St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1896-04-11
a PULLING SUBJECT.
speed Of Trains as Affected by the Rev
lutfon of the Earth


luton of the Earth.
It is as far from Buffalo to New York
az it is from New York to Buffalo, yet IL
we are TO believe the reasoning of Mr..
Alexander Hogg, correspondent OF
the Railway Gazette, the railway run
can be made more easily in the former
direction because the speed of the east
ward moving train being added to that
Of the rotating earth, the reduction OF
weight due to centrifugal force is great
er. We quote such portions of Mr..
Hogg's letter as do not involve difficult
mathematics:
"In 1851 the New York Central q
Hudson River railroad ran train 1861
miles in 425 minutes and 40 seconds, or
an average of 611a miles per hour. The
weight of this train was AGO 900 pounds.
The same company, on September IL,
this year. made the remarkable run of
the same 1864 miles in 407 2-5 minutes;
this was an average Of 64.s6 miles per
hour.
The New York Central, in starting
both times from New York city, un-
necessarily retarded its own speed.
From Albany to Buffalo, due west, the
train encountered not only the prevail
ing west wind, but the force of the
earth's revolution eastward.
Owing to the diurnal rotation of the
earth, bodies ait the equator press
toward the earth with 2ss-2s9ths OF the
pressure they would were the earth
deprived of its rotation. If, therefore,
the rotation of the earth could be ac-
CELEBRATED until II took only 1-17th of the
present sidereal day to make complete
turn or revolution, the centrifugal ten.
deney would be increased (17l fold;
that is it would be 2S9 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
revolution would not be sufficient to de-
prive bodies anywhere else of their en-
tire weight.
Nov, let us apply this to railroad
trains. A train running east at the
equator would be lightened as compared
with the weight on a still earth, Il
running due west, the result would be
(1ess). And the difference of weight
between the same train, running east
and west with the same velocity, would
be "a certain) fraction of its total alb.
solute pressure. Example: Taking
train running say 70 feet per second.
or nearly 4s miles per hour, this frac.
tion would not be far from II, ,600tl,
part; in running so miles per hour, ii
would be -1,2soth part, and il running
100 miles per hour. or lat feet per sec.
ond. it would be the 1,765th part, nearly,
and it would be greater as both speed
and weight of the train are increased
The train of the New York Central was
s57 feet long and weighed 565,o0c
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 AID
parallel of latitude, and therefore,
this calculation should be corrected for
this latitude, and would be about 7-10th
as great"
Other correspondents agree with Mr.
Hogg in principle, though not accept
ing all his mathematics. One of them
ends his letter with the following rather
jocose suggestion:
: It is well known that when the moon
Is above us it draws movable objects
away from the earth, and when it is ON
the opposite side of the earth it draws
the earth away from movable objects
here, thereby causing the tides. IL
might be well to suggest TO the New
York Central officers, that, as the tides
travel from east to west, they may
perhaps offset the disadvantages under
Mr.. Hogg,s theory by starting when the
position Of the noon is propitious, and
as they would keep in the tide while
going west, they may still be able te
make fast time going west, even il
the engineers, or indeed the engines
themselves, learn of the disadvantages
of centrifugal force when they are try,
ing to make Buffalo. Literary Digest