The Indianapolis journal., 1895-08-27

Americans Claim Superiority Over
British Fast Trains.

If railroad speed continues to increase at
the present rate. the two mlies minute
steam engine may be here as the the mile ni IN
great runs on the Northwestern and Great
Northern roads from London to Aberdeen
have attracted the attention of railroad
men here, and II Is not unlikely that some
thing will be done soon to bring the speed
record back to America.
The American railroad men dc not admit
that the record has ever left here All
they will admit is that for $40 miles an
English train has made faster run than
any American train ever did for the same
train has ever done it, they say, is that
there does not happen to be any stretch of
track $40 miles long. except on the Lake
Shore road. The officials OF that road do
not believe in extraordinarily fast time,
and VIII not permit trains on their road
70 make record time. The fastest train
they th u ever ran was the Chicago flyer. during
from New York to Chicago In twenty
hours A reporter for the Sun talked with
General superintendent Van Etten. of the
New York Central railroad. yesterday
about the possibility of fast running.
The New York Central" said Mr. Van
Etten. runs the fastest regular train in
the world. and it is going to continue to
do so. I'm not talking about exhibition
runs now; I'm talking about business runs.
day in and day out, the year around.
our Empire State Express is the fastest
regular train in the world, The recent re-
markable runs in England are exhibition
runs. although they were made by regularly
scheduied trains. We have run only one
time with it, but we can do a great deal
better. We can maintain, with a regular
train. speed of seventy-one miles an hour
an exhibition trip some day, and I'll war
rant that We will do a great deal better
than they have done. Our machines here
bic OF maintaining q speed of one hundred
miles an hour. AT that speed the question
with US Is largely matter Of curve angles.
10 make II safe travelling at that rate
around our curves, we would have to make
freight trains around them, but the en-
glnes are here and the speed Is here The
eabled cab. stories of this last remarkable Eng
iish run say that for part of the distance
the speed was seventy-five miles an hour.
rate of iia1S miles an hour. E Severai Il times mes
II has made one hundred and l02 miles an
hour. On one occasion the Empire State
had been delayed between Albany and
there. In the run from Syracuse to Buffalo
this time was made up. and she ran into
the Buffalo depot on the minute This in
The distance between Syracuse and Buffalo
is 202 miles. The scheduled time for the
minutes on this occasion. the running time.
including the stop, was 1S1 minutes. THAT
is at the rate of 67O6 miles an hour AL
loving for It the stop the actual running
sixty-nine miles an hour for the whole
202 miles. This is three miles an hour
faster than the English run with the stop,
and 5.53 miles an hour faster without the
our ability in that line. On another oc-
casion we made up thirty minutes between
we have made up twenty minutes. We
run our trains on a schedule which We
must adhere to.
When we say we leave a. station at a
certain time we cannot leave it a minute
before then, or we would have our passen-
gers about our ears. The engineer on the
Empire State has to loaf to avoid coming
In ahead of time, and the exceptionally
fast runs are made only when the train is
behind time. The question of high speed
is largely matter of tonnage. The En-
but their trains are not nearly so heavy
train over there, corresponding with our
as much. Then again, the English burn
better coal than we do. Their coal has
greater steam-making qualities than the
coal We USE.
Are our engines as good as the English
engines?'
Il don't think there can be any doubt
that our engines are superior to theirs.
are racing machines. They suggest that
TO your mind when you look at them Our
engines are built to combine great strength
with speed. We can take twice or three
times the load of their engines and yank
1t up hill more quickly than they can
pull 1t along a level. They can't carry our
heaviest trains at speed at all. The con-
ditions under which the English roads run
are more favorable for speed. Ours are
not. They have no grade crossings. No
pody put railroad man can realize what
that means. They have almost level roads
while we have many steep grades, and
their roads are almost straight while
ours are crooked But, as have said be-
fore: the ye,! greatest difference is in the ton
we can make as good time as they dos and
on occasion, better. That. demonstrates the
superioritN of American engines. On this
run of the Empire State, when forty min
utes were made up, a speed of 102 miles
was attained. Mile after raile was reeled
hundred miles an hour. The tail end of the
rum through the city of Buffalo where
the speed had to come down tremendously.
The schedule time of the train will show
the necessary difference. The eighty miles
between Syracuse and Rochester are sched-
uled to be run in eshty-three minutes The
Buffalo are scheduled for exactly the same
time"
Some remarkably fast running has been
and the reporter talked with superintendent
w. H. Peddle and was taken by him
through the he yards ar. to @ look at some Of the
Of the first remarkable runs in the coun-
try, was there. and near her was another
3s5, which is a new Philadelphia & Reading
number number but but the raint and and decorations Eco g od q
the original 3s5. This new engine is an in
novation. She has only one driving wheel
That is seven feet tall She looks the rae
er. Her engineer was standing beside her
'I haven't let her out much yet" he said
1.-The best I've done with her Is a mile ir
about forty-two. think she can get dowr
about thirty. but We are never late and
don't get chance to run her. We make
the twelve miles from Elizabeth to Plain.
field every day in eleven minutes, and the
twenty-seven miles from Bound Brock tC
Trenton in twenty-four minutes We have
done IL in twenty-three with six coaches"
The original $50 has record for a single
mile at the rate Of 103 miles an hour. An.
ether engine. $50. made mile the other day
in thirty-seven seconds.
Those Gentle Creatures