53 
 
 n 
 
 .Of Ill. Lib 
 
 4 < 
 
 OF FHt 
 
 UNIVLiiSin Of ILLINOIS 
 
 RAPID TRANSIT. 
 
 “ THE BEST MEANS OF RAPID TRANSIT FOR PASSENGERS 
 IN AND ABOUT THE CITY OF NEW YORK.” 
 
 A COMMUNICATION BY 
 
 RICHARD P. MORGAN, JR., C.E., 
 
 Messrs. O. CHANUTE, M. N. FORNEY, CHARLES K. GRAHAM, 
 FRANCIS COLLINGWOOD, ASHBEL WELCH 
 and Gen. J. G. BARNARD, 
 
 SPECIAL COMMITTEE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 “2lmmcftn Society of €ioil (ffngineers.” 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 JOHN F. TROW & SON, PRINTERS, 
 
 205-213 East Twelfth Stbeet. 
 
 1874. 
 
 '~‘.T0AT¥! EXCKA.NGE 2 A.UG,iaUi 
 
 AM. SOC- CIVIL ENGINEER 
 
RAPID TRANSIT. 
 
 “ THE BEST MEANS OF RAPID TRANSIT FOR PASSENGERS 
 IN AND ABOUT THE CITY OF NEW YORK.” 
 
 A COMMUNICATION BY 
 
 RICHARD P. MORGAN, JR., C.E., 
 
 TO 
 
 Messrs. O. CHANUTE, M. N. FORNEY, CHARLES K. GRAHAM, 
 FRANCIS COLLINGWOOD, ASHBEL WELCH 
 and Gen. J. G. BARNARD, 
 
 SPECIAL COMMITTEE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 “Jlmerican Soeielg of ®ioil (Engineers.” 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 JOHN F. TROW & SON, PRINTERS, 
 
 205-213 East Twelfth Stbeet. 
 
 1874. 
 

 AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, 
 63 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK. 
 
 September 15 th, 1874. 1 
 
 Sir i —At the regular meeting held September 3d, 1874, it 
 was— 
 
 V. 
 
 ££ Resolved, that a Committee of five members of this Society 
 “ be appointed by the President, to investigate the necessary con. 
 ££ ditions of success, and to recommend plans for—” 
 
 “ First : The best means of rapid transit for passengers, and ” 
 
 ££ Second: The best and cheapest methods of delivering, stor- 
 ££ ing and distributing goods and freight—” 
 
 ££ in and about the city of New York; with instructions to ex- 
 “ amine plans, and to receive suggestions such as parties interest- 
 cc ed in the matter may choose to offer, and to report on or before 
 ££ the first day of December, 1874.” 
 
 ££ Messrs. O. Chanute, M. N. Forney, Ashbel Welch, Char¬ 
 les K. Graham, Genl. J. G. Barnard, and Francis Colling- 
 wood were appointed such Committee.” 
 
 You will confer a favor upon the Committee and the Society by 
 furnishing whatever contribution or suggestions you may deem of 
 value on the above subjects, or by calling attention to the sources 
 of such information. Due credit will be given for all aid ren¬ 
 dered to the Committee. 
 
 In referring to plans proposed to accomplish these objects, it is 
 particularly desired to ascertain accurately— 
 
 1st. The route and location proposed, and the reasons thereof. 
 
 2d. The character of structure proposed in various parts of the 
 city. 
 
 3d. A close estimate of the cost in detail. 
 
 It is greatly preferred that all communications shall be in 
 writing. 
 
 Please address, 
 
 G. LEYERICH, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 To 
 
 Richard P. Morgan Jr., C. E., 
 
 Bloomington, Illinois. 
 
COMMUNICATION. 
 
 Messes. O. Chanute, M. N. Forney, Ashbel Welch, 
 Charles K. Graham, Gen. J. G. Barnard, and Fran¬ 
 cis Collingwood, Committee of the American 
 Society of Civil Engineers: 
 
 Gentlemen : I have the honor to acknowledge the 
 receipt of your circular, dated September 15th ult., 
 in which you request suggestions and plans for the 
 best means of Rapid Transit for passengers, and also 
 the best and cheapest methods of delivering, storing, 
 and distributing goods and freight in the city of 
 New York. 
 
 I am gratified to learn that a'subject of so much 
 interest to the inhabitants of New York, and other 
 large cities, is about to receive the examination of a 
 society like that which you represent, made up of 
 individuals whose personal and professional char¬ 
 acter will be likely to command, for the conclusions 
 it may reach, the confidence of the public at large, 
 as well as that of other members of the profession. 
 
