The Russellville Democrat. [volume] (Russellville, Ark.) 1875-1898, 1888-11-29
A MILE A MINUTE.
A New Locomotive That WIN Increase tn
Speed of Railway Trains.

4 . Hnrppuaa
Speed of Railway Trains.
A monstrous piece of mechanism
like a leviathan sporting among por.
poises, drilled in and out among the
switches west OF the Union depot the
other day. Railroad hands and others
gazed upon it with awe and wonder
1t was evidently an engine, but its con-
struction setat variance all regulation
ideas concerning railroad engines. In
the first place the smoHe-stack was III
the center OF the engine and protruded
about ten inches through the roof OF
the cab, which was also in the center.
Both ends were ahke, and, IN TACT, IL
was double ender, going one way as
well as another Two small boilers
ran from the CAB to either SIDE ana
win coal ounNers on each sac, IlKe
o!d-styIe Saudle-Dag7' surnouhteu WIN
headlight
The inventor, Dr. Christian Raub,
stood placidiy by, keeuly watching
the various eYolutIons OF the chud OF
his brain.
As this machine glided easily in and
out Of the intricate switches it was
learned that concealed in its monster
mechanism was the possibility of at
tanning and maintaining a speed OF a
mile a minute
This engine" said DR.. Raub, "will
average a mile a minute on "a steady
run. 1t was built at the Grant Loco
motive works in Paterson. \. j., and
has demonstrated satisfactorily its
ability TO make a mile in less than a
minute 1t is termed the central
power engine and is perfectly balanced
at the center as you see. thus doing
away with the over-balancing which
affects the existing locomotive There
is no tender to act as a drag. but the
coal is equally distributed in the four
bunkers eucompassing the two boil
ers, and by the minimum quanti-
tv OF coal used bv us. enough
can be carried to take the engine about
ten times as far as the same amount of
coal will take an engine TODAY. Ihave
propositiOns to run the engine from
here to Kansas CITY or to WASHINGTON.
ID. c., on a trial trip. 1t is not intend
ed to make an experiment, as all that
has been done On a straight track in
the State OF New jersey my engineer,
on a wager, made ten miles in five
minutes.
A company is now organizing with a
capital of ten million dollars to estab-
fish locomotive works in St. Louis and
proceed to the manufacture of the
machines at once. 1t is further de-
signed to run these engines between
st. Louis aud New York and carry the
mail from the latter to the former in
twent7-four hours. The same engine
will make the entire trip. but the en-
gineers will be changed at three stop
ping places. As soon as the speed is
demonstrated the postal authorities at
Washington have expressed themselves
as willing to transfer mail con-
tracts to trains running such locomo-
tives. The Missouri Pacific and Gould
system in general is taking an active
interest in the movements of the CEN
trail power engine, as is Russell Sage,
who has his agents closely following
its movements.
DIR. Raub, the inventor, is well-known
in St. Louis, having resided here for
twenty-five years. During the war he
was chief engineer over the construe-
ton of the iron-cIads at Carondelet.
He is German by birth and received
as high a mechanical education as the
facilities of that country offer. His
engine was patented in 1881, and since
that time he has been actively engaged
in its economy and simplification He
has so constructed the engine that al
though in appearance far moro cum
bersome than the ''camel-backs' of the
Reading railroad and the other heavy
draft locomotives, his engine weighs
tifty-seven tons, which is five tons less
than the heaviest of the regular me-
chanisms.
central power locomotive, when COM