Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-09-10
LONGER RUNS FOR ENGINES.
Success of the Pennsylvania h"A-
roads Tests for Great Distances

vania railroad officials have been expert
menting with their big engines, with a
view to finding out whether or not IL was
practicable TO increase the length OF the
runs made by them. 1t has been Gus
tomary with all of the large railroads
for years to change engines on through
trains every $50 miles or so, and the idea
OF the Pennsylvania people Is 10 ascei
tain whether this constant changing Is
necessary or not. The experiments nav
ali beeu conducted in the West, prtnci-
ra,,v M Fort WAYNE. Ind, and have been
under the supervision of c. ID. Law,
superintendent of the Fort Wayne Divi-
sion of the Pennsylvania railroad. 80
far the results obtained have been FAVOR
able to the long runs, but no changes
will be made in the operation OF the road
for some time. Experiments are 10 De
conducted here in the East nrst, IL is
said. A train will be run from New
York to Pittsburg without change or en-
CINE and on this trial much VIII depend.
The Pennsylvania railroad people be-
gan their experiments with the hope OF
upsetting certain theories concerning
long-distance running by locomotives ana
others about the manning or the large anu
costly engines. Railroad men nave al
ways held that an engine Is like beast
II.
certain amount of work, and must be rest
ed. For this reason a through train Is
taken along its way by relays There
il also a belief among railroad men that
an engine should be 'petted.' by that
term they mean that only one engineer
should run it, II he Is unable through
sickness or other reasons TO go on duty,
the engine should be left in the round
house and another put on In lts place
In other words, 1t has been customary
to regard the engineer as part or the
mechanism, and an engine without It's
regular driver a cripple
The idea of this is that engineers get
TO know their engine thoroughly. and are
thus able to attain the highest degree
of efficiency with less consumption or
fuel and oil and less wear and tear than
could be obtained by one who Is a stranger
to the machine. Competition among
engineers was the result of this system,
and the competition could not be kela
ND unless men had their own engines.
The Pennsylvania people were the first
TO change this order of running their
costly locomotives. They began by put
ting a new locomotive on a certain run
and assigning different en-
gineer to it every few days. This prac-
tice was gradually extended, until IL
now prevails generally on the lines ope1
rated by the Pennsylvania in the West.
The results the officials say have been
highly satisfactory, which probably
means that they have simply found out
that they can get as good service one
way as the other.
The work of consolidating engine runs
was really begun seven years ago. 1t
was tried on the western divisions. but
its success was not regarded as very I'M
nortant as the consolidated runs were
even shorter than those ordinarily done
by the hrst-class engines. The nrst
really important experiments were made
on the eastern division of the Pittsburg,
Fort Wayne and Chicago road. The run
of 100 miles was increased on both pas
senger and freight trains, and has now
been in operation for some time. More
recently some of the passenger train
runs of the western division were CONSOLE
dated. making a continuous run for -
gines between Chicago and Crestiine,
distance Of 27S miles. At the present
time there are two trains making con-
tinuous runs between Fort Wayne and
Pittsburg. a distance of 32l miles.
The Pennsylvania officials are now con-
formulating an experiment which will
eclipse in Importance any Of those already
tried. 1t will be to send one engine on
a continuous run from Chicago to Pitts
burg. n distance of 46S miles. 1t Will be
tried Just as soon as certain track i'm
movements now under way are com
Melted The officials of the road are
making great preparations for this trial.
on its result depends the future practice
of the company.
The results Of some of the experiments
already made are interesting. On the
Fort Wayne route the success OF con-
seIidating runs has been so great that II
is now the regular practice OF the ROAD.
Here are some of the runs which are
now made on this branch: Train No.
q which Is the fast mail, is hauled by
an engine which leaves Fort Wayne at 7
o'clock in the morning. 1t runs direct
to Pittsburg, 32i miles, arriving at 0:5
o'clock in the evening" Inc Same en-
CINE leaves Pittsburg at $50 o'clock In
the evening OF the same day, hauling the
New York and Chicago limited and ar
riyes at Fort Wayne at 500 o'clock the,
next morning. This practically Is
straight run of 6i2 miles
The engine which hauls Train NO. 4
from Chicago, leaving at 1l:3O O'Clock in
the evening, runs direct to Crestllne. 2IS
miles. arriving there at 1923 O'Clock In
the morning. Two hours later 1t starts
hack with No. for Chicago arriving~0
Q o'clock In the evening. This is run
of $50 miles.
The train which IS now running over
the Fort Wayne route, with one engine,
a distance OF 32l miles, is the government
fast mail. The experiments referred TO
have all been made over one of the
heaviest mail-carrying routes In the
world. There is only one other line be-
tween New York and Chicago which earns
more money over the entire route. and
there are certain conditions under which
that road has made the record In one
narticular section, however, the Pennsyl-
vania road earns the highest rate 10 the
mile of any railroad in existence. This
Is on the run between New York and
Philadelphia, where enough mail Is car
ried to give the line nearly $500 mile
each year.
New York and Chicago limited are both
fast trains, and both have been hauled
over long runs by one engine Tor seve-
raj years.
Nearly all Of the obstacles met by the |
railroad since II began the experiments |
have been overcome. 1t was argued by |
MANY at first that the boiler fiues would
choke up, preventing steam generation;
that there would be no end Of trouble |
with the journals and other parts. al |
ways more or less liable to heat, and |
that numerous other things would hap |
nen. but they haven't, and in short time |
the 46s-mile run experiment will be made |
as final test.
DIR, VOLCK AND HIS WORK.
About the ArtIst-Dentist. |
His Designs In Metal.