, to reach the railway's 'Toronto' station. In modern terms, a junction is like a highway interchange - 'this is the turn-off for Toronto'. In western Canada, there are some junctions which are impressively far from their namesake settlements. 

The extract from the Official Guide from December 1887, below, is here to show the route the CPR once followed to reach downtown Toronto (via Toronto Junction). 

On the Montreal end, you can see the express trains leaving Dalhousie Station and circling counter-clockwise via Mile End, to reach Montreal Junction (later known as Montreal West). There, they head west along the 'lakeshore' of Montreal's 'west island' communities. 

... and 12 hours later, before you know it, you've travelled from Montreal to Toronto!

from: Official Guide; December 1887.

from: City of Toronto Archives, detail from fire insurance plan 1890.

The 1890 fire insurance map (above) shows the CPR yard within its West Toronto Junction neighbourhood. Other sheets show (just to the east) the other railway lines and the future site of the lost, lamented 1911-built Canadian Pacific West Toronto station - which was demolished in 1982.

The industries which developed at The Junction (as the area is known today) included Heintzman & Company. This factory produced the heirloom family upright piano on which I and my siblings received our elementary music training. 

GP&H 1895, Arc & Incandescent Streetlights Across Canada

A jelly factory, the best volunteer fire brigade in Canada, and granolithic pavements & macadamized roads. 

... The Canadian town and city booster booklets from circa 1900 which are preserved at archive.org are really valuable for understanding how these places saw themselves less than a century after most of them were settled. Curious about exactly why the name 'Hespeler' was chosen? Here's the answer!

Jim Christie sent me some wonderful links on the local interurban railway at Hespeler and my interest has fallen into the rabbit hole of early electrification in Canada.

As the very long and celebrated reign of Queen Victoria wound down, the magic of rural electrification, was following the metropolitan corridor created by railway technology, farther and farther into the Canadian countryside.

In Ontario, it would soon be The People's Power, produced by the provincially-owned utility with white coal (falling water), which would revolutionize farm work, lighten housework, provide suburban transportation, and improve safety at night.

Considering everything expected from our modern electricity grids now and in the future, it is interesting to imagine life back when fire, flowing water and external combustion engines powered modern civilization. That's what these old accounts provide.

Abundant water power would eventually fuel ambitious plans to build wide-ranging electric interurban railway networks in Ontario. However, Galt, Preston and Hespeler's system would be powered by a classic purpose-built stationary steam engine power house.

Hespeler, Canada, A Souvenir of the Factory Town 1901 (archive.org)

Hespeler Machinery Co catalogue 1909 (archive.org)

*  *  *

Two articles about the Galt & Preston (& Hespeler)

from:

The Galt & Preston Street Railway was one of the earliest interurbans in Canada and was a little unusual in that it also moved carload freight, as well as passengers and express. Founded in 1890, it was built north from the Grand Trunk Railway station at Galt. The power house was located 4.75 miles away at Preston and operations began between those two points on July 26, 1894. 

The Ottawa Car Company built two cars for the railway - numbered 22 and 23. The latter is pictured below the map and the first article. The railway also converted three used streetcars from Brooklyn, New York to serve as trailers. 

The terms of its provincial franchise stated that it would meet all CPR trains at Galt and carry passengers from there who were bound for Preston.

In January 1896, the line was extended to Hespeler, giving it a total length of 9 miles. 

Carload freight was moved by a small steam locomotive at night. This enabled the power house to be shut down overnight. 

The Canadian Pacific Railway began its corporate takeover of the line in 1903.

*  *  *

Here is a segment of a 1916 government topographical map of the area described:

from: Historical Topographic Map Digitization Project https://ocul.on.ca/topomaps/collection/

*  *  * 

Here is an article on this charming, unspoiled little interurban from March 1895:

If anyone reading the article is looking for the diagram, here it is:

from: Traction on the Grand; John Mills; 1977; Railfare.

Car 23 was configured as a combine and you can see its short baggage/express section at the left.

*  *  *

Here is another article on the Galt Preston & Hespeler from September 1895:

*  *  *

Electric Streetlights

Another article from this journal discusses the duties added to the urban gas light inspection authority - keeping track of municipal electrical streetlights and the accuracy of their electrical meters. A long list of Canadian towns and cities (in no apparent order) and their electric streetlight statistics follows.

