The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-01-22
Y,
FAST TRAINS.
Tie Time They Save and What Might be
Accomplished by Higher Speed.

Accomplished by Higher Speed.
The real gain of time to business
man obtained by>a difference of few
miles an hour in the speed of long
Journey train is illustrated by an actual
case: A mar in New York wishes to dc
days work in Chicago. He takes one
of the fastest and best-appointed trains
he can find-the Chicago limited. 1t
leaves New York at nine in the morn
ing and lands in Chicago at eleven the
next morning, having accomplished 914
miles in twenty-six hours and ffty-five
minutes, allowing for the difference OF
the time between the two cities. This
makes an average speed of 1873 miles
per hour, including all stoppages. But
assume-what is surely not extravagant
that as high speed can be obtained
on the Pennsylvania or any other first
class American road as on the English
main line, and what shape does tho
problem assume? On the English road,
the Great Northern, the distance be-
tween Leeds and London, 1863 miles,
is done in three hours and forty-fve
minutes, including five stoppages; on
another, the Great Western, the 1863
miles between Birmingham and London
is run in two hours and forty-ive min
utes, including two stoppages; and as
neither of these routes is particularly
level or straight, and both pass through
numerous functions, with a per-
feet maze of switches and frogs,
they give full idea of what is posi-
BILE in speed on the railroads of
the country. These figures give, re-
spectively. speed of 1913 and 47.2 miles
forty-eight miles an hour, including
stoppages, the journey from New York
to Chicago should be done in eighteen
hours fifty-nine minutes, or say nineteen
hours, a saving of nearly eight hours on
the present time; so that if the train
was arranged to leave at 4:55 in the
afternoon, the whole of this time would
be saved in the busy part of the day,
thus effectually adding day to ou1
imaginary travellers business and dollar.
making life
1t may be thought that such a deduc.
ton is unfair. as the English style oi
car is so much lighter than the Ameri.
can; but, as matter of fact, the aver
age English express-car is considerably
heavier than the Chicago limited, and
| conveys about three. times the number
| of passengers; and as trucks and oil
| fabricated axle-boXes are not universal
there, the tractive resistance per ton is
probably higher. 1t certainly, there
fore, seems not only possible. but feast
BILE, to obtain these high speeds in this
country, where, owing to the long dis
tances to be travelled, they are more
valuable than in England; and the grea
step toward attaining that end is the
adoption of proper and efficient signal
ing arrangements. All the other step.
are achieved. The American passenger
locomotive of the present day is per
fectly competent to drag heavy traiI
at speed of sixty miles an hour; the
cars, as now constructed, can trave
the steel rail and the well-ba1lasted ii,
and perfect workmanship of th'
modern iron bridges can well suppor
the laundering conclusion of an eX
press train at full speed. But this speet
can only be maintained for few mile
at time if the engineer who guide
this train be doubtful whether the diml,,
seen signals imply safety or danger, o
if the laws of the State bring him to
full stand where his road is crossed b.
small corporation with high-sound
ing title, which owns one locomotiv
with split tube sheet and two car
down ditch.
To run fast train a clear, unintel
rupted road is absolutely necessary, an
the reason is not far to seek. To NOV
body from state of rest to velocit
of sixty miles an hour, or eighty-eigf
feet per second, an amount of wor
must be performed equivalent to liftin
that body 121 feet. Now it is apparer
to the simplest capacity that it require
pretty powerful engine to overcom
the resistance of a train running sixt
miles per hour without every few mile
putting on brakes to destroy the velocity
and then to lift it 121 feet again to a
tain speed, the resistance of the air an
the friction of the bearings of journa
and of fanges against rails going on a
the time. As matter of fact, shown
what severe work this is on an engin'
the Zulu express on the Grea, Wester
Railroad of England, which is the fas
est train in the world, has been T.
peatedly carefully timed, and it
found that, though running over an a
most absolutely level and straight roat
it takes distance of twenty-six
twenty-eight miles to attain its full spec
of fifty-eight and one-half miles a
hour.-Brooklyn Eagle.