lighting the cars and carriag-es, lamps burning heavy oils, mineral or animal, are employed to a considerable extent. On the better class of roads in Europe and America these have been discarded in favor of gas. For this purpose common coal-gas is compressed in c)lin ders carried uncler the car, each containing a sufficient supply of gas to serve for lighting the car a number of hours. Recently, on the best class of American cars, the system of incandescent electric lighting has been introduced with very satisfactory results, the electric current being fur nished from a supply of seconclarv batteries or accumulators. Present indications are that the electric system of train-lighting- will come ulti mately into general nse.
the transportation of the baggage (Ang/ic-e, lug gage) the practice on American railways provides the train with a car usu ally left open or free inside and furnished with sliding-doors at the sides, after the fashion of the freight-car, for the convenient taking--on, stowing, and delivery of trunks and similar articles. Sometimes only a portion of a car is set apart for this purpose, the other part being used for passengers, a suitable partition dividing the car into two compartments. The English " luggage brake-van," which may stand as the type of the vehicles in use on the European railways, has side-doors and is free inside for the recep tion of the passengers' lugg-age. It is sometimes provided with a small enclosure from side to side having doors in the ends, and having, further more, projecting sides furnished with windows, through which the guard may have a view of the entire train. Occasionally a passenger-carriage is divided, one compartment being for the guard and the other for the lug gage of the passengers.
the postal service special cars with elaborate con veniences for the expeditious handling-, sorting, and delivery of mail-mat ter along the route are provided, making- them, in fact, travelling post offices. Ingenious devices are employed in certain cases for taking on mail-matter while the train is running at high speed. Figure 23 (pi. 30 shows a plan of this kind adopted in England and Germany, where the mail-pouch, suspended from a horizontal arm at the proper height and distance from the track, is swept off by the passing cord of a pivoted catch-basket, let down for the purpose; after the contents of the basket are taken into the postal-car through an opening in the side of the car, the basket is thrown up against the side of the car, out of the way. Fig
lire 3 (pi. 32) exhibits an American postal-car in use on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The mail-bag-catching apparatus is a pivoted bent iron bar attached to door of the car.
earliest forms of cars for carrying freight were sim ple platforms mounted on four wheels with sides raised from 5 to ro inches. To meet the requirements of the service, these were followed by the adop tion of a pattern in which, as circumstances required, the sides and ends could be raised by the addition of panels fitted in place and held by simple fastenings; the goods, for protection from wind, rain, and dust, were cov ered with oiled canvas (tarpaulins). Later, enclosed waccons or box-cars (fii. 3o, fig. 21) with sliding-doors at the sides, to permit of running close up to the station platform to take on and discharg-e goods, have been employed, and these are now in almost universal use in all countries for freight conveyance, except for the transportation of coal, ores, quarry-stone, and crude products of a character that will not suffer from exposure. For the conveyance of cattle, open or crib cars are provided, which in later constructions are furnished with means for feeding and watering the ani mals in transit. For valuable animals padded stalls are provided. For the transportation of perishable materials, dressed meat, fruit, and the like, special refrigerator-cars stippliecl with means for maintaining a low tem perature are extensively used on American railways.
Cars Crude the conveyance of crude materials (coal, ores, building-stone, etc.) open cars are employed, which may be either simple platform- or "gondola-cars," low- or high-sided. The coal-wagons are occasionally supplied with hinged bottoms or sides, for greater conveni ence in discharging the load. Open cars of the pattern here referred to, in use on European railways, are shown in Figures 19, 20, and 22, the last exhibiting- the convenience with which hoisting devices may be applied for loading; ancl unloading.