 The great object to be attained clearly seems to be 
 the rapid transit of persons between different parts 
 of the city, rather than the carriage and delivery of 
 merchandise in it. Already all parts of the city, by 
 reason of its peculiar geography, enjoy excellent 
 facilities for the receipt and delivery of property. 
 The width of the Island at no point exceeds about 
 two miles, and it is surrounded by navigable waters, 
 
6 
 
 so that all supplies or property coming in, as well as 
 merchandise going out, easily pass between the 
 water and place of destination. Any resident of 
 New York will, upon a little reflection, perceive 
 what a vast proportion, in both weight and bulk, of 
 all the property coming to, and going from it, are 
 moved by water. This includes, not only all the 
 foreign and coastwise commerce, but also all the rail¬ 
 road transportation, except that which passes over 
 two lines :—the Hudson River and Harlem railroads. 
 Nature has already provided the means of cheap and 
 rapid transit of property as it does not exist in any 
 other of the great cities of the world; but the very 
 peculiarities which give this great advantage only 
 increase the difficulty as to the transit of ^persons , 
 inasmuch as the long and narrow island compels the 
 latter to move lengthwise of its surface over great 
 and rapidly increasing distances, between those parts 
 of it occupied for business and those for residences. 
 While the plan hereinafter to be described, it is 
 believed, could be made as useful in the transporta¬ 
 tion of property as any railroad not upon the surface 
 of the ground, still that does not seem to be the prob¬ 
 lem to be solved, nor is it the use for which the pro¬ 
 posed road is mainly intended. However merchan¬ 
 dise may come to, or go from, New York, it must be 
 taken to and from the warehouse where it is stored, 
 and the station where it is received in course of trans¬ 
 portation, by vehicles through the streets. As no 
 means of public transportation can be devised which 
 will receive and deliver goods at the warehouses of 
 each individual dealer, the necessity for dray age 
 must always exist; and within the moderate distances, 
 
7 
 
 as in New York, any attainable diminution is com¬ 
 paratively unimportant. Tlie foregoing considera¬ 
 tions have induced the omission, in this discussion, 
 of plans for receiving, delivering, and distributing 
 goods except as thus briefly suggested; and have 
 confined my attention mainly, for several years past, 
 to devising the, best means for the rapid transit of 
 persons in New York and other large cities. 
 
 It may be assumed, without discussion before such 
 a body as you represent, that the only feasible 
 method yet devised for the quick carriage of pas¬ 
 sengers in cities, is by a railway on which the motive 
 power used shall be the locomotive engine—both 
 road and engine to be modified to suit the special 
 circumstances of the service required. Such a road 
 cannot be safely worked upon the level of the streets ; 
 and it follows, therefore, that it must be constructed 
 and operated in one of three methods: 
 
 1st. Below the level of the streets, by tunnels or 
 their equivalents. 
 
 2d. Upon a new avenue, to be opened for the road 
 itself through existing blocks, and so elevated as 
 not to interfere with streets it may intersect; or, 
 
 3d. By using the lines of present streets so as not 
 to interfere with their ordinary occupation. 
 
 The construction of any underground road, espe¬ 
 cially in the city of New York, must be so expensive 
 as to render the probability of profit to the stock¬ 
 holders, to say the least, extremely doubtful. 
 
 In the lower part of that city such works must be 
 constructed in loose sand, where the support of ex¬ 
 isting heavy buildings will be very difficult and 
 hazardous; and in the upper part they must be ex- 
 
8 
 
 cavated in solid rock, contorted in various directions, 
 and full of seams and fissures. No tunnel, properly 
 so called, can be built in it except at a depth so 
 great below the surface, to secure a natural roof, that 
 access to it becomes nearly impracticable, and light 
 and ventilation, by natural means, impossible. It 
 would probably be found necessary to take up the 
 whole, or a large part, of the surface of any street 
 during the time required to excavate the road and to. 
 change the sewers, and the gas and water mains and 
 all their connections, and to roof over the street 
 again by some means, so as to leave beneath room 
 for the passage of trains. To do this would, during 
 that time, nearly or quite destroy the usefulness of 
 the street for all ordinary purposes. How much 
 time such a work would require it is difficult to esti¬ 
 mate, but that it would be very considerable will be 
 obvious to your Committee. The objection to any 
 plan of underground road, arising from defective 
 ventilation, is very serious, and if locomotives be 
 used as a motive power, that difficulty will be greatly 
 increased, by the vast quantities of deleterious gases 
 generated by the combustion of the fuel employed, 
 whatever that may be, and which, to a serious degree, 
 will incommode, and even endanger, passengers. The 
 real extent of this objection is shown in the report of 
 James P. Kirkwood, C.E., on the London Under¬ 
 ground Railway, made to the Senate Special Com¬ 
 mission of the State of New York, November 10th, 
 1866. 
 
 With reference to the cost of such a road, I de¬ 
 sire to call the attention of the Committee to the 
 official report of the Board of Trade of Great 
 
9 
 
 * 
 
 Britain, presented to Parliament in 1871, being the 
 only official statement which has come under my 
 notice. In that report the length of the London 
 Underground Railway, then completed and worked, 
 is stated to be seventeen miles, and the total capital 
 represented by stock, loans, and debentures, is given 
 as .£12,575,264 sterling. This gives a cost of about 
 $3,700,000 per mile. The circumstances for the 
 construction of such a road in London are much 
 more favorable than they are in New York,—the 
 natural obstacles are not so great, while all the 
 material, labor, and money required for such con¬ 
 struction cost less. As no accurate estimate of the 
 cost of such a road in New York can be made, a 
 comparative one becomes very suggestive, and prob¬ 
 ably conclusive. The plan of roads to be con¬ 
 structed upon independent avenues, to be opened 
 through the blocks, is one which has been recom¬ 
 mended by such respectable authority, and possesses 
 such intrinsic merits, as entitle it to careful and 
 candid consideration. The fact that it does not in¬ 
 terfere with the present streets, except where it 
 crosses them, is one of its most striking features, 
 and is an advantage really great, but perhaps un¬ 
 duly exaggerated. Giving this plan all credit in 
 this respect, still objections have been overlooked, 
 or not sufficiently considered. To build such a road, 
 the existing blocks must be cut in two, and the 
 property thus taken lost for business uses. It 
 should be borne in mind that the present streets 
 are sufficient to accommodate the wants of the 
 property for business purposes, and therefore the 
 new avenue proposed sacrifices just so much land 
 
