Steeping caM were run between Philadelphia and Harrisburg on the Cumberland Valley Railroad in 1836. These had three tiers of fixed berths on one side. 'In 1856 T. L. Woodruff built and patented a sleeping car embodying some features of the- present type. A similar design was patented by Webster Wagner in 1857. The incire successful work of George M. Ptillman began in '1859 when he converted two 42-foot day cars into 10-section sleeping cars for the Chicago and Alton Railroad. These were the first made with folding berths. His first car of• the present type was built in' 1864. The Mann car, with separate compartments opening from a side corridor, was put in service in Europe in '1873 and in the Umted States in 1883. The Pullman Company was organized in 1867 and eventually acquired control of com peting concerns. Its standard car has at night two double rows of longitudinal berths shut off from the central aisle by curtains. While strength and appearance have been improved, the cars still have primitive arrangements for dressing and toilet facilities. Compartment sleeping cars, which are used only to a limited extent, have greater privacy and convenience but carry •fewer passengers. It is this type which is 'mainly employed in Europe, generally with berths across' the car and 'sometimes with out upper berths. For long rims, Pullman in 1867 introduced the hotel car, which was a sleeping car provided with a kitchen, meals be ing served on portable tables fitted between the seats. Thin was soon superseded by the sepa rate dining car.
Freight cars have been developed 'to great size and capacity by American railways owing tb the long distances, the large amount of bulk freight such as coal and ore and the economy of large loads, since ear weight per ton of load decreases as the load increases. Thus large cars and long trains are among the factors in the marked economy of railway freight trans portation in the:United States. The 10 and .15 ton car capacity of 1875 increased to 20 or 25 tons by 1885, when 30-ton cars also were being used. Few cars of less than 30 tons capacity are now in use; 40 and 50-ton cars are common and there are numbers of 60 to 100-ton cars.
'The maximum is reached in 120-ton' steel toal cars on two' or three railways. 'These are 50 feet long, have six-wheel trucks 'and weigh 37 tons. Other railways have 48-foot coal cars of 85 tons capacity weighing 30 tons: Steel construction for open cars and steel un derframes for other types of freight -cars are used very extensively. A•40-Jfoot box car of 56 tons carrying capacity.will weigh about 24 tons; 45-ton refrigerator car, 30 tons; 100-ton Ron. dota, 30 tons. Refrigerator cars for meat, fish, fruit, etc., have thick walls, roof and floor, in, sulated by air spaces and packing and are fitted with ice chests. Similar cars, without ice, serve in winter to protect perishable freight, being sometimes warmed by a small stove be-, neath the floor.
Special classes of freight cars include coke, coal, dump, flat, horse, stock, ore, poultry, re frigerator and tank cars. The ordinary length of car is 30 to 42 feet. Long cars with three trucks have been built; also steel-frame cars with four or more trucks for carrying guns or very large and heavy castings.
European freight cars are in general much smallerand lighter than those of American rail roads. Four-wheel cars 10 to 15 feet long, of 8 to 10 tons carrying capacity and 6 to 8 tons weight, form the bulk of the equipment. There are six-wheeled cars of somewhat greater size and up to 20 tons capacity; also some 30 to 40 ton cars on four-wheel trucks. Closed or box cars are used less than in America, freight in open cars being protected by tarpaulin covers furnished by the railways. These small cars are suitable and economical for the system of prompt handling of small shipments which is characteristic of European — and particularly English— railway service. They are not eco nomical for coal and other bulk freight, but though larger cars have been introduced the use of varying lengths of cars causes complica tions at terminals, coal docks and mines. The American types of long freight cars on trucks are used extensively in India, South America, Australia and Africa; also in Europe, outside Of England.
Cast-iron wheels are a feature of American pars and long experience in manufacture has led to the production of a grade of metal pecu liarly adapted to this service. Steel and steel tired wheels are used extensively, especially under passenger cars. For noiselessness, com pressed paper centres in steel tires have been tried. Wood-centre wheels for passenger cars and wrought-iron wheels for freight cars are used in England and are generally larger than the 33-inch or 36-inch wheels common in American cars.
Automatic couplers for cars are used uni versally in the United States. For the old 1M1c and‘pin coupler the drawbar each car had an enlarged hollow head to receive one end of a straight link, which was secured by a pin dropped through a hole in the drawbar head, Removal of the pin released the coupling. Ow, ing to the deaths and injuries resulting from coupling and uncoupling by hand, a campaign for compulsory use of automatic or safey coup lers was started by L. S. Coffin, resulting in the passage of a law by Congress, in February 1893, _providing that by 1898 all freight cars must be equipped with automatic couplers that would couple by impact and would not require men to go between the cars. The time was later extended and the application of these and other safety appliances was put under thejuris, diction of the Interstate Commerce Commission.