The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-04-16

| the ordinary two-railed passenger loco
motive. but as the friction or traction of
both locomotive and cars is so much less
the actual ldiminvg o wIopjn.mte htos
| the actual driving power is increased
four-fold.
This system Is no idle fancy Of the in
ventor, Mr.. Behr He has cars and en-
gines already built and tested. At the
Brussels exposition, in 1897. he had an ex-
hfbition railroad system of this sort in
successful operation. II was only three
miles long. But on that short track in
circular form he ran daily trains al the
rate Of eighty or ninety miles an hour.
He took a photograph of one of his trains
running at this latter rate under an off,
cial test. The success Of that exhibition
railroad is what has led to the present en-
terprise OF connecting Liverpool and
Manchester by this system
Mr.. Behr's railroadw as considered the
marvel Of the Brussels exposition, like
the Eiffel tower was of the last Paris
exposition. People would crowd into
these cars. and in two minutes make the
circuit Of three miles. with as little noise
and jar as if they were logging along at
fifteen miles an hour on an ordinary
railroad. They couldn't understand it al
all. Their wonder increased as they look
ed back over the track after leaving the
car. 1t was like a crooked rail fence ex-
tending up hill and down Yet over the
hills. up and down grade and round short
curves the train had shot at cannonbau
speed.
There was only one