10 
 
 as it occupies out of an area already limited, and 
 which is valuable because it is limited. Further 
 in this connection, it should be considered that to 
 accommodate reasonably well the present needs 
 of the residents of New York, more than one such 
 avenue would be required ; and in an early future, 
 unless the city shall be strangled in its growth by 
 lack of suitable means of transit, many avenues 
 will be needed, and therefore by this plan a very 
 material portion of the whole area of the city would 
 be needlessly sacrificed. The great expense of the 
 right of way, and that of constructing the road it¬ 
 self, whatever particular structure may be adopted, 
 whether viaduct or depressed, or other form, can be 
 easily seen, but not readily estimated with any de¬ 
 gree of accuracy. When, as in parts of New York, 
 land, irresjDective of buildings, is worth millions of 
 dollars an acre, the cost of the right of way of such 
 a road would alone seem to render it impracticable. 
 The cost of the structure, if it should be a viaduct 
 of masonry, or an iron structure elevated as it must be 
 to pass over all the cross streets, would be very great. 
 Add together these sums, and it seems certain that 
 its cost, without regard to loss of area to the city, 
 and length of time occupied in its construction, would 
 be so enormous as to render its profitable working a 
 simple impossibility. It should not be forgotten 
 that this plan, no more than the underground, pre¬ 
 sents a possibility of prompt relief. Several years 
 must be consumed in the completion of either. 
 
 The Senate Special Commission, in their report to 
 the Senate of New York, upon “ the best means for 
 the transportation of passengers in the city of New 
 
11 
 
 York,” say, “That a system of railways running 
 wholly through blocks would involve an expense for 
 the right of way, and resulting damages, which would 
 render it impracticable to convey passengers for long 
 distances, at rates of fare as low as the necessities of 
 the case require, and would, moreover, involve too 
 great delay in the acquisition of the right of way 
 required.” 
 
 This brief summary of two systems of roads is 
 presented as conclusions which seem to have been 
 reached after a protracted and full discussion, and 
 experiences of their merits, since the Report of the 
 Senate Special Commission, January, 1867, and are 
 deductions which I have endeavored to make with 
 as much accuracy as possible, when so briefly stated. 
 
 If these views are correct, we must resort to the 
 plans for some elevated road, over and on the line 
 of existing streets. 
 
 One great advantage is offered by these plans: 
 they propose to utilize more fully the land already 
 open for public transit, and thus have the merit of 
 not interfering with existing property rights, nor 
 reducing the area applicable to private business pur¬ 
 poses, nor interfering materially with the ordinary 
 uses of the streets. The present streets are pro¬ 
 posed to be made more useful for the very jDuiposes 
 for which they already exist. These plans also have 
 the merit of economy as to money, time, and space. 
 They offer little obstruction while in process of 
 erection; and as the parts will be prepared and 
 fitted to each other before they are brought to their 
 places, the structure can be very quickly put up, 
 and during that work will occupy no more' of the 
 
 library 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF HIINOIS 
 
12 
 
 street than is now used by the erection of new 
 buildings. It is also evident that the cost of such 
 structures can be accurately estimated before the 
 work is begun—a valuable feature in marked con¬ 
 trast with the systems before mentioned. The va¬ 
 rious parts of a suitable structure are also capable 
 of easy computation as to requisite strength, and 
 are in familiar use in the railroad systems of the 
 world for analogous purposes. 
 
 A railroad constructed over the centre of the car¬ 
 riage-way of streets, at suitable height, has the ad¬ 
 vantages of offering the least obstruction to their 
 ordinary use, and of interfering in the least degree, 
 if the structure is suitably open, with the light and 
 ventilation of adjacent buildings. The space thus 
 proposed to be occupied is now vacant, and the least 
 useful of any part of the area of the street. It fur¬ 
 nishes light and air, and nothing else, and this it 
 would continue to do almost as perfectly were the 
 road constructed. The actual surface, of the street 
 occupied will consist solely of the bases of the 
 frames which sustain the structure; and as these 
 are proposed to rest upon the sidewalk, near the 
 curb-stone—the portion of the surface of the street 
 least valuable for general use—the obstruction is 
 thereby reduced to a minimum, and need not exceed 
 one-thousandth part of the surface area of the street. 
 
