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

have clearly shown that the limit of speed
Cor passenger trains has not yet been
-.,cbed. 1t is true that the mile-a-minute
ms q the English trunk lines were not
-seular performances, like those of the
rmpire state express. which travels reg
,,-lv over the 40 miles of track between
Nev, York and Buffalo at a 5212-mile rate,
Init the success of the experiments prove
that 50 miles an hour is quite practicable
and being practicable, must, sooner or
LATER. be regularly performed. 1t is an in
teresting question. now, whether the first
r.a7llar performance at this speed are to
10 on this side the water or in England,
spd a not less interesting question has TO
do with the possibility of regular railroad
rnnning at the higher speeds of so and 100
miles an hour.
No one in America is better qualihed TO
sneak upon the probabilities in these d.
rections than H. Walter Webb. third vice
resident of the New York Central rail-
road. who originated the Empire State
exuress, and has had more to do with
the development of high railroad speeds
than any one else in America. Regarding
the immediate future of railroad run
ming Mr.. Webb dislikes to be quoted, but
beiis fully convinced that the practical
limit has not yet been reached.
s'Afany persons believe" said Mr.. webb
today. in discussing the general problem
of fast running, that the chief factor
in the maintenance of high speed is the
locomotive Now, while it is true that
high rates cannot be made without first
class motive power, it is also true that
high class engines must have high class
roads to run upon, and that without these
il would be quite impossible regularly to
maintain even forty miles an hour, econ
omically In fact the great tasks of rail-
road managers who propose to run trains
At high speed, are, first, the creation and
then the maintenance of an adequate way.
Grades must be made as light as possible;
curves must be Strengthened, grade cross
ing must be done away with, wherever
possible, the bridges must be extra strong
and the track itself must be solid, yet
elastic and free from too great rig1dity.
The first cost of a road that is Ideal in all
these respects, and therefore mt for high
speeding is much greater than the
first cost of one that will bear ordinary
traffic well, and the maintenance charges,
too. are heavier. The resulting economy
Of operation, however is such as fully
TO balance accounts when traffic is heavy
and the road is crowded.
Now" he continued, without making
specific predictions, 1t is quite proper to
say that as the science of railroad con-
struction and maintenance progresses, so
viii the speed of railroad trains be IN
creased and there is no doubt whatever
that more rapid running will be compare
lively common few years from now"
Undoubtedly, then, the chief engineer
and his supporters, the roadmasters, the
bridge builders, and all who have to do
with the physical condition" of railroad
are TO form a more important factor in the
future. even, than in the past in the adj
ministration of the up to date railroad line.
As matter of course, therefore, the chief
engineers of all the big roads are con-
stantly scheming and planning to straight
en- the line here, to cut down a grade there
to get rid of this or that grade crossing
to find the best possible rail and to i'm
prove the bridges. The chief engineer I'M
der whose supervision the tracks were
made fit for the fastest long distance pas
senger service in America is Mr.. Walter
Katie, and his vigilance is unceasing.
Mr. Katie is a firm advocate of metal
ties for railroads upon the ground of ulti-
mate economy, in spite of the greater first
cost over wood. He holds that line of
rail laid upon metal ties would be much
more solid, and at the same time more
elastic and that incidentally the introduce
ton of the metal would thus help in the
making of speed Metal ties are largely
used abroad and there is no doubt of their
ultimate introduction here. Mr.. Katte's
work in preparing the tracks for the pres
ent speed of the fastest trains was long,
intricate and absorbing, and involved the
most intimate knowledge of a thousand
things that would not readily occur to the
mind of the lay reader as essential. One
innovation that has been found to be of
val &c he hn Of
bridges with solid floors upon which
gravel or stone ballast is laid before the
ties and rails are put down, exactly as
upon the earth roadway. The driving
wheels of any locomotive pound tremen-
dously upon the rails, but we'll laid ballast
gives" sufficiently, while remaining solid
and strong, to greatly reduce the destruc-
tive effect of this pounding. When rails
are laid on sleepers, and they in turn rest
directly on the bridge structure, the wear
and tear of both rolling stock and bridge
Is very great, and as the pounding of
rapidly moving train is much greater than
that of slowly moving one,
bridges over which high speed trains move
suffer accordingly and the same is true of
the rolling stock. The use of ballast on
bridges, however, takes UP much of the
pounding and greatly increases the dura-
Dlhty of bridge structures, rails, locomo-
tives and cars. Solid floors and ballast
''"fC AlOb louS DeeH d lSdIuTe Oh lIOn
railroad bridges, but they are being rap
IDLY introduced by first class roads and
Will no doubt become general as the era
OF high speed progresses.
A highly important feature of the track
over which exceedingly heavy trains are
10 run is the rail. and rails of so and 100
pounds to the yard are now generally
coming in place of the old 90 pound ones
mat We're formerly thought quite heavy
enough. But mere weight or quantity of
metal is not the only consideration. The
metal must be so distributed by reason
Vi the shape of the rail as to give the
greatest possible stiffness. In this matter
the American practice is much superior
10 the English. American rails being much
nearer the girder in form, higher in pro-
portion to weight, and with much less
metal In the base, where it is of compar-
auVely little value. The great advantage
VI the girder form of rail is that it distri-
o1Ies the weight from a wheel over sever
q Ties at once instead of allowing ii to
grind down upon the tie directly beneath
ana further, prevents the rail from bend
ing under the weight as most of the old
.orrn did, making the train constantly
uaVel up hill. 1t has been shown by re-
Heateo experiments that 60-pound rails
VI the girder type are IS efficient and will