The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-12-01
THE LIMIT OF SPEED BY STEAM.
An Engineer Says 1t Is In the Man
aud Not In the Locomotive.


II read piece the other day." said an
old locomotive engineer, "in which a
New Orleans railroad man said that $50
miles an hour was one Of the possibilities
Of future travel | venture to disagree
with him, and I'll tell you why. He
doesn't take into account the human
machine in the cab. l don't doubt but
they will build engines that can stand a
100 mile gait, but they can't build the
engineers.
"On fairly good roadbed one notices
very little difference between 25 and so
miles an hour. mean the strain on the
nerves isn't very materially increased,
but anything above that limit is the pace
that kills. The sensation is simply indie
scribable in words. 1t seems to jar every
separate fiber in the body, and the ten
sion is so terrible that one is apt to feel
the effect for days. The average man
can't stand many spurts at even 65 miles
an hour. let alone $50. He comes out of
such an ordeal all broke up and jumps
when he hears unexpected noises, like a
hysterical woman. My own theory is
that the effect is produced mainly
through the sight. You have to look
straight ahead, but at the same time you
see the things whizzing past on both sides
out of the tail of your eye, and it is as il
something had hold Of the optic nerve
and was pulling it out like rubber band
That's pretty clumsy explanation, but
it's as near as l can come to it. Many's
the time I've staggered when l got up
from my seat in the cab.
THAT thing Of staring straight ahead"
continued the engineer, "is bound to get
on any mans nerves IN the course Of
time. particularly during night runs. One
sees queer things, and I've had some
scares in my life that would have turned
my hair as white as milk If hair really
turned white that way. The worst trou-
BILE is with shadows. It's no uncommon
thing for bird to fit across the head
light and throw q shadow down the track
as big as box car. OF course it's gone
In an instant, but in just that heartbeat
the nerves have been given shock that
they may not recover from in a week.
I've had that happen to me several
times. l would be tearing along at IS
or 60 mile clip. when all Of sudden
something big and black would loom out
Of the dark night between the rails and
not four telegraph poles ahead. Next
second would knew it to be the shadow
OF a bird, but as far as was concerned
the mischief was already done. l had
had vision of sudden death and a
sledge hammer blow on every nerve cen
ter in my system.
"Fhe new electric headlights are worse
than the others as spook producers. They
cast such sharp shadows that bug
moving over the glass will make you
think COW is lying just in front of your
pilot. l owe electric light bugs number
OF grudges for little jokes Of that kind
All engineers go through the same thing
The man who was never scared is man
who is careless of the lives intrusted to
his vigilance, and such fellow isn't fit
to be in the business. These are things
that make me doubt the practicability Of
100 miles an hour and the possibility Of
l5O. God help the engineer of such q
train! He would go mad in q week.
New Orleans Times Democrat.