Omaha daily bee., 1896-10-25

OF 200. The handles OF an automatic air
brake completed the visible equipment OF
the foot plate of this extraordinary loco
motive.
had been transferred from long service
on the steam locomotives on the line as a
special mark OF merit. With his right hand
the engineer threw off the air brake while
he pulled the lever into the first notch with
his left. The huge ninety-siX-ton engine
slipped away so quickly that | was not at
first aware that we were moving, and al
most before l fully realized the fact the
engine was entering a tunnel which runs
for almost a mile and half under the
streets of Baltimore.
Let her out" said Mr.. Shepard, as the
engine reached the spot just inside the
south portal of the tunnel when the upgrade
begins. We were running without any load
behind on this occasion, In order that
might have full opportunity to feel the en-
gine's speed. The engineer pulled the lever
toward him until 1t stood halfway on the
rack There was an ominous sound from
the rails, echoed and re-echoed from the
walls of the tunnel. The incandescent lights,
which lit up the way on both sides at in-
lervals of few feet, began to pass more
rapidly. A few seconds more. and l no
longer could see them on one side.
Faster and faster grew the speed until
the air which entered through the partly
opened cab window In front not only
hurl me against the back of the cab.
grasped friendly railing and pointed mutely
to the window. The engineer shut 1t with II
bang, and gave her another notch. By this
time had found my bearings, and tried
to feel the speed through my feet.
Any one who has ever stood on the foot
plate of steam locomotive, going at the
rate OF fifty or sixty miles an hour, knows
what it Is to feel the speed through his feet.
The throb of the steam as it leaves the cyl
inder by the exhaust pipe and forces its way
to the open air through the funnel, causes
a corresponding vibration in the frame work.
The faster these throbs succeed one another,
the greater the speed of the engine, since
each four OF them mean one complete revo-
luton OF the driving wheels. At very high
rates OF speed the foot plate makes the soles
of your feet feel as II they were asleep.
The sensation is glorious one, associated
as II Is with mans almost limitless power
over the mechanism which carries him with
Ii through the air at speed more than
twice as great as that OF the fastest race
horse.
ABSENCE OF VIBRATION.
I had ridden often enough on steam loco
motive to know exactly how sleepy my feet
ought to feel at fifty miles an hour. | felt
as hard as could on the electric engine, but
my feet told me nothing. Then 1t began to
dawn upon me that there was no steam to
make vibrations. Electricity, unique In
all its manifestations, wasted none of its
energies in vibrating the foot-plate. Each
of the four great armatures beneath our feet
whirled around. trying to catch the lightning
in its surrounding fixed 6eld-magnets. and
never succeeding, because its own turning
on its axis always kept driving on the mag
netic attraction in front OF 1t. The engl-
neer told me afterward that he had the same
difficulty at first in trying to reckon the speed
of the electric locomotive through the intui-
ton of his feet. He had soon given 1t up,
however and had taken to timing his new
engine either by watching passing objects
out of the cab window. or, when he wanted
to make some by using the second hand OF
his watch.
Throughout the whole length OF the tun-