The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-03-03
THE BLACK DIAMOND.
What an Englishman Thinks of the
Lehiuh Valleys Famous Train.

Ihe London Times mas just Degun
the publication of a series of articles
on the practical operating of American
railways, and it's opening chapter,
which has to do with the subjects of
speed and punctuality," cannot fail
to prove of flatterng interest to the
officers and men, as well as the pa
irons, of the great roads in the United
States.
The writer is anonymous, as CORE
spondents of the Times almost invari-
ably are, but it is evident that he is
a ear-headed, practical Englishman,
who is thoroughly conversant with his
subject from long experience at home.
His admiration for our very high
speeds is outspoken. as he compares
the English speed with them with the
acknowledgment that the latter are
made with much lighter trains; and as
for our railway habit of punctuality,
he cannot too highly praise it. The
United States, it seems, has 100000
miles of railway, nine times that of
England, yet in England there are
more miles of double track.
The correspondent was given the
privilege of riding on the engines on
most of the roads in this country.
After describing his trip on the famous
European express on the New York
Central railroad from New York to
Buffalo he says:
"I returned from Buffalo to New
York by another famous train, the
Black Diamond express of the Lehigh
Valley company, one of the so-called
'coaler' roads, which serves the an
thracite regions of Pennsylvania. 1t
was rather a shock to my English
ideas to be presented by the conductor
to the driver as a man who has got
leave to come on your engine But
the genial reception of the engineer
who, pulling off his gloves, shook me
warmly by the hand and gave me his
visiting card, at once consoled me- In
this case the time allowed was hours
3S minutes, but the distance is seven
and one-half miles further than by the
New York Central. There are eleven
intermediate stops, as against four, and
the line, instead of following the level
valleys of the Hudson and the Mo-
hawk, has to climb over three sum-
mints of 924, 1,141 and 1853 feet, respec-
lively. The weight of the train was
165 tons, except for about 100 miles.
during which the addition of an eX-
ira Pullman car brought it we'll over
200 tons. We were five minutes late
in starting, and before we had gone
very far we We're stopped by an axle
box on the Pullman car heating. The
natural result was that we reached
Geneva, about 100 miles from Buffalo,
II minutes late. Thence to Sayre, 1872
miles. we were timed to take sc min
utes, but we covered the distance in
"a, and also came in exactly on time.
| had timed twenty miles in different
places done at speed of from - to so
| miles an hour. But our mlsfortunes
| were hot yet at an end.
Soon after leaving Sayre we were
brought up short by a broken down
| freight train, two of whose cars had
| got off the track and blocked both
lines. Evidently American railway
men are experts in dealing with
| wrecks 1t was most interesting to
see how quickly rope was brought,
| one end of it fastened to the wrecked
| cars then the other end run through a
| snatch block made fast to a convent
| emily adjacent tree, and thence car
red to the locomotive. A gentle pull
| by the engine, and the cars fell over
on their sides into the ditch and our
| road was clear again; but we were 33
MINUTES ltslt dl pul hcAt SlopplnS
| place.
"Then we set to work again to re-
| cover our lost ground, TILL finally, we
reached Jersey City only fifteen min
| utes late. We had come in the last
| II miles from Easton in rs minutes, as
| against ninety allowed in the time
! book, and we had stopped at two inn
portant intermediate stations. Swim
| don to Paddington is also II miles. and
| an even more level road, But the
| Great Western trainS-and no line in
| England runs finer eXpresses-are al
| lowed 81 minutes for the through run
| to Paddington, and never less than 40
minutes if they have to call at Didsot
| and Reading. The real comparison,
however, to the Black Diamond should
be made with the best Midland express
| to Perth. Like the Midland, the Le-
| nigh Valley has heavier grades than
| it's rivals; like the Midland, ii runs
| through a istrict congested with
| heavy coal and iron traffic; but, unlike
| the Midland, it has a long stretch of
| single line. The Midland's distance is
| 71a miles further and there are II in
| termediate stops, as against IL. A
| handsome allowance for the extra
stops would be As minutes; but the
extra time allowed the Midland is, in
| fact, over two hours"
| Not PartieuIaT.
| Mistress-"Oh, Bridget, Bridget What