Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-06-25
A PULLING SUBJECT.
Speed Of Trains - Afected by the Rsve-
luton Of the Earth.

luton Of the Earth.
It Is as far from Buffalo to Nov York as
It is from New York 10 Buffalo yet II we
are TO believe the reasoning OF Mr.. Alex
ander Hogg, q correspondent Of The Rail-
way Gazette, the railway run can be made
more easily In the former direction because
the speed of the eastward moving train
being added to that Of the rotating earth
HE reduction Of weight due to centrifugal
force is greater. We quote such portions
of Mr.. Hogg's letter as do not involve
difficult mathematics
"In 1891 the New York Central and
Hudson River railroad ran train 1851
miles in 425 minutes and 40 seconds, or
an average of 81 miles per hour. The
weight Of tho train was 460, 900 pounds.
The same company on sept. II, 1898,
made the remarkable run 81 the same 1891
miles In 4072s minutes. This was an
average of 64.26 miles per hour.
"The New York Central, In starting
both times from New York city, unneces-
sarily retarded its own speed. From AL
bany to Buffalo, due west, tho train en-
countered not only the prevailing west
wind, but the force of the earths revolu-
tion eastward.
lowing to the diurnal rotation OF the
earth, bodies at the equator press toward
the earth with two hundred and eighty
eight-two hundred and eighty-ninths Of
the pressure they would were the earth
deprived of its rotation. II, therefore, the
rotation of the earth could be accelerated
until 1t took only one-seventeenth of the
present sidereal day to make q complete
turn or revolution, the centrifugal tend
ency would be increased (l7) twofold-
that Is, it would be $50 times as great as
now, and bodies at the equator would have
no pressure downward, or, as we say,
would weigh nothing. This rate of revo-
luton would not be sufficient to deprive
bodies anywhere else of their entire weight.
Nov let US apply this to railroad
trains. A train running east, at the equn-
tor, would be lightened as compared with
the weight on a still earth. If running due
west, the result would be less. And the
difference Of weight between the same
train, running east and west with the
same velocity, would be certain frac-
tion of its total absolute pressure EXAM
ple-Taking o train running, soy 20 feet
per second, or nearly AZ miles. per hour,
this fraction would not be FUR from one
one thousand six hundredth part; IL run
ming 60 miles per hour it would be one
one thousand two hundred and eightieth
part, and If running 100 miles per hour, or
147 feet per second, it would be the one
seven hundred and sixty-fft part, nearly,
and 1t would be greater and greater as the
speed Is increased, and still greater as both
speed and weight of the train are in
creased The train of the New York Cen
tral was 337 feet long and weighed 500, 900
pounds.
"This calculation, it will be observed,
as said, will be true for the equator. The
New York Central train ran from Albany
to Buffalo upon about the forty second
parallel of latitude and - therefore
this calculation should be corrected fol-
this latitude and would be about soven.
tenths as great
Other correspondents agreed with Mr..
Hogg in principle, though not accepting
all his mathematics. One of them ends bis
letter with the following rather jooose sug
gestion:
at is we'll known that when the moor
is above US 1t draws movable objects away
from the earth and when it is on the op
posite side of the earth 1t draws the eartt
away from movable objects here, thereby
causing the tides. 1t might be we'll to sug
gest to the New York Central officers that
as the tides travel from east to west, they
may perhaps Offset the disadvantages un
der Mr.. Hogg's theory by starting whe1
the position of the moon is propitious and
as they would keep in the tide while go
ing west, they still may be able to maxi
fast time going west, even if the engineers
or, indeed, the engines themselves, learl
of disadvantages of centrifugal force wheI
they are trying to make Buffalo