Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1890-12-06
Railroad Speed

Met people heva &C !des taet The aver
aga t. aiu goss etsst deal !aster than it
really e9ea. Tney rsad stoiirs Of accidents
sad to happen 10 trains g7iug at tbs rate o.
fly or sixty rlIa5 az hour. Every ao# and
than sto-y appes's describing fsst run
made a. s,eed Of from SKY to eighty
mics ar hour. The chances are that Il was
only aaoct spurt with poasioio down
grade. ne fsc5 is, trains done &C mnch
more than half rs fast as people imagine.
Tho average i7sin on The big railroads
dos.n'i make 80 milfs an hour. Trains on
the Psnusy vsnia raj i:osd average t'ife
over 40 srd or tha New York CantrRi about
AZ nile, au hour. Gae best iyaln between
New YORK aud BastuD averages 8 little bet
ter than 20 miles on hour. TGey do better
b.tyeen Jersey City aud Philadelphia,
,vhers they heve the tastes schedule 10 The
country fer distance of SO niles. The
Central Raiirosd Of New Jegsey and the
Pennsylvania Railroad make Ghout fifty
mil,asp hour for tue entire distance. The
Baltimore and Obio does better on the 40
mile rnn between Baltimore end Washing
tcp. Ii covers the dietarce 81 nearly q miie
,oiuute. The NoR York Chicaeo u eed
tratus average between ~ and 4S miies.
Tne Pennsyvsuia nnd jersey Centrs!
have both mace fast ruDs teLween Js'eey
City and Washington, but they fell short CT
50 miles an ur. No attention is here paid
TO spurts CT a few mlles which Oh tho Phis
de'ph!a aQd Reading Jersey CeDtfs', West
Shore and many other rCsds have been
made 81 from so 20 eighty mles an hour for
. few miles.
newspaper train ou the New York Cen
trnl. =ith three cars made ruo ofSC4 miles
from 9yrsouse to Rochester in 70 minutes,
or &C en average apeed OF CIT miles an hour
Il made spurt Of 124 Dilss between Pal
myra and Fsirport et nearly rs miles an
hour, but the Rfvds had something 20 do
. b this Between r chester end Buffalo
Ii averaged 6S3 miles sD hour, making en
average for the 14S 40 oiles from SyracEse
to Buffalo, allowing for on stop, 65 3-5 miles
an hour. The train OF the Cauada South
ere. With Cornelius Vanderbilt aboard, made
run OF 1C7 miles. In So minutes, alio~ipa
for step OF four minutes at Junction. The
average spssd yes 50 miles en bour. Tbs
was comparatively light train, however.
here beinl on'y two cers.
The railroad IS Of this couury haysn'i i'm
proved their epsed go much du.lDg ;hs 'ssi
generation "a psope imagine. The7 he'd
7-'oot drivers on the Hudson River Rsi-
road thirty-f five years ago. 1bay uesd to
make sixty miles sn hour. although they
ou,ued wood in the locomotives In those days
ard there were numerous other drawbacks
bu, for the mang stops that wiEe necessary
they were not sry better than the smaller
wheeled ones, and not 90 econom csl. The
smsller drivers get under way more quickly
ef.er stop, bnt cnce the big 7-footers are
started they dc good work on long Iun.
II 9e expect te develop very high speed Te
shall have to fosego many OF the pleasures
Of botals oD wheels. Tbs cara will have
to be very much lighter aa they are in
Eoglaod They will have to be stronger,
TOO, 90 ss to sand the greater strain. 1t
is not necessary TO charge the sheps much,
except Il anorten them. A sufficient num-
Der of light cars. say three or four. ought
20 be able to remain on the track j1st as
well as heavier ones. AZ for roadway, the
grade must be as perfect ss possible, and
thers should be no grade crossings. The
fewer sidings the better.-N. Y. Sun.