Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-02-13
MILIIoN-MILE RECORDS.
British Locomotive That Ran That Dis-
tsnce In Mine YearsL

British Locomotive That Ran That Dis
tancc In Mine Years
Prom the Chicago Daily News
English railway Journals are doing consider
able Dragging about the superiority Of the
English rolling stock. and great stress is laid
upon the wonderful performance Of '6-foot-
express engine named the "Charle. Dick
ems, that recently completed her mi.lionth
mile IN nine years running every day except
sunday between Manchester and London on
me London aud Northwestern, and 6oabling
oaek. making a round trip Of Ss7 mica This
wonderful daily performance for nine years.
never missing trip for repairs or 10 go into
.he shops. Is almos: beyond the ken Of an
american railroad man. The Charles Dick
ems Is nifty feet long and weighs ;hir:y-three
sons, Win an additional twenty-five tons for
the tender. whose tank holds ]. 500 gallons Of
saseri 1874 miles, the distt.ce between Lon
ooh ana sianehesser. is covered in ioar and .
qual 'cr nonrs, the return tr;p being on the
same schedule as the going.
inquiry among railroad officials here de-
veioped the fact that while these gentlemen are
ever ready TO crack mp" their roads and
everything pertaining thereto, they simply
threw up the sponge when IL came 20 produo-
ing the statement OF any engine that could
Dickens"
Bar there are American engine. that have
Travelled l,ooO,e 900 miles. The periods taken
to cover this enormous distance vary from III
teen to thlrty-n,e years .One yery great
difficulty that prccludos the chance OF an
American engine making a Charles Dickens
record is that our roadbeds are not az perfect
as those IN Engiand, said n general nsaag, T
who has worked up from the position of fire-
man. Never in the history OF the Uuised
States will VIC have roadbeis as perfect as
the English. Look al the enormous dit
ference IN the number OF miles operated
by our roads and those OF England Ne can
not afford 20 heep thousands OF miles OF TRACK IN
as perfect order rs the BritoHs do their hun
dreds. Our roads arc hampered by bad grades
curves and the scarcity of good roadbel ma
terial In many places, besides countless other
causes The road1ed is the life OF locomotive.
Taken ali in ali, l doubt whether a letter
average tEaa zoo miles per day can be shown
by any passenger locomotive IN the United
states"
L. L. Kelsey. who used TO build locomotives
Tor the Pennsylvania Company, says that SONS
OF the bes. locomotives lac has heard OF can
boast OF 10 better than 25l 900 miles running
before they had TO go into the shop for repairs.
No. 2i3 for years averaged 100 miles por
week. but that, with Gn allowance for switch
ing, would be no moro than Us, 900 niles per
year. That would be but 5ss 900 miles in nine
years.
II he No. 8, on the Pontiac, Oxford and Port
Arthur road, said Mr.. Kelsey made the
round trip between Cascville and Pontiac, or
-oo miles. every day except Sunday ior nine
years without shopping. and that consider
about equal TO any American record.
From years of observation 1 think the
| American standard utility passenger engines,
| usually ranging from NJ, 900 10 log. 0oO pounds.
| with lIN2s cylinder, average 5000 miles per
month year in and year out Considering the
disadvantages that exist on our railroads, l
| think II must be foolish for us TO attempt TO
compare mileage ana time with the 'psrlor
| roadbed fellows over IN that little island"
An Official OF the st. Louis and Hannibal
thinks one OF his big utility" locomotives has
crack record. Her mileage for one yesr and
hall, during which time she never missed a
trip for repairs, was $40 900 miles. The oscilla-
ton and wear and tear on American engines
make 1t almost impossible to keep an engine
out OF the shop for more than two years.
Superintendent Of Motive Power J. n. Barr
of the Chicago. Milwaukee and st. Paul railway
has In his office at West Milwaukee records of
over ,Ooo, 900 miles for several engines. The
old live spot" that ID now pulling short trains
between Hastings and Wabash, Mimi, has
done work all over the system. Making all
manner of trips, from zoo miles per day down
TO barel- nifty, she has Tiled up her quota Of
l,Go0,OO0 miles. That means that unless
tho company chooses to soon rebuild
her she will be ready Tor the scrap pile !"
There Is still running on the road one of the
Old Lawrence inside connection engines made
Az Aoof, tnat TIE roao oOtaiheu soon aiter tnst
date. She looked exactly as she did thirty
three years ago, which is awkward enough, as
the driving rods are not TO be seen and the
cylinders are beneath her; but she has prob
ably undergone SO many trips to the shop
to have portions replaced that perhaps not a
particle of the original engine outside of
the number plate and the throttle handle re-
manned. Her record is away up over the mil
lion mark and she is the good old I'll spot"
that SO many old-time engineers might talk
about. In the course Of time, when some rail-
roads having 'lsO-mile" divisions fix them up
La England and put ''siX-foot tours, .
doubling the road every day, 100000 miles in
record.