Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-03-01
Rapid Trains ia EngIond and 4ntericG
New York Sun.

tabular statement of the greatest
speed of railway trains in Europe and the
United States, published in German
journal, Die 7 eIitehrSzeitung, shows that
people generally exaggerate the rapidity
with which long distances are trayersed,
even in the cases of trains specially IA
nous for their speed.
One of these trains is that which runs on
the Great Northern road, from London to
Edinburgh, via York. The distance
is 397 miles, and the time
is nine hours. The average speed,
therefore, is AL miles an hour. The dis
lance from Euston is 401 miles, and Lon
don and Northwestern trains make the run
III ten hours, or 40.1 miles an hour. By
the Midland railway the distance is 404
miles, and the time is ten hours and five
minutes, or very nearly the same speed.
1t must be remembered, however, that
these are great distances, and that time is
necessarily lost III stops, one of which is
very considerable one. To get high aver
age speed there must be long intervals be-
| tween stopping places, for time is lost not
| only at the stations, but also in get
ting into and out of them. The actual
speed when the train is running at its fast
est is therefore much greater than the
| average speed, and this explains why pas
| sengers who time the train while it is going
over certain distances without stopping
are surprised when they are given the aver
| age rate of speed.
The fastest train in the world is the
Flying Dutchman, broad gauge, which
| makes the run to Swindon in 5312 miles an
hour. One train runs to Peterborough at
81 miles an hour, which is about the speed
| repeatedly made in the run from London
| to Grantham. The Great Northern trains
run from London to York, 1S8 miles, at
the rate of As miles, whereas, as we have
seen, for the whole of the distance to Edin-
| burgh, 397 miles, the average speed is only
AL miles. The quickest run in the United
| States is that between New York and Phil
| adelphia, 4725 miles an hour. Some of the
fastest trains in the world are those run
between Leeds and London. The distance
| by the Great Northern is 1867 miles, and
special train makes the run in hours
and minutes, or at an average speed of
45.4 miles an hour. The distance by the
Midland is 1876 miles, and is traversed in 4
! hours and 80 minutes, an average speed of
| 1875 miles an hour.
About the most perfect piece of mechan-
Ism We nave on large scale Is our mod
ern locomotives, and it does not seem
probable that it's development will go
much further. 1t is ''hard to beat" as the
London Engineer says; but its proportions
may be so increased that an average speed
OF sixty miles an hour for long runs may
be obtained with a comparatively light
train. That high limit may be
reached in the future, and it is no
doubt not difficult of attainment
especially with our American locomotives
less cumbersome than those of England.
But there seems to be little disposition
among railway managers at present tc
eudeavor to reach that end. The tendency
is not toward trains of extraordinary
rapidity, though the average speed of all
trains may be increasing. The reason fol
this is that the wear and tear of the road
are too great for economical management
with locomotives so heavy and velocity sc
enormous. But an average speed of sixty
miles an hour, even for long rms, is en-
| birely feasible.