Unlike gas lights powered by locally-generated town gas (methane and other volatiles cooked off coal and stored in accumulator tanks), electric streetlights did not require individual daily lighting and extinguishing by a lamp lighter. In addition, wire conductors strung to the electric lights were simpler than the laying and maintaining of the pipes carrying gas to each fixture. And the municipality could chose between the more primitive and powerful arc lights ... and incandescent bulbs which came in different wattages. 

GTR 1890 Lachine Wharf Verdict, The Three Solitudes of the Coroner's Jury

Drunk?

Asleep at the switch?

Rules which are not enforced?

Failure to properly employ the telegraph system?

Not maintaining a proper watch on the road ahead?

An early, undated postcard. The switch in the foreground may be for a local commercial track.
from: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

Here are the previous posts on this accident and the coroner's jury.

Part 1

Part 2

A quick review:

Below is an artist's work to illustrate the circumstances of the accident. The engine of the 6-hour-late Toronto Express is submerged in the St Lawrence River and the baggage car is teetering at the end of the Lachine Wharf. The body of the engineer (the only fatality) was recovered before the inquest began. The tender had been pulled up through the ice - according to newspaper reports. There was the expectation that the engine would also be removed before the winter ice locked it in.

On the inset diagram, B marks the location of Willows. Here there was a switchman's shanty with a telegraph set. As already noted in Part 2, trains to Lachine were fairly frequent during the day. There was not just one "Lachine Train" which ran first thing in the morning.

Not shown are two manually-set (switch protection) semaphores which could be seen at a greater distance than the Lachine Wharf spur switch target. These would be set by the switchman to control traffic on the south track ... for example, if the switch was open, or if a train was occupying the south main track at Willows.

In the same December 1890's newspapers, I was noticing reports regarding one or two other passenger train accidents over on the Intercolonial. One accident killed 5, with 3 others dying later of their injuries. Back then, accidents, loss of life and investigations of railway accidents by coroner's juries were quite common. Wooden passenger cars derailing at track speed from a broken wheel ... and slamming into bridge abutments ... make the Lachine accident seem minor at this point in history. 

from: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

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from: Archives historiques de la Ville de Montréal

Shown above is a composite made from a few 'stereo pairs' of Montreal, taken by a commercial service in 1947. By this time, the Lachine Wharf station had been removed. Stereo pairs are not designed to fit together exactly, so my composite looks a little rough.

• At the extreme left, just beyond the Lombardi poplars, on the CNR (ex-GTR) double-track main line you can see Lachine station (built in 1888). It played no role in this accident.

• Following the tracks to the right (east) you can approximate where the Lachine Wharf spur leaves the main line at the switch (employee timetable 'station') named Willows. The switchman and his shanty were located here.
• Farther to the east - at the right edge of the photo - is Convent. This passenger station is mentioned in the accounts below, because trains passing it can be seen from Willows.

• The Lachine Wharf station was located near the circular pile of material seen to the west of the spur. It is significant because it provided the first indication to the Toronto Express engine crew - operating in the winter morning darkness, in a snowstorm - that their train had departed from the main line. The gentle left-hand curvature of the spur was apparently not noticed by the engine crew as their engine forced its pilot through the fallen snow. The Toronto Express was the first westbound released into the storm - six hours after the Bonaventure station collision blocked their departure. 
• You can see the area where the wye was located ... to turn the Lachine train for its return to Bonaventure station, Montreal.

• The Lachine Wharf was used during the summer months as a centre for providing steamboat rides down the Lachine Rapids ... and west to St Anne's at the western tip of Montreal Island.
• To the north of the Lachine station, at the left edge of the photo, is an oval with an irregular loop around it. These were elevated miniature tracks where builders of miniature live steam locomotives could operate their creations. They still existed in the early 1960s.

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Once again, a point form summary of the newspaper articles precedes the clippings.

This is being done so you don't have to plow through the difficult-to-read originals.

However, if there are points which interest you, the original artifacts are here for you to read.

