The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-06-12
THE"FUTURE o. STEAM
Nav and Faster Engines Must Be
~ Invented, SO the Engineers
Think.
Now Machinery and .RoAdbeds
Necessary to Make Ninety
Miles a. Hour.
Talk with Notsd EaEinesrs About steam
In Railroad Travel xpsrimsnts
with Big Locomotives

in Railroad NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
with Big Locomotives
lWr,ttsn for Tn HELENA IN~DErxNDENT.J
1AN THE PRESENT STANDARD
Nv, locomotive DO depended upon TO per-
~ form eighty or ninety miles an hour
for long %distanoss2"
This was the question which ! put to one
Of the chisf engineers In charge OF the
many varied engineering departments OF
tho Pennsylvania Railroad company. Ho
expressed the opinion that : long run Of
any suoh rate Of speed would mean the dc.
struotion Of the engine. He admitted that
tho power for making such speed 10 a.
hand. whether IL be electricity, steam, air
and oil combined. or compressed air and
electricity. He said, however, that the ma
chlnsry has not yot been invented which
can endure the fearful strain Of such q
spSsd. 1.-The present difficulty" said no..
''ltes In the fact that the steam 10
mates ends Of the piston head. Great
power il lost il driving this steam back and
forth. Some system Of gearing must be in
vented that will yield speed with fewer rev
o~lntions Of the wheels, 30 a. to do away with
some Of the wear and tear Of rapid running.
Until that is accomplished even sixty miles
an hour continuously 10 out of the question.
The question Of obtaining this result of
slower revolution and faster speed 10 con-
fronted by one Of the main laws of mechan-
los. what ID gained in speed is lost in
power and Tin slow motion il power. in
fast motion speed" Speed has been a vital
factor in passenger transportation since the
introduction Of steam as a motive power,
and although the principle and it, applioa-
ton have been wonderfully improved, We
have yet to determine the limit Of Develop
mont, The mechanical man fRuratively
washes his hands of the whole affair of
future fast time. claiming that his part OF
the contract 10 fulfilled by the present high
standard of machinery, which is able to
perform a seemingly high rate OF speed.
and now all that is needed il a correspond
iuo advance in the transportation depart
msnt Of railroads.
Tit transportation department claims
that the speed qualities of the present day
locomotive do not surpass those of its
predecessors of thirty years ago. The i'm
provements. they say. are all in the direc-
Won Oh ll&0t0ulUR tuo A1ACQlu0Ey anu III
c~reasinR its durability, while it (the trans
portation Department. upholds its claim
by wonderful Improvements In road beds,
rails. track tanks, Strengthened lines and
such . line Of block signals % the Psnnsyl-
vania system has employed.
like the story Of old in which the knights
and q chameleon figured, says YOU'RE both
right in Z way and both wrong" claiming
that the speed power is At hand, but that
before it can be applied the transportation
department will have to make even greater
of complicated theories stagRers the lay in
vestiRatiOn.
After boiling and reboiling the arQu-
ments advanced it becomes apparent that
the railroad Of the future ia to be purely
the development OF money and talent. II,
mates were accessible, and it. az the central
magnet, were to attract tho highest talent
from the great American trunk lines. the
solution of 100 miles an hour" would be
solved in a short time and after compare
lively few experimental.
The, introduction Of compound looomo-
tives, the latest marked advance Of the day.
was hailed a. the discovery of the speed
engine Of the future, but experiment has
somewhat disappointed our expectations.
Now they are receiving the careful atten-
ton of railway officials and projectors on
the score Of econom and marvellous haul
ing power. rather than fast time makers.
they steam frosty and effect in their
trials a saving of from 20 to % per cent of
coal.
The compound locomotive differs from
the standard engine in use only in its oylin-
ders and parts attached to them. Its prin-
cipal feature is that il takes advantage of
that valuable quality of steam, its
expansibility, using the steam in
two or more cylinders. Tho primary
object in commanding is economy OF
and GOAL. The steam is admitted first
to a "high pressure'' cylinder, and there per-
forms q part of the duty; it then passes
into a larger "Iow pressure cylinder"
where tho remainder of its expansive power
into the atmosphere of a condenser at a
very low pressure. Great economy is shown
in heavy freight service N grades and
curves.
Az an illustration of modern improve.
ment compound looomotives are interest,"
conld no more hold the power necessary for
fast speed-even eighty miles an hour
than could the present standard.
The theory of lighting at night q trunk
line from terminal to terminal by cleo
trioity to enable higher rate Of speed has
that travel At night is faster and safer than
that of the day. for the engineer has no
chance of being confused, having light
guiies from block signal and switches
and no conflicting obstruction.
Future fast time resolves itself to this:
An engine must be created to hold and dis
burse the power which stands begging for
capture at our door; railroads must be con-
structed without grade crossing, nothing
over ten feet to tho mile and no curves
greater than thirty minutes, few trains, no
cause for stops on short distances and ne
cessary block signals further apart; two
tracks, far enough divided so that, trains
passing each other may not DO endangered
or their speed affected.
In fact. it should DO q double-tracked
railroad, with two single tracks. entirely
separated. With suoh improvements one
hundred miles an hour is feasible, and
money and talent can develop il.
HENRY RUSSELL WRAY.
~ Amallesf Ronnhlln n1 thu HVo.la ..