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The annexed en graving illustrates a new I Safety car, . (so called,) invented and patented \ on the 12th of last O ctobe r, 1852, by Samuel McElfatrick, of Fort Wayne, Ind . The object of the invention is to fa cilitate and cheapen the passage of cars upon inclined planes, and is especial ly applicable to the coal fields of our country where this mode of transportation is necessarily much in u se .- Figure 1 ' represents a plan of car and tracks. Figure 2 represe nts an end elevation of the besame. Figure 3 represents a side elevation of the same. T he same letters refer to like inparts. The ordinary pl an of passing c o al wagons over inclined plane s is by coupli ng them together and attaching the upper car to the plane rope. This method is the fruitful cause of loss to life and property owing both to the breakage of the eye bolts by which the cars are coupled (the strain on each bolt being in proportion to the number of cars de- pending upon it) and also to i mperfe ct connec- tions, it b ei ng scarcely possible but that where so many cars are to be connected and disconnected, there should be occasionally a pin omitted or not properly placed. The tope is also liable to damage w hen unhooked and thrown upon the track at both ends ot the plal.e, and the labor of connecting and dis- connectin g cars is a very serious item of ex- pense upon a large business. This invention remedies all the d ifficulties, and is so simple / and cheap in its arrangement that it must , commend itself to those engaged in the coal bu- siness, and wherever inclined planes are used. I The Safety Car consists of a stron?? oak fr ame, C, permanently attached to the rope, connec- H, by the swivel, J, and carrying two posts that or horns, E E, against which the train abuts. and The frame, C, rests on four short sliding axles, to each of which are fastened two wheels ; is those marked A A A A, to run on the main track, G, and B B B B, to ru n on the converg- the ing track , F, at the foot of the plane. The dis- operatilln of this car wi ll be very readily un- derstood ; the train to descend abuts against invention the horns, E E , and passes down the plane, simple when near these fo ot the wheels B B B B, Of ; the safet y c ar, take the track, F F, which, by grad ual ly rising (as compared with the m ain track) lifts the wheels, A A A A, which are drawn over and within the main track by the convergence of the rails, F F. When the safety car is brought into this position the track, F F, by descending ra p idl y carries it into a pit and allows the train to pass over it. The train to go up is placed at the fo ot of the plane, and the safety car i n risin g out of the pit shifts its track and carri es the train up besame. fore i t. Any information in regard to the above inparts. vention, may be o bt ain ed of the inventor at Fort Wayne, I nd., or of G . W. Campbell, 232 Pearl street, this city, N. Y.