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• Coroner Jones states to the newspaper reporter that his own mind is made up regarding who was to blame for the death of Engineer Birse. However, it is up to the jury to decide on this matter.
• A juror says that the engineer of the regular Lachine train should be called and another says the jury should see the location of the event.
• General Superintendent J Stevenson of the GTR testifies that a light engine collided with an outbound freight at the Bonaventure terminal, and this caused the delay of the Toronto Express.
• The movement of trains is reported on the telegraph [OS'd to the dispatcher on the common circuit] and operators can be aware of the trains which are approaching their stations. In contrast, in England, electrically-triggered block signals provide protection behind a train - actuated by the train's passing. The protection remains until that train leaves the block. 
• General Superintendent Stevenson says that the dispatcher notifies the Lachine Junction operator (2 miles west of Bonaventure) by a bell when a train leaves Bonaventure station. 
• Stevenson has conducted his own inquiries. The switchman was asleep at his post. The engineer was not keeping a proper lookout. Their gross neglect of their duty caused the accident.

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• General Superintendent Stevenson indicated that the switchman was tasked with the safe passage of trains by his switch - he was asleep. The engineer was responsible for the safety of his passenger train. By the testimony of the fireman, the semaphore and switch light could have been seen from the cab. The engineer did not constantly verify the indication of the switch light before passing over the switch - in violation of the rules.
• A hand lamp for signalling and a telegraph key and sounder are present at the Willows location. Although the switchman knows Morse, it was not his duty to listen for the OS reports on passing trains.
• Engineer Samuel Birckley had been with the Grand Trunk for 17 years and he was the engineer of the Lachine (local) Train. His train was delayed because of the light engine/freight collision at Bonaventure. His Lachine Train was the second westbound released - following the Toronto Express by about 15 minutes. 
• Engineer Birckley said it was necessary to whistle (4 sounds - per the rules) TWICE for the switch at Willows (leading to the Lachine Wharf spur) ... as the switch was not attended to after the first whistle.
• The switchman opened the switch to allow the Lachine Train onto the Lachine Wharf spur. There Birckley's train came upon the markers of the Toronto Express and was told about the accident by its crew.
• Engineer Birckley continued that he usually whistled for the switch at Willows, but as the switchman could see him leave Convent, 140 yards away the switchman frequently set the switch for him without the Lachine Train needing to signal for it. The switchman was always ready for duty and never failed to set the switch when he whistled.
• Engineer Birckley of the Lachine Train testified that the switch should always be set for the main track, and rules were being broken when it was set for him without whistling, however he never felt the need to report this. On Joe Birse's engine [the Toronto Express] you could not keep your hand on the throttle all the time and also see the switch indications.
• [On the morning of the accident] Birckley whistled at 4 engine lengths, then 2 engine lengths before the switchman came out to open the switch for the Lachine Wharf spur [on which the Toronto Express already had crashed].
• Due to the curvature, the engineer of the Toronto Express would need to cross to the fireman's side to see the purple [diverging] switch light continuously as the train approached. It would take about 30 seconds for the Express to travel between the switch at Willows and the Lachine Wharf [down the length of the spur and down into the water]. It was usual for a switchman to use the coloured hand signal lamp at night, but Switchman Dubois did not that night.
• Engineer David Simpson of the Brockville Train said that after the engine of the Express passed the [manual approach] semaphore indicating 'all right' [at the Lachine Wharf switch] ... that Switchman Dubois could have had time to throw the switch in front of the Toronto Express for the Lachine Wharf spur. 
• The switch target could not have been seen by the engineer around the smokestack and height of the engine for the last 40 feet before the switch. Engineer Simpson always slowed up at this switch for this reason and waited until he had safely passed by it before he 'let her out' ['highballed']. The engineer could not maintain his proper place on the right side of the cab - with his hands on the throttle and brake - and check for the switch target light on the left side at the same time. 

• [Just for the sake of summarizing all of this evidence: Edwards, the Toronto Express fireman, had already testified that they were in a snowstorm and the pilot flangers were down - kicking up snow. They would have had the usual smoke and steam swirling around. So, amidst all this, the General Superintendent of the Grand Trunk, J. Stevenson (above) thought that Engineer Birse of the Express should have crossed the cab ... to keep an eagle eye for a potential purple switch target ... for the last 40 feet before reaching the points ... in order to be certain ... that the switch wasn't suddenly thrown in his face. While this speaks to improving 'cab resource management' ... getting the fireman to look ... it does not seem reasonable to blame the engineer for failing to maintain a proper lookout.]

