When the oil gas is not compressed it possesses an illuminating power
four times greater than that obtained from coal gas; and, while the
latter loses the greater part of its luminous power by compression, the
former loses only an eighth. It is this property that renders the oil
gas eminently fitted for lighting cars, and it is for this reason that
several large European railway companies have adopted it.
APPLICATION TO CARS.
We show in the accompanying engravings the mode of installation that
the inventor has finally adopted for railway purposes. Each car
is furnished, perpendicularly to its length, with a reservoir, a,
containing the supply of gas under a pressure of 6 or 7 atmospheres. The
gas is introduced into this reservoir by means of a valve, which is
put in communication with the mouths of supply pipes placed along a
platform. The pipes are provided with a stopcock and their mouths are
closed by a cap. To fill the car reservoir it is only necessary to
connect the mouths of the supply pipes with the valves of the cars by
means of rubber tubing--an operation which takes about one minute for
each car.
[Illustration: LIGHTING OF RAIWAY CARS]
When it is necessary to supply cars at certain points where there are
no gas works, there is attached to the train a special car on which are
placed two or three accumulators, which thus transport a supply of the
compressed gas to distances that are often very far removed from the
source of supply.
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