The Carbondale Railroad in Pennsylvania was the first road in this country on which a locomotive was used. This engine was known as the "Stourbridge Lion," and was built in England by Horatio Allen, who went there for that express purpose.

The locomotives invented by the Stephensons could not go around sharp corners, and vast sums were therefore expended to make the line as straight as possible and to obtain easy grades. When the Americans first began to build railways in 1831, the English designs were followed for a time, but

our engineers soon found that their money would not be ample if such a course was pursued, and so were either forced to stop

building or find

some way to over

come these obstacles. The result was that the swivelling truck was invented, and also the equalizing beams or levers, by which the weight of the engine is always borne by three out of four or more driving wheels. These two improvements, which are absolutely necessary for the building of roads in new countries, are also of the greatest value on the smoothest and straightest tracks. Another American invention is the switchback. By this plan the length of line required to ease the gradient is obtained by running a zigzag course instead of going straight up a mountain. This device was first used in Pennsylvania to lower coal cars down into the Neshoning. Then it was employed to carry the temporary tracks of the Cascade Division of the Northern Pacific Railroad over the Stampede Pass with grades of 297 feet per mile, while a tunnel was being driven through the mountain. This device has now reached such perfection that it is quite a common occurrence for a road to run above itself in spiral form.

The first cars were built in the form of stagecoaches with outside and inside seats; then they were built like two or three coaches joined together, and finally assumed the rectangular form now commonly in use. The first time-table in this country was published in Baltimore about 1832, and referred to the "brigade of cars" that would leave the depot at a certain time.

The rate of speed attainable by railroad trains is wonderfully increased. In 1835 when the road was chartered to connect Philadelphia with Harrisburg, there was a town meeting held to discuss the practicability of the scheme. The Hon. Simon Cameron, who advocated the measure, was so carried away by his enthusiasm that he predicted that there were persons present at the time who would live to see a passenger take his breakfast in Harrisburg and his supper in Philadelphia on the same day. After he had finished speaking, a friend took him aside and said:

"That's all right Simon, to tell the boys, but you and I are no such infernal fools as to believe it."

They both lived to make the distance in but little more than two hours. The fastest record was made in 1893 on the New York Central when a mile was made in thirty-two seconds or at the rate of one hundred and twelve and one-half miles an hour.

In 1830 there were but twenty-three miles of railroad in the whole United States. In 1840 the number had increased to 2,818. During the next twenty years the increase was more rapid, making a showing of 30,635 miles of road in 1860. During another score of years the number was increased more than threefold, giving a total of 93,450 miles in 1880. The building of the trans-continental roads advanced the rate of increase, and in 1893 the whole number of miles of railroad in the United States was 173,433. The greatest yearly increase was in 1882, showing an advance of 11,596 miles in a single year. The length of the world's railways in 1894 was 410,000 miles, or more than sixteen times the greatest circumference of the earth.

The first passenger car which showed a radical departure from the old model, was built by Mr. Pullman, after a number of years devoted to experimenting, and was designated by the letter "A," evidently no one having the idea that the twenty-six letters of the alphabet would not be sufficient to furnish names for the cars that would afterward be built. The Pullman and Wagner companies have introduced the hotel-car, and the dining-car has started on its travels. Several ingenious inventions have been patented for heating the cars with steam from the engines. At

the present time, on the same train may be found sleeping-cars, diningcars, smoking-saloon, bath-room, barber shop and library with books, desks and writing materials. There is free circulation of air throughout the train and the electric lights and steam heating apparatus all serve to make traveling comfortable.

All this is in strong contrast to the methods that prevailed during the first fifteen or twenty years after traveling by steam was introduced. At that time the car ceilings were low and without ventilation; there were stoves at either end of the car but they had little effect on the temperature of the middle seats, while the cars were filled with cinders in a way that seemed marvelous in contrast to the difficulty of introducing fresh air. Tallow candles were used for illumination purposes and were chiefly noticeable for their odor. The roughness of the track and the jarring of the train made conversation impossible. The flat rails used were cut at an angle and with lapped edges so they were occasionally caught by the wheels and driven up through the floor, impaling the unfortunate passenger who might happen to be sitting directly over the spot. Through tickets were unknown, and at the end of each short line the passenger had to purchase a new ticket, change cars, and personally attend to the transfer of his baggage.

Railways have so cheapened the cost of transportation that it is said. that while a load of wheat loses all its value by being hauled one hundred miles over a common road, meat and flour enough to support a man a year can be hauled fifteen hundred miles over a railroad for one day's wages of a skilled mechanic. The number of people employed in constructing, equipping and operating our railways is approximately two millions.

The first man to advocate a trans-continental railway is believed to have been Doctor Barlow, of Massachusetts, who began in 1834 when the railroad business was still in its infancy to write articles for the newspapers advocating the undertaking by the general government of the construction of a railroad from New York city to the mouth of the Columbia. But Asa Whitney was the first man to put the idea into practical shape and urge it upon the attention of Congress. He had lived for a number of years in China, and being familiar with the conditions of the Chinese and the East Indian trade, and carefully calculating the distance from Liverpool to the point where that trade centered, he found that a route across the United States by rail, and by sea by the way of Puget Sound, would be considerably shorter than the all sea route around the Cape of Good Hope.

In December, 1845, he appeared in Washington with a scheme for a railroad from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Coast, to be built by him with the proceeds of a grant of land for thirty miles on each side of the track. At first his scheme received nothing but ridicule, but nothing daunted he returned again and again to the attack until in 1847 he obtained a favorable report from the Senate committee on public lands. He spent his entire fortune in his efforts in behalf of this project, but achieved no tangible results. Still his agitation of the subject did much good, for it brought the subject prominently before the people, and in 1853 Congress authorized the survey of various possible routes.

There was much rivalry between the different sections of the country to secure the route most favorable to their especial interests. Under the provisions of a bill passed in 1862 the Union Pacific, starting at Omaha, received a subsidy in government bonds of $16,000 per mile for the portion of its line traversing the great plains; $48,000 per mile for the one hundred and fifty miles across the Rocky Mountains, and $32,000 per mile for the remainder of the line. The aggregate of this subsidy for the 1,033 miles of road was $27,226,512. The Central Pacific received at the same time a similar subsidy in bonds, the total amount being $27,855,680, or a little more than that of the Union Pacific. Each company obtained at the same time a grant of public lands of 12,800 acres per mile of road. This route was naturally the first selected, as it closely followed the overland trail to California made by the gold hunters and was the route that was traversed by the overland mail and passenger coaches, and the thrifty agricultural settlements of the Mormons in the valley of the Great Salt Lake were also on the way.

Stimulated by the aid bestowed by the federal government the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, which together formed the first transcontinental line, made rapid progress. The Central Pacific was the first to begin operations, the work of grading being commenced at Sacramento in January, 1863, though but few people had faith in its ability to complete such an undertaking. A notable feature in the construction of this road was the employment of Chinese labor. At first there were many discouragements to be encountered in the work of construction, but after a time public confidence was secured, the company became more prosperous, and its monthly earnings increased.

Work was not begun at the eastern end of the road by the Union Pacific Company for eighteen months after it was inaugurated at the western terminus, but fast time was made after it did commence, as it was