City Railroads

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The railroads which have been constructed m New York City, have not, as vet relieved the principal street—Broad way. It is almost impossible tor pedeti lans to cross BroaJway below thePark during any timeof the day between 7 A. M. and 8 P. M. Females are m danger Qi loaioa tiniupa while crosawej they have to run for life or aPSth It nss been calculated that 500 omnibuses pass a single point in Broadway every hour, or more than 8 every minute. It is easy to see from this that it is almost impossible for persons to cross from one side of the street to the other To relieve the street, it is proposed to bitilfl a railroad with a triple track, each 4 feet ide, and to employ 120 cars, so as to degttch one every minute each way, or 60 an hour; and it issaij thatthesecarswill carry more passengers than all the omnibuses. It is proposed to lay down agrooved rail that will not inter-has drawn thirty tons at the rate of 6 1 i miles per hour onthe Ohio and Baltimore railroad, and it is contended tnat the great' amount of load which a horse can draw on *. railroad, in comparison with what itcai ft*-over our paved streets, should at ov% i every reasonable person to give his t sto I the railroad tor passengers, in ptte e to the omnibus. On the other hand, the owners o rarty assert that a railroad will J, th character of the street for bni Ji ! destroy it as a public thoroughfare for promenade and pleasure. Science, progress, and reason, appear to be on the side of those who advocate the railroad, but $he only arguments which can safely be applied.are thoseof facts. If a railroad is more dangerous, does not look well to the eye (this is for the taste of the promena- carriages, so1 as to prevent them passing through Broadway for business or pleasure , j in sho-t, if the ad antages of .1 e railroad are less than the present omnibus system, it would be folly to build one; here lies the gist ofthe hnl question Every person can see that ome rei orm is required to remove the obstruction to the tree crossing of the street what shall that reform be? is the question; the I only rational one proposBd is the railroad. By the litest news from Europe we learn that the American ship Mobile was wrecked those on board perished.

Scientific American Magazine Vol 8 Issue 6This article was published with the title “City Railroads” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 8 No. 6 (), p. 44
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican10231852-44j

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