The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1897-07-25
Special Correspondence TO The Herald.

Special Correspondence 70 The Herald.
BRUSSELS. July 14-(Speoial Corre-
epondence to The Herald.) A railroad
train here has actually made $50 miles
an hour 1t is no theoretical train, nor
a computation based on the speed shown
in two or three-mile run, but on a
regulation railroad, although not like
the ordinary railroads used for freight
and passenger traffic.
The fact of the completion of the road
and its breaking of all records has been
kept a close secret until now. and so
this is the first time the news has been
maze public. The line of road upon
which this marvellous speed was made is
called the Lartigue Single Rail system
Its inventor is r. b. Behr, and the line
thus constructed is in the form of an
almost constant curve, fact which
makes the tremendous speed accom-
plished almost miraculous. 1t was in
vented and built for the express purpose
of making extraordinary time, and it
was believed a single rail would render
the accomplishment of this task easier
lHdIi any QUIET SySteuI.
!; is a triumph for the advocates of the
single rail- Ever since the Centennial
exposition at Philadelphia In the United
States in 1876, the single rail has been the
subject of very warm discussion among
all persons interested in railroads There
was a section of the road at that exposi-
ton which the writer we'll remembers,
and which it was predicted at the time
would some day make extraordinary
speed. 1t is not, therefore, totally I'M
expected that line constructed on very
much the same plan should have
achieved such wonderful results as the
one mentioned
The carriage which is used on this
road, which, of course, is operated by
electricity, Is about f1fty-nine feet long.
The lower part consists of two bogies or
cases connected with each other by a
special joint. These bogdes contain
the main and guide wheels and the cleo
trio motors. The upper part consists Of
one single carriage body with seats for
100 persons, a compartment for the
motorneer in front and one for the con-
ductor in the rear.
In the motorneer's department are two
brakes, one by which the resistance Of
the air is used for slackening the speed
Of the train when travelling at its highest
velocity; the other an ordinary friction
brake acting on the wheels for finally
stopping the train. These two brakes
can easily be handled by the motorneer
from his position at the switchboard.
Each boyle has four carrying wheels
that is, eight for the whole carriage, to
tob obad all otr;o
tors one to each wheel These motors
weigh about three tons each and develop
100 horse power at 600 revolutions
minute, equivalent to about $50 miles an
hour. This speed it Is proposed to at
tain on the new line. Each bogie carries
also sixteen horizontal guide wheels
that Is, thirty-two altogether. Their
principal object is to maintain the eQui-
librium of the carriage and to transmit
to the guide rails the pressure produced
by the centrifugal force which is de-
veloped by the carriage in going around
curves.
The Line itself is constructed so as to
easily resist any pressure which may be
produced, and it is chiefly the construc-
ton of the line in it's relation to the guide
wheels and the carriage generally which
enables the train to travel at the rate of
$50 miles an hour without danger Of de-
railment or any of the accidents liable
to happen under similar circumstances
on an ordinary double rail railway The
total weight of the carriage is about fifty
tons, or half a ton Of dead weight per
passenger.
The pressure exercised upon the line
at a speed Of $50 miles an hour by the