 Before proceeding to state more in detail the plan 
 which I propose, some considerations as to other 
 plans may be suggested. Of the various elevated 
 plans recommended in the report of the Senate 
 Special Commission, the one appearing to them 
 “to have been most carefully prepared, the most 
 
13 
 
 free from engineering difficulties, involving the 
 question of safety, and the least objectionable as to 
 the application of the motive power,” was that 
 designed by Mr. C. T. Harvey, C. E. This jdan 
 is sufficiently designated as the one now so well 
 known as the Greenwich Street Elevated Railroad, 
 as originally constructed, supported by a single 
 line of posts near the edge of the sidewalk, on which 
 the cars were to be propelled by means of a series 
 of endless wire ropes, moved by stationary engines, 
 placed at intervals of about fifteen hundred feet. 
 This method of propulsion proved impracticable, 
 and after it had been provided and attempted to be 
 used, the company who erected the road were 
 compelled to abandon it and substitute therefor 
 locomotive engines, for which their road was ill 
 adapted; and yet, the structure employing a motive 
 power not originally intended, has met, it is said, 
 with a measurable degree of success. Among all 
 the roads proposed to secure rapid transit in New 
 York, .this is the only one which has, even in part, 
 been brought into practical use, and it has demon¬ 
 strated three things:—1st, That the occupation of 
 the sidewalk near the curbstone by the posts sup¬ 
 porting the road, which are much more frequent 
 than in the plan I propose, injures the public inap¬ 
 preciably; 2d, that the passage of locomotive en¬ 
 gines and cars partly over the sidewalks, subjects 
 the occupants of adjacent buildings to little annoy¬ 
 ance ; 3d, that the passage of such engines has no 
 effect in frightening animals on the street. What¬ 
 ever the engineering defects of the structure of 
 that road may be, it is fairly entitled to the 
 
14 
 
 credit of being the pioneer of rapid transit in New 
 York. 
 
 The only other plan which has been suggested 
 for the construction of an elevated road in the 
 streets that seems to invite consideration, proposes 
 to set up, at intervals of about sixteen feet, posts 
 in the middle of the roadway to support tracks for 
 the passage of engines and cars. 
 
 Heretofore it has always been assumed that any 
 plan for rapid transit must leave the carriage-way of 
 the street entirely unobstructed, and engineers have 
 therefore directed their attention to devising methods 
 which would secure the end desired without infring¬ 
 ing upon this indispensable requisite. The structure 
 thus proposed is the first one ever suggested which 
 designs to use any portion of the carriage-way for the 
 support of a railroad. It is nothing more than a sim¬ 
 ple trestle bridge, made of iron it is true, which has 
 been known since bridges were first used for the 
 crossing of small streams. If such a primitive plan 
 can be tolerated in the numerous avenues that must 
 be brought into this service to properly accommo¬ 
 date the public, the labor of the last twelve or fifteen 
 years, which was devoted to this subject, was quite 
 useless, and the delay and inconvenience which the 
 jDeople of New York have suffered were unnecessary. 
 Such a road would be cheaper, equally efficient and 
 more quickly constructed than any other road not on 
 the surface. It is extraordinary to say the least that 
 a road so built should not, long ago, have been pro¬ 
 posed, if it is to be permitted, and therefore it must 
 have been kept in the background for sound and ob¬ 
 vious reasons. Nothing but the great and increasing 
 
15 • 
 
 necessity of the people of New York for means of 
 rapid transit, and the want of success in the adop¬ 
 tion of other plans proposed and generally discussed, 
 could probably have induced the suggestion of such 
 apian,—one which subjects the public to such seri¬ 
 ous inconveniences, and sets aside all considerations 
 except those of mere utility in construction. The 
 objections seem to be insurmountable. Suppose the 
 road to be constructed as has been suggested along 
 Third Avenue, over the present surface railroad 
 tracks. The width of the supports of a double track 
 railroad so elevated must be more than twenty feet. 
 The carriage-way of that avenue is sixty feet, and 
 there would be left therefore, on either side of the 
 trestle-work, less than twenty feet in width. The 
 middle of the carriage-way of any street is always 
 the part most useful, because near the curb-stone 
 teams necessarily stop to load and unload, and ob¬ 
 struct, in that part of the street, the passage of ve¬ 
 hicles, and two teams going in opposite directions, 
 with but twenty feet space, could not pass each 
 other whilst a team was loading or unloading at the 
 sidewalk. If the posts or bents to support the ele¬ 
 vated road are set up at intervals of sixteen feet, as 
 proposed, teams can cross the track only substan¬ 
 tially at right angles, and if the present surface road 
 is to continue in use, such crossing, hemmed in by 
 posts which they must pass, becomes difficult for 
 fear of collision with the street-cars. At present 
 passing teams use that part of the street occupied 
 by the railroad tracks, and are able, without diffi¬ 
 culty, to turn offi when the approach of a car makes 
 it necessary; but if those surface tracks are to be 
 
16 
 
 run between rows of posts, set np on both sides 
 sixteen feet apart, it will be difficult for any, and 
 impossible for many, of the vehicles to get on or oif 
 that part of the street, except to make a direct and 
 hazardous crossing. In effect, it is to give up one- 
 third or more of the carriage-way of the street en¬ 
 tirely to railroad uses, and destroy it for all pur¬ 
 poses of ordinary traffic. The part thus surren¬ 
 dered is that, the use of which for ordinary pur¬ 
 poses most facilitates the use of the other parts— 
 the sides and sidewalks—for the purposes which 
 they alone can effect. In narrower streets than the 
 avenues, these objections become still greater,—un¬ 
 less, indeed, the street is so narrow as to be spanned 
 by the bents of the trestle-work, in which case the 
 proposed structure becomes one supported over the 
 carriage-way by posts resting on the sidewalks, and 
 frees itself from what must be regarded as vital ob¬ 
 jections. 
 
