Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-05-11
Ar 800 NILES An HOUR
Outline of q Hallway and Train
For That Speed.
DRIVERS THIRTY FEET IN DIAMETER
To Roll Over = Gaags Twenty fssa
Wide - New York ~ Chicago An
T~easy-fear Hours fnssaioas
scheme, but L. IL frAetIeai.

That's what a big railroad man asked
me week ago.
The welding of small roads into vast
systems has now been in progress only
a few years, with results too well known
To require comment. The great rail
road Imam who said tins was astonlshed
at my reply;
"ren years from now there may be
only one real railroad IN this country,
10 which your trunk lines Will be
feeders"
And this Is what meant.
The Americans OF the near future
must travel faster.
There are no reasonable grounds foI
| believing that the present record OF lo-
conotlye speed can be improved upon
while the gauge and rolling stock con-
unue as they now are. Several of the
express trains between New York and
Philadelphia make a considerable part
OF their run ut the rate of sixty miles
per hour. Yet the average time oc-
! cupled IN dong the ninety-three miles
Is two hours and twenty minutes
| minutes. This Is not satisfactory TO the
progressive American. He wants 10 20
faster. The average New Yorker con-
fidently believes that he ought 10 go
over 10 the Quaker City IN al hour.
And II can be done.
The diameter of the locomotive
driver wheels must be increased 10 se-
cure greater speed, but master me-
chanics are not at all agreed as 10 how
this can best be done.
What Has Been Tried.
The enlargement Of the drivers be-
yond seven feet would necessitate a
widening of the gauge, and this expert
ment is not likely 10 be repeated while
the present forms of rolling stock are in
use. All persons who remember the
Erie and the Atlantic and Great West
ern slx-foot wide tracks recall the enor-
nous expense entailed in changing
them 10 the regular guage. For they
had 10 be changed. Cars could not be
switched from other roads to their rails,
and the handling of every carload of
freight added largely 10 its expense.
The trouble was not that the increased
weight made the cars harder TO draw,
for the engines were buiit heavier and
with greater boiler capacity. The six
foot track gave no additional accom-
modations for passenge and the i'm
possibility of transhipping freight rem
dered the wide gauge too costly.
But sixty miles an hour is not fast
enough for the American of today.
The locomotive has probably attained
the maximum OF its efficiency. 1t makes
makes a more economic use of steam
than any other form of engine. The
mo rim opntpa 1nc.S OF nor rant 0f Aa
latent energy IN the coal, but the loco
motive utilities fully 80 per cent of il.
Therefore, the problem is not 10 inn
prove the locomotive but TO enlarge Its
capacity TO get over ground.
Anew Era Foreshadowed.
This can only be done by some radical
change in the form OF the roadbed and
the rolling stock. To increase the
diameter of the wheels is the first re-
quste. This Will necessltate a widen
lug of the permanent way. Suppose
the driver wheels TO be 80 feet in height
the gauge ought TO be 20 feet. The
rails would have TO be a feet high and
ought to weigh n ton to the rod. They
Will be boited TO ties made of the iarg-
est tree trunks obtaInable; mammoth
"iisn plates will JON them end TO end.
The cost of construction will be trebied.
Bridges and vladucts will have TO be
built of the heaviest material and
tested to bear the weight OF 20o-ton
locomotive! The heaviest engines on
the Pennsylvania railroad, used IN the
passenger service, weigh 10 tons, and
one five times rs large will give power
enough TO pull the great cars that Will
travel on 3O-tOOt wheels.
The gigantic engine will be suspended
below the axles. instead OF resting upon
them. The boiler will be built around
the aylcs, and the smoke-siack will not
be higher than the tops of the driver
wheels. The cab will bc very commodi-
Gus and located just behind the smoke
stack top the boiler. Several firemen
will be required, and they viii be pro-
ylded for on n platform at lower level
on the rear of the engine.
Figures Don't Deceive.
II the same number OF piston strokes
can be obtained 10y thirty-foot driver
wheels per minute and attained hy an
engine with six-foot wheels, the in
crease in velocity viii he as ninety feet
are 60 eighteen feet In other words,
the train will travel exactly FIVE tunes
tc last ii A4tf tt-rt rtfltft-ti tttt fift-
pnt passenger locomotive be sixty miles
per hour, il may be hoped that the en-
gine of the future will attain 300 miles
per hour. Strange as IL now sounds. Il
will then be possible to run out 10 Chi
cago after breakfast, take luncheon
there With friend and return to sleep
in New York. Chicago ought 10 be
about foar-hour run. The track sli
be- kept absolutely clear. and there will
not be any stops except TO change en-
gines al halfway point.
Oi course, such road can only be
made 10 pay between great cites like
New York and Phlisdeiphia. Chiesgo
or Boston. In another generation
there will be ten cites IN tins country
with million people each. The saving
Of time viii stimulate travelling. and
every train viii be filed. The engines
will burn 3 tremendous lot of coal. bet
the eost ot driving ihe tram will he
about the same a. at present. tecause
The time consumed vii be- a mere frsc-
ton at what Is requisite. Nobody vii
travel hong distances by the Old lines.
There vii not b. any competition
offered bv The existing syfteuns Of
transportation. IS Austin t6fbin re-
Gently sad IT ] could tuy sfeafn-
shslss that would make ths trip t.
Europe tns4de II foar DAYS. they'd ~
tasap st g. or 0V spsece. Ia order
tisesa tomorrow J oeuit literally
thasve shat pteasai tof passage and
gan tali al the tase. People vii fay
wesl ~ lfatel iAst" - Il vii b. on
lsnd.
oa tts frsss.