The Portland daily press., 1897-10-05
LONG RUNS OF ENGLISH RAILROADS
Sixty-Three Trains Day Cover a Hun
bred Miles or Over hout a Stop.
(From the London Daily Mail.l

(From the London Daily Mail
No railway development within recent
months has been more marked than the
great increase in the number of long dis
lance runs. A few years back the num-
Der Of trains which made Journey of up
ward of 100 miles without stop could al
most be counted on the fingers of one
hand. Now every day sixty-eight trains
make a run of 100 miles and over without
stop.
In the actual number of such runs the
Great Northern Railway stands nrsV, as
nineteen of it's expresses run distances
varying from 1O2 IL miles to 120 miles
without stop. The Northwestern mas
fifteen daily 100-mile runs, including
four of 1853 miles and three of 152 IL
miles. The Great Western Company S
runs include the longest daily run with
ont a stop in the world, viz, that be-
tween Paddington and Exeter, 1914 miles.
The total number of daily runs ON this
line amounts to twelve.
The Great Northern Company were
probably the originators of the long-dis-
lance run, as for years their Scotch,
Sheffield, and other expresses have tray
elled to Grantham, Il IL miles, without
a stop, and at present there are fifteen OF
these trains running daily. But the
mammoth runs of $50 and 200 miles could
never have been attempted without Mr..
Ra1nsbottom's intention of picking up
water while travelling at full speed by
means of troughs placed between the
rails, into which a canvas scoop is low
cred, the speed at which the train is trav-
cling forcing the water up into the ten
der. For many years the Northwestern
was the only line TO possess these
troughs, and that is why this company s
tenders are so much smaller and lighter
than those of most other lines. Other roads
now have put down troughs, notably the
Lancashire and Yorkshire and the Great
Western companies.
The longest run without a stop ever
made is said to have been made by a
Pennsylvania railroad train, 439 miles
being accomplished in 10 hours and 5
minutes. The longest run made in this
country was one on the Northwestern,
between Euston and Carlisle. distance
OF over 2S9 miles. This remarkable
journey took place on Sept. Z, 1895. The
train consisted of seven 42-foot coaches,
weighing about l12 tons. and was drawn
by the Ionic, one of Mr.. Webb's medium
sized compound locomotives The rate
of speed was slightly over fifty miles an
hour, and the only passengers " ere
officials, who expressed great satisfaction
with the result. They carefully ex-
amined the train, but no single bearing
had heated and everything was in th Or
ough order.
Some months since this company start
. ed running boat trains to Liverpool from
Euston to Edgehill without a stop; in
this case the distance is just 200 miles;
1but the longest daily journey on this sys-
item is between Euston and Crewe. This
run was first started during the race to
Edinburgh in 1888, and 1t held the record
till the Great Western started it's Exeter
run few months ago.
The Great Western seemed determined
to win hack that reputation for speed
which they had in the old days of the
broad gauge Flying Dutchman,' anC
such Roadway has it made up during the
last eighteen months that now it is sec.
opd to none, either in rate of speed OF
distance of run. This improvement was
accomplished by buying up the refresh
the stop at that station, which had form
erly been necessary, as they were under
contract to the proprietors to stop all
trains there-and putting down water
troughs near Goring and Bristol. The
result is that now the "Cornishman"
runs daily from Paddington to Exeter, q
distance of 1874 miles, at an average
speed of 63.4 miles an hour; and the
'Welshman" covers the l43 miles from
Newport to Paddington at q little over
IS miles an hour.
,FIhe longest runs on some of the other
3 lines are the Great Northern's 100 miles,
g between Kings Cross and Newark, at
just over 81 miles in the hour; the North
eastern's Newcastle and Edinburgh run,
5124 IL miles at 50 miles per hour; the
Mldland's St. Pancras TO Nottingham,
1874 miles, at the same rate of speed as
the previous one, and the excellent run of
III miles between Carlisle and Stir
llng-oyer some of the worst bits of line
IN the country-on the Caledonlan.
which is accomplished in two hours and
fWenty-three minutes, at an average
speed Of 1913 miles an hour The Great
Eastern has one long daily run, viz.
that between Liverpool street and Gro
mer Greatly North Walshaln), a distance
of 131 miles, which is covered at q speed
Of 40 miles, while the lines south of the
Thames are represented by the South
Westerns Bournemouth to Vauxhall
train-106 Ia miles in two hours and
twelve minutes, or at rate of Just over
Is miles an hour.