 Keeping in view what has already been suggested 
 of the importance of utilizing the space over the 
 central portion of the roadway in the existing streets, 
 —if the same can be done without serious interfer¬ 
 ence with their present use, or injury to the adjacent 
 property, by a structure not too costly,—it would 
 seem that a plan combining all these advantages 
 recommends itself to public favor and adoption. To 
 this end, I have devised and patented a plan for 
 sustaining a double-track railway over the centre of 
 the street at such elevation as not to interfere with 
 its ordinary use, and occupying, at the surface by the 
 supports, a space least in amount and value. It is 
 evident that the edge of the sidewalk near the curb- 
 
17 
 
 stone is the least useful for general purposes. Upon 
 this space I propose to erect iron ribs opposite each 
 other, and meeting over the center of the street in 
 the form of a Gothic Arch, springing from a tan¬ 
 gent line perpendicular to the sidewalk at the walk, 
 or at any suitable height above it, depending upon 
 the width of the street or changes in the grade of its 
 surface. Between these outer ribs, a flat elliptical 
 rib is placed at an elevation above the street so as 
 not to interfere with its use, and firmly secured to 
 the outer ribs by such connections as will appear in 
 the plans herewith submitted, and so as to form a 
 competent transverse frame, such frames to be set up 
 at suitable intervals,—say about seventy-five feet, as 
 an economical distance. The office of these frames 
 is the same as that of the piers of an ordinary bridge, 
 to sustain a series of longitudinal trusses, which lat¬ 
 ter carry a double-track railway above and over the 
 middle of the street. The cars move on the tracks 
 above the elliptical and under the outer ribs before 
 described. Carefully constructed foundations of 
 masonry are brought up from any needed depth to 
 the sidewalk, and there, capped wdth an iron bed¬ 
 plate and sleeve, to receive and unite with the exte¬ 
 rior ribs. From the middle of the lower elliptical 
 ribs to the apex of the outer ribs, a longitudinal iron 
 truss extends from frame to frame, and, aided by 
 similar trusses on each side, supports the tracks. Be¬ 
 tween those outer trusses, and passing across the 
 bottom cord of the middle one, are laid, at suitable 
 intervals, the floor-beams, also of iron, which di¬ 
 rectly supports the tracks. These floor-beams are to 
 be connected diagonally, so that they sliall act as a 
 2 
 
18 
 
 horizontal truss to prevent any lateral swaying of 
 the structure, the whole to be left open so as to pre¬ 
 vent the accumulation of snow or other obstructions, 
 and to avoid interference with the light and ventila¬ 
 tion of the streets as far as possible. The outer 
 and inner ribs are firmly united by horizontal, verti¬ 
 cal, and diagonal connections, so arranged that the 
 resultants of forces acting upon them, derived from 
 the weight of the railroad and rolling stock, are 
 uniformly resisted. The curved line of the outer 
 ribs enforces their yielding in one direction only— 
 outwardly—which is readily and effectually met by 
 the interior connections. The railroad is thus sus¬ 
 pended, and constitutes a load on the exterior of the 
 arches equally distributed. The outer ribs are not 
 bearing-posts simply, unaided by the principles re¬ 
 ferred to, except that portion of them below the 
 intersection of the interior rib with them,—about 
 ten feet in height above the foundations. For this 
 portion of those ribs the necessary additional mate¬ 
 rial is introduced to overcome the loss of sustaining 
 power, compared with that of a straight post, occa¬ 
 sioned by the slight deflection of the curved rib. 
 In all other parts of the frames, the greatest econo¬ 
 my in the use of material is attained. Access to the 
 cars is proposed to be given by covered ways and 
 platforms, constructed of iron and glass, leading from 
 stations provided at suitable intervals, and in which 
 passengers can wait for the arrival of cars. These 
 waiting-rooms should be in the buildings on both 
 sides of the streets, one for up and one for down 
 cars, so as to make it unnecessary for any passenger 
 ever to cross, or even to go upon the tracks. If the 
 
19 
 
 platforms are placed opposite the cross streets, as it 
 is desirable they should be, the light of buildings on 
 the street will be unaffected. The approaches to 
 the waiting-rooms will be by staircases in the 
 buildings in which the waiting-rooms are situated. 
 The floor of the cars, the top chord of the side 
 trusses, and the floor of the platform leading from 
 the station, should be upon the sand level, so as to 
 offer no obstruction in obtaining access to the cars. 
 The durability of the material employed, and the 
 facility with which repairs can be made by reason 
 of the ready access to every part, and its being 
 practically unaffected by rain, frost, or snow, and 
 its greater freedom by reason of its material, and 
 its location in the middle of the street, from danger 
 of injury by the burning of adjacent buildings, 
 combine to secure the perfection of the work, and 
 thus insure the safety and regularity of trains pass¬ 
 ing over it. It is easily seen that such a road as 
 this, suitably constructed, will approach more 
 nearly to a perfect railroad than any road yet built 
 ever has; it will have no switches on its line of 
 travel to be misplaced; very slight irregularity of 
 surface or of alignment in its tracks; and conse¬ 
 quently the dangers of existing railroad travel 
 already less than those of any other means of com¬ 
 munication, and which are mainly due to those two 
 causes, will be reduced to a minimum. To some per¬ 
 sons, the fact that the road is at all points consider¬ 
 ably elevated above the ground may suggest a fear 
 of danger in case of accident by derailment. What 
 is stated above shows the small risk that such an ac¬ 
 cident can occur; but even if it should, the arrange- 
 
20 
 
 ment of the structure is such that the effect will be 
 no greater than to a train running off a track on 
 the level of the earth. The iron framework sup¬ 
 porting the track will, in such a case, uphold the 
 cars, and the side trusses will act as a real and sub¬ 
 stantial railing, so that in no case can the cars be 
 precipitated to the ground. These considerations 
 also demonstrate the increased capacity of such a 
 road over one of ordinary construction. The more 
 nearly perfect the road, the greater the certainty 
 wdth which trains can be worked upon it, and the 
 more frequently they may safely be passed over it. 
 It is difficult to see why trains may not follow each 
 other at no greater intervals than may be required 
 to check the speed of one, so as to insure the safety 
 of that immediately preceding it. These intervals, 
 with the light trains proposed to be employed in 
 passenger traffic, and their consequent small mo¬ 
 mentum, will be so short that no more than a sin¬ 
 gle minute of time need be interposed on either 
 track between the passage of trains, thus insuring 
 a degree of efficiency such as has not been in prac¬ 
 tice attained on any road yet constructed. This 
 frequency of trains is an indispensable element of 
 success in whatever plan of road may be adopted, 
 and without it neither the wants of the inhabitants 
 of New York can be met, nor the confidence of 
 capitalists to construct the road be secured. 
 
 For the purpose of carrying persons up and down 
 Manhattan Island, it is not necessary to use the 
 immense locomotives and trains so familiar to us 
 all. Light and perfectly enclosed engines, with suit¬ 
 able cars, can be run on a properly constructed road 
 
21 
 
 with great frequency, giving large capacity for the 
 purpose desired; nor will it be contended that such 
 engines and trains passing on several lines, at brief 
 intervals on each route, would fail to serve the pub¬ 
 lic convenience better, and with greater safety than 
 the ordinary engines and trains in general use in 
 the United States,—trains heavy in themselves, and 
 designed to move great accumulated weights. The 
 momentum of such trains renders frequent stops 
 very difficult,—hence the public convenience in this 
 regard cannot be well served by their use. A loco¬ 
 motive weighing six tons, with a suitable train of 
 cars, is competent to move one hundred and fifty 
 passengers on the proposed road with less noise than 
 is made by an empty omnibus, and this too at any 
 desirable speed, and with any grades that the larger 
 engines and corresponding heavy trains can work 
 upon successfully. Reduce the problem to its sim¬ 
 ple and true form,—the transportation of persons ,— 
 and it may be doubted if any one of extended 
 experience in such matters will advocate for New 
 York the cumbersome and heavy engines and trains 
 employed on our standard railroads, where the stops 
 are infrequent and the uses so different. The access 
 to cars on this road would be quite as convenient as 
 to those of any other. Whatever road is built must 
 be either above or below the present surface of the 
 ground. If upon a new avenue, still it must pass 
 over the cross streets at such a height as not to ob- 
 struct their traffic, or, in other words, must be eleva¬ 
 ted as the road now proposed. If the road should 
 be built below the surface, the depth of the excava¬ 
 tion must be at least as great as the height required 
 
22 
 
 for an elevated road, and tlie ascent and descent in 
 either case will not be lessened. 
 
 I have endeavored to present the foregoing sug¬ 
 gestions in a form as much condensed as is consistent 
 with clearness, and have omitted many statements 
 which would be proper in addressing the public at 
 large, instead of a body of gentlemen whose pro¬ 
 fessional experience renders such amplification un¬ 
 necessary. 
 
 As to location, if but one road is to be construct¬ 
 ed, the line of Broadway from the Battery to 9tli 
 Avenue, with a branch from near Union Square to 
 Third or Second Avenues, and thence substantially 
 following the lines of those avenues, is clearly indi¬ 
 cated as a natural location; therefore the line which 
 shall most nearly conform to it, will more fully ac¬ 
 commodate the citizens of New York than any other 
 single route. When more roads are needed they 
 may be constructed along other avenues, connecting 
 with the lower parts of the city on such streets as 
 may be most convenient and feasible, and also a road 
 built around the Island near its water line. 
 
 The character of the structures proposed in various 
 parts of the city I think should b,e substantially 
 that already described. It may be modified where 
 the width of the street requires the tangent line of 
 the outer rib to be produced upward to give head¬ 
 room for the passage of cars through the frames, 
 and this modification may be made until the width 
 of the street is so reduced that an adequate girder 
 beam becomes more economical than the frames. 
 The same modification of the outer rib can also be 
 employed to diminish the grades of the railroad 
 
23 
 
 from those existing in the surface of the streets. 
 The long experience of inconvenience and danger to 
 the public, furnished by the use of steam on rail¬ 
 roads on Fourth Avenue, and the great work now in 
 progress of sinking the tracks of those roads solely 
 to obviate that difficulty, present conclusive evi¬ 
 dence that no railroad adapted to rapid transit can 
 be properly placed upon the surface of the street 
 anywhere on Manhattan Island. 
 