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 A view published in 1909. You can see a locomotive on the spur ...  to the left of the houses.
from: from: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

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• The Grand Trunk provided a train and Coroner Jones, the jury and two railway officials visited Willows (the location of the switch) and the stop blocks beyond the Lachine Wharf station, where the engine entered the St Lawrence River.
• Question: Is it possible Engineer Birse saw the [approach] semaphore for eastbounds and mistook it for the semaphore protecting the Willows switch? Answer: This is unlikely with Birse's years of experience. It is more likely that he saw the switch target displaying a clear [white] light and that this target was changed at the last minute to the purple light indicating a diverging route had been set by the switchman.
• French-Canadian jurors: 1) Birse should have got down from his engine to examine the switch. 2) Birse must have been drunk. 3) How can you (said to Juror James R Dick) say that Switchman Dubois was asleep but I can't say Birse was drunk? Dick answers: There is no evidence that Birse was drunk, however Grand Trunk General Superintendent Stevenson gave sworn evidence that Dubois was asleep.
• There was discussion about the curvature of the main line and the curvature of the spur and whether it would have given any obvious sign to the engineer that he was on the wrong track. 
• The acting switchman at Willows was asked to switch the points - which took about one second. A juror pointed out that with the snowstorm filling in the points, this act may have taken longer. [I wonder if stub switches, built with the light rail of the era, were hard to turn in a snowstorm.]
• A juror asked a GTR official present: If the train had entered the spur at 40 mph, could it stop in time before hitting the stop blocks. Answer: Yes.

• After returning to Montreal: the coroner recommended the jurors choose 3 [anglophones] and 3 [francophones] to draw up a memorandum of the evidence. This memorandum would be discussed on the following day.

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• The subcommittee of 6 jurors found that Switchman Dubois was guilty of culpable negligence in turning the switch for the Lachine Wharf spur whereby the engine was thrown into the river and Engineer Birse was killed. Birse evidently saw a white light at the switch target which was subsequently turned [showing purple] for the spur by the switchman.
• Francophone members thought Birse was drunk but Anglophone members said there was no evidence, and furthermore, one could argue it was more likely that Switchman Dubois was drunk.
• Coroner Jones spoke briefly, saying to the jury that Conductor Stone (of the Express) and General Superintendent Stevenson (of the GTR) had testified that the accident would not have occurred if the switchman and engineer had done their duty.
• Fireman Samuel Edwards of the Toronto Express was recalled. He testified that Engineer Birse, after passing the semaphore, had put his head out of the cab and continued to look forward until 2-3 engine lengths before the switch. He said the Express was travelling at 12-15 mph at that point.
• Coroner Jones again raised the idea that following the Grand Trunk's rules would have prevented the accident. It was now in the jury's hands (12 members) to determine their verdict in private. 

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Circa 1909 - taken from an approaching steamboat. from: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

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Here is the Montreal Daily Witness account of the coroner's jury verdict.

I have not attempted to summarize it.

James R Dick - the dissenting juror - is quoted at length by the newspaper 

regarding his reasoning for not signing the verdict. These ideas include:

"The rules of the Grand Trunk were the best that experience could devise, and it was not the fault of the rules, but the fault of Dubois in breaking the rules, which led to the accident."

"Mr Dick said it was nothing less than presumption for the jurors to sit in judgment upon a Company which had over forty years experience and whose rules had been found equal to every other occasion, while the plain fact was scarcely mentioned that it was the breaking of the rules which led to the accident."

... The Lovell's Montreal Directory of 1890-1891 indicates that there is a James R Dick, who lives at 115-117-119 Mountain (today de la Montagne - even though 'Mountain' was named after a clergyman with that surname). Mr Dick's occupation is listed as "superintendent Boys' home". The listed address is in Griffintown, which is just across the Lachine Canal from the Point St Charles headquarters (back then), and the yards and shops of the Grand Trunk Railway.

... It seems possible that the nearby Grand Trunk could have been supportive in providing employment and apprenticeship opportunities for boys. Perhaps, beyond the simple facts found by the inquest, Mr Dick's strong feelings might also be based on his experiences and dealings with the company in the course of his work.

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Here is the editorial from the Montreal Daily Witness about the verdict and the 'mixed jury' system.

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A souvenir postcard of the Lachine Wharf from 1907.

The faint postmark indicates it was mailed.

The photo probably shows one of the commercial tracks connecting with the Lachine Wharf spur.

from: Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec