The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-08

engines of to-day these had but one pair
OF drivers each and they We're not placed
directly under the boiler. These lOcomo-
tives were much smaller than the big
engines OF to-day and were broken up
long before worn out
Regarding the relative fuel cost Of fast
trains and slow ones it is true that
oo-mile locomotive eats up much more
coal than slower one. but Just how
much more in relation 10 speed and coal
has never been determined. owing 10 the
constantly varying loads and conditions.
Many other and intricate problems hal
TO be overcome before the speed of the
present could be made. fabrication was
one of these, and il was believed for
long time that II would be impossible to
keep boxes from getting hot if run az
fifty and sixty-mile rates under heavy en-
gineS. But there has been no serious trOu-
bic from this source. After trials Of
many complicated devices, the simple
soft meal bearing was adopted and IS
now IN use. But the bearings used are
very large. thus presenting much wear
ing surface. Great pains are taken to
procure the right kind of oil and the
bearings are most carefully and constant
ly looked after. So thoroughly has the
fabrication problem been solved. that only
three. hot boxes We're reported, during 4
recent test, under 1900 trains. The sue
cess Of the ball or roller bearing in bicy-
cles and other light machines has led to
many experiments with roller bearings
under locomotives. but the present indica-
tons are that such bearings will not be
adopted, since IL has been found that
while II requires less power to start
train on roller bearings than on ordinary
ones. there is more friction on those bear
ings at high speed than on the plain ones
of soft metal
The problem of efficient brakes was also
an exceedingly important one when high
speeds came to be considered, but IL also
has been solved and so has the problem
of building cars strong enough TO stand
the strain of quick stops. The danger in
TINS direction was strikingly illustrated
near Hartford some yeas ago. when an
engineer who had never suffered an acct
dent IN his life, finding that he must
bring his train to a stop quickly. sudden
~ applied the full force of the brakes.
The stop was managed successfully-at
least so far as the running gear was con-
cerned-but the effect was serious upon
the car bodies They did not stop with
the wheels the strain loosened them from
the trucks, and they Slid off, causing u
general wreck. Car wheels and drivers
couplings and a hundred other things had
also to be improved at a great expense,
and will have to be still further improved,
II the rate is greatly to be increased but
1t Is believed that all these Improvements
VIII come fast as the roads can pos
In the meantime the electrical men are
getting ready to do some fast running and
promise radical changes in roads, cars and
general practice. They believe that they
Will be able to make 100 miles an hour with
out difiiculty or Manage and it is under
stood that experiments as to the proper
form of the car, the strength of working
parts of motors and many other matters
that must be settled, will be the subjects
OF careful study at the Baldwin steam To-
connective works, recently reorganized in
harmony with the Westinghouse electrical
interests. Whether the use of electricity
on long fast runs will be found as practical
bic and economical as on short slow ones,
can not be known till these experiments
are completed, but there is little doubt that
before next year has passed the present
fastest time of the English roads will be
bested in America, perhaps by steam, per-
maps by the electric current. and very
likely by both. Dexter Marshall.