 I herewith submit, as requested, and oifer my¬ 
 self to criticism for excessive employment of ma¬ 
 terial, estimates of the cost of constructing such a 
 road as is proposed. One for a road especially 
 adapted to quick transit of passengers, and the 
 other with a structure made competent to the use 
 of ordinary locomotives and the trains in general 
 use throughout the country. The aggregate cost of 
 that for passengers only, and the employment of 
 engines weighing six tons, will not exceed $520,000 
 per mile. The total cost of a road for the use of 
 the ordinary heavy engines and trains amounts to 
 $841,104 per mile, which is presented in detail, 
 with a general j3lan, and appended hereto. The 
 latter estimate shows a largely increased cost over 
 the one for passengers only, and both present strik¬ 
 ing contrasts in cost compared with the under¬ 
 ground plan, or an elevated road on an independent 
 avenue. 
 
 It is clearly unnecessary that I should present 
 to you a complete scientific discussion of this plan 
 for an elevated railroad, which employs mainly old 
 and well approved structures under new combina¬ 
 tions. All of the longitudinal portion of the struc- 
 
24 
 
 ture proposed is in common employment under tlie 
 highest velocities reached by passenger trains at 
 points of greatest elevation, and required safety— 
 namely, the crossing of streams and mountain gorges 
 on all the railroads now constructed everywhere in the 
 world. If the transverse frame which upholds it 
 is made of iron or steel, as durable and capable as a 
 granite pier, we have then completed a double-track 
 railroad of great perfection, and free from the 
 slightest taint of experiment. Is there a civil engi¬ 
 neer of character, culture, and experience in his pro¬ 
 fession who will say it cannot be done ? I desire, 
 in conclusion, to call your attention briefly to some of 
 the practical, economic, and esthetic reasons which 
 should govern conclusions as to the form to be 
 adopted for sustaining a double track railroad in 
 the vacant and unoccupied space over the center of 
 the streets. 
 
 One-lialf of the weight of trains passing each 
 other, and the weight of the longitudinal trusses 
 and tracks, is received at the apex of the outer ribs, 
 and carried in equal parts down the line of those 
 ribs to the foundations. The other half of the 
 weight of those trains is simultaneously received by 
 the outer ribs in equal parts, one-fourth each of the 
 whole load, near the intersections of the upper hor¬ 
 izontal girder-beam with those ribs, and thence 
 uniting with the load from the apex, the aggregate 
 weight is carried to, and received vertically, by the 
 foundations, upon which the whole structure stands 
 square and Arm. The location of the tracks, the 
 upper and lower horizontal girder-beams, and the 
 elliptical arch, are, by the aid of the center, quarter, 
 
25 
 
 and detail connections, designed to place the load uni¬ 
 formly on the frame. When a train moves upon but 
 one of the tracks, only a fourth of its weight is trans¬ 
 mitted through one rib, and three-fourths through 
 the other. The base is constant, therefore the equi¬ 
 librium of the transverse frames is not only very 
 stable when the tracks supported by them are unoc¬ 
 cupied, but at all times, either when trains are pass¬ 
 ing each other, or when a single train is moving over 
 the road, and the necessary strength of the arches 
 and interior connections, for the greatest service re¬ 
 quired, will be found quite equal to maintaining 
 their form under a partial load. 
 
 The application of three longitudinal trusses,—a 
 deep center truss supported from the apex of the 
 arch, with competent shallower side-trusses, all se¬ 
 cured to the transverse frame which supports them, 
 presents many reasons favorable to their employ¬ 
 ment, and that method of combination in forming the 
 whole structure. They occupy about 20 per cent 
 less of the street area than would be the case if the 
 tracks were carried on a deep truss on each side, be¬ 
 tween which the cars must pass, ’ and avoid pre¬ 
 senting to the eye of passengers a continuous net¬ 
 work of iron, and the difficulty and danger of access 
 through those trusses. The top chord of the low 
 side-trusses being below the car windows, would give 
 passengers a pleasant view of the sidewalks and 
 other objects unobstructed, except at the ribs, about 
 75 feet apart, and at all times they would ride in 
 full light and open air. The freedom of access to 
 the cars thus attained,—the top chord of the side- 
 trusses, the platform of the depots, and the floor of 
 
26 
 
 the cars, being on the same level,—is a great consid¬ 
 eration. Convenience, pleasure, and economy of 
 space, are not only better served, but the cost of the 
 structure is materially diminished, and mechanically 
 improved, by the necessary subdivision of the floor- 
 beams which uphold the tracks, involved in the em¬ 
 ployment of three trusses. The center truss, it is 
 true, presents panels too short for the best propor¬ 
 tion and greatest economy, in consequence of their 
 conformity to the panels of the side-trusses, but 
 these disadvantages are greatly overcome by the com¬ 
 pactness, economy, and symmetry of the structure 
 as a whole. 
 
