The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-09-18
A MILE a MINuTE.
Engineer Fraser Rcreats That Steam
Trains Almost Never Make 1t.
From the Ne,o York Sur.

From the Ne,o York Sur.
A few days since there was published
In the Sun an account of O conversation
between areporter and Charles Fraser, the
Erie engineer, who expressed u doubt of
the possibility Of making mile minute
on railroad except under the most ad.
vantageous circumstances. That inter
view made really stir among the loco.
motive engineers Of other roads, and sew
eral communications have been published
from engineers claiming to have fire.
9uently made mile minute, and even
three or four successive miles within the
space of sixty seconds each. A reporter
for the Sun called on Mr.. Fraser last
evening, in Patterson, and asked him il
he had seen any of these communications.
de replied in the affirmative, but said
that he did not consider them worth
replying to. He did not desire to get
into newspaper controversy. But he
reiterated all that he had said before.
and said that the interview about the
speed of trains was correctly reported.
Mr.. Fraser is one of the oldest engi.
neers on the Erie Railroad, If not the
oldest. He had charge of locomotive
when but seventeen years of age, and his
gray hair and wrinkled face show that
he must now be fifty ut least. He has
been continually on duty, and it would
take seven figures to enumerate the miles
he has ridden. And in nil that time he
has never had an accident, nor has a
passenger on his train ever lost his life
In fact the contrary is the case, as one
day he had birth on his train, at which
Conductor John Garrison (who was a
conductor on the Erie Railway when
there were but two conductc-l on the
road, and who is conductor still) of.
ficiated rs sort of godfather. MIR.
Fraser's engine, No. 800, is recognized
as being one Of the finest and best on
the road. 1t has four fve-foot driv.
ing ,wieeis, and n stroke of twenty.
six inches to the piston. If milo q
minute can be made, Mr.. Fraser's engine
can make it; and yet, on one occasion only
with o load of Erie officials on special
train trying to see how fast locomotive
could go on down graide with full
head of steam over q straight track, has
he made milo IN sixty seconds. Fra.
ser's conductor, also an old railroad man.
says that in his twenty years of service
he has never ridden at the rate of mile
minute. The fastest he ever took ac-
count of was on the down grade from
kidgewood to Patterson, when ono mile
was made in minute and eight seconds.
Dlr. Fraser says that with a five.
foot driving-wheel there would have to
be at least 352 revolutions minute and
the eamo number or double piston
strokes. There are vcsy few engines
properly balanced for such speed Us
that. Furthermore, the engine would in
most cases run away with itself-that is,
the action Of the piston would be too
rapid for the proper entrance and es.t
cape of steam. There are small engines
made for 1000 strokes minute, but they
have specially arranged ports. Few To-
comotives have the proper sort Of port.
hole for steam 10 be used at sufficient.
ly rapid rate to drive the engine q mile a.
minu.e.
In England there are some locomotives
on through trains which popular belief
makes to run mile minute every day.
Feeling interested in the subject, Mr..
Frazer asked friend, an engineer, 20.
ing to England, to Investigate the matter
Several trains were tried, In some instances
the engineer riding on the locomotive.
or all that were tested two trains only
that run out of London, making no etops,
and having the right of way the whole
distance, on track that is perfectly
clear and guarded, so that there is
no danger Of striking anything, made
anything Ike q run of . mile in
aiAty SECONDS. a mile minute was
touched sometimes, but no. often. Ten
passengers out of every twelve would
come back to America anG late how
trains On that road ran at the rate of q
mile minute, but this was the result of
q popular falacy on the subject. No
passenger nor railroad man could 90 at
the rate of forty-five miles an hour and
not feel sure that it was at least sixty. The
English locomotives referred TO are speci.
ally arranged for fast travelling, with
driving wheels six and seven feet in di-
emeter, and with the boiler slung 80 that
the weight comes below the axles. The
trains consist of four or five coaches
which would not be equal in weight to
two American passenger cara. II ever
O mile q minute is made they ought to
make it, but they seldom do.
Mr.. Fraser says that when the Penn.
sylyania Railroad people had their tests
to see the best time they could make
they touched mile minute only sal.
dom, and it was impossible to keep up
anything like that rate of speed. The
six and seven foot wheels were found to
make no better time on the long run than
five-foot wheels, aud 30 the fiye.foot
wheels, woTo adopted as the stsudard.
and are now used on nearly all roeds.
He enreesta his former assertion .!:st no
man Conld face the wind five miles ct
tho rate of O mile u minute, and be alive
Mt the end Of the journey. The breath
would be all blown from his body. In
regard to the time alleged to have been
made on the New jersey Central, Mr..
Fraser says the engineers are clearly
mistaken. They could not time them
seives accurately without the most per-
feet stop watch. IL takes two men to
time a train with stop watch. One
must notice the starting point, and the
other handle the watcH, starting it and
stopping it at the very instant the points
are passed. With such test it is very
doubtful If q mile minute could be
shown, even after many trials.
! Thereporter convsTsed With several 9TH
or engineers, who object to have their
nance mentioned, aud they are e1uallv
emphatic as,to the difficulty of making q
locomotive travel at the rate Of a mile a
Toinnte. The beat balanced engine at
that speed would wabble like q aanter-
ing horse. Few engineers or con-
d1ctcfs can be found on theo Erie
road who ever travelled q mile q minute.
They all acknowledge that much faster
time ID fnRde on the local tfains than on
the through express trnips, and that OF
tho local trstns there are none that are
! driven faster than Engineer FFaser's. 3
[ Itnay be that the rarrosy-Rauge en-
fr5ftraf tflen tianrn =