Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1892-11-19
AT FULL STEAM.

AT FULL STEAM.
Speeds Attained ON Railroads In Varieua
When railroads were first intro
duced, the engineers, as we call
them, -1or the engine-drivers. as they
are called in England, ran their
trains almost as they liked, making
ND time when they had fallen behind,
picking up such information as they
could as to the state of the track ahead
of them, and for the most part plung-
ing ahead with their machines without
much more than a surmise whether
they should bring up at their destfna-
Jion, or at the bottom of some high
embankment.
Some of the results of this want of
system would have been amusing If
they had not been disastrous Mr..
Laurence Oliphant, an English trav-
eler and author, tells in one Of his
books a rather grim story Of trip
which he made by rail. in 1855, from
Chicago to New York. Over a part
of the distance the train made the
extraordinary speed, for that time, of
fifty miles an hour, and presently 1T
ran off the track.
Fortunately, the cars were i'm
bedded in a soft clay ditch, and no
one was seriously hurt; and in the
midst of the commotion. Mr.. Oliphant
says he heard the engineer thus adj
monish the switchman, whose care
lessness had caused the accident:
Snow, Tom, this is the third time
you've forgot to set that switch, and
the last time there was twenty people
went under, and the rest was bruised.
So mind what you're about, and don't
forget that switch again, for if you
do I'll tell the boss!"
In the course of time it was found
necessary to limit the running of
trains to very strict system, which
almost makes the engineer part OF
his machine; but even as late as
within the past two years races be-
tween express trains running between
London and Edinburgh have been
run, and great interest has been
shown in the results Of the contests.
In France, steam races are not per-
mitted. Instead, an official test of
the power, speed, and steadiness of
locomotives on different lines of the
republic has been made lately, and a
prize awarded to the winner, loco
motive No 604 of the 'Chemin de
Fer de PEST" or Eastern Railroad.
In this test several locomotives.
without any load to pull, attained a
speed of from seventy-flve to eighty
five miles an hour. The locomotive,
604, just spoken of, accomplishes
regularly the feat of hauling, at full
speed, the heavy trains of the Swiss
express between Rheims and Dele at
a single pull, distance of about two
hundred and forty miles
The engine always arrives, after
this long haul, with steam still on,
and in perfect running condition.
The maximum speed which French
passenger trains are permitted to
make is about seventy miles an hour,
and this is uncommon.
In England, the fastest schedule
time is sixty miles an hour, though in
some of the '.races" seventy-flve miles
have been made. There are regular
freight trains in England which make
a speed of from thirty to forty miles
an hour.
In Germany, the ordinary speed of
passenger trains Is only about thirty
five to forty miles an hour, and this
is probably about the average rate of
speed in other Europeans countries.
In the United States, the speed of
trains varies so much on different
railways, and in different parts of the
country, that it is practically impossi-
BILE to strike an average. Thirty to
forty miles an hour is regarded as a
very good rate, but speed Of from
sixty to seventy-flve miles an hour is
often attained by fast trains under
special circumstances
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