 The fact being assumed that rapid transit in 
 large cities can be effected in the best manner by 
 means of elevated railways over the centre of the 
 streets or avenues, it is evidently of the utmost im¬ 
 portance that the mode of their construction should 
 be in the best practical form attainable, and also 
 of the material best adapted to the purpose. 
 
 There are certain conditions which are inseparable 
 from a satisfactory accomplishment of the object, 
 which, unless they involve greatly increased cost, 
 must be rigidly adhered to. The great thoroughfares 
 over which the structure will be raised, must not be 
 obstructed. Light and air must be excluded from 
 adjacent buildings in the least possible degree. 
 For durability and safety, the material must be iron 
 or steel, employed as science and experience indicate, 
 while elegance of form can by no means be neglected. 
 Several plans have been recommended, but it is evi¬ 
 dent that the most approved truss used for bridges, 
 supported at intervals of about seventy-five feet, by 
 
27 
 
 suitable transverse frames extending from curb to 
 curb, admits in tbe best possible manner of a full 
 compliance with the conditions required. 
 
 It may be suggested that strength and economy 
 would be met most effectually by avoiding curvature 
 in the construction of the transverse frames, and by 
 the adoption for a general plan of inclined straight 
 posts to sustain the superstructure. This form of 
 construction, for the great object under discussion 
 will hardly find advocates, even if it were the least 
 costly, which cannot be successfully maintained. 
 
 In the early stages of civilization the rudest kind 
 of architecture prevailed. Straight timber and 
 square blocks of stone were naturally resorted to as 
 the simplest method of meeting the wants of the 
 community; but as people became wealthy the skill 
 of the architect was patronized, and beauty of form 
 combined with strength, constituted the object of 
 their ambition. In no instance does history afford 
 so remarkable an example of success in this particu¬ 
 lar, nor is there at the present time any structures 
 so incomparably elegant, while possessing the maxi¬ 
 mum of stability, as in the ancient Gothic architec¬ 
 ture of Northern Europe. Lightness, grandeur, and 
 durability exhibit irresistible arguments in favor of 
 the great principles of form from which these build¬ 
 ings originated. They remain as monuments of the 
 genius, knowledge, and taste of their founders. 
 
 The necessary proportions of a transverse frame 
 for an elevated railway on a street from forty to 
 sixty feet wide, constructed in the form of a Gothic 
 arch, very nearly correspond with those of West¬ 
 minster Abbey and several other churches renowned 
 
28 
 
 for their great beauty. Nothing more elegant can 
 be devised for the purpose ; and while possessing 
 ample strength and remarkable compactness and 
 stability, its slight curvature does not require a 
 greater aggregate weight of material than the angu¬ 
 lar form which the straight-line system involves. 
 The city of New York, for which such a great des¬ 
 tiny is universally conceded, cannot permit a per¬ 
 manent structure on the lines of its streets and ave¬ 
 nues which fails to present a combination of gran¬ 
 deur, grace, and utility in harmony with the best 
 architectural features of the city, and competent for 
 the uses of its citizens. 
 
 Very respectfully submitted, 
 
 RICHARD P. MORGAN, Jr., 
 
 Civil Engineer. 
 
 Bloomington, Ill., ) 
 k October, 1874. j 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Estimated cost of the Gothic Arch Elevated Railroad, adapted to 
 Broadway, New York, to support a double track, of ordinary 
 gauge, and competent to a moving load of 2,000 lbs. per lineal 
 foot on each track,—the coefficient of safety not less than .six 
 (6)—the whole to be completed in a thoroughly workmanlike 
 and tasteful manner. 
 
 Estimate for one span , 75 feet. 
 
 Foundations (approximate average from the Bat¬ 
 tery to Fourteenth street), excavation and filling: 
 
 150 cubic yards, @ 40c. $60 00 
 
 20 cubic yards masonry, @ $16.00. 320 00 
 
 Iron in one transverse frame : 
 
 Round iron, wrought, 2,000 lbs. @ 8c.. 160 00 
 
 I beams and plates, 40,000 lbs. @ 8c. 3,200 00 
 
 Cast iron bed-plates, etc., 10,000 lbs. @ 6c. 600 00 
 
 Iron in longitudinal trusses, one span: 
 
 Girders, 37,875 lbs. 
 
 Cross-girders, 12,900 lbs. 
 
 Underwork, 8,850 lbs. = 59,525 lbs. @ 8c. 4,762 00 
 
 Rails, etc.: 
 
 Steel rails, plates and bolts, 7,500 lbs. @ 5c.. .. 375 00 
 
 Medium: 
 
 Between the steel-rails and the iron cross-girder 
 
 beams, $5.00 per lineal foot. 375 00 
 
 Stations and entrance-ways: 
 
 Four per mile, two on each side, at $10,000 each, 
 
 equals rate per section of 75 feet. 520 00 
 
 Painting and finish: 
 
 Three coats of paint, @ 6c. 489 60 
 
 Engineering and contingencies, 10 per cent. 1,086 16 
 
 Total for 75 feet.$ 11,947 76 
 
 $11,947.76 -r- 75 = $159 t 3 q^- per lineal foot. 
 $159.30 x 5280 = $84l,104, total cost per mile. 
 

 ■ 
 
 LiBRARYj 
 Of THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF jlLlKOtS 
 
f 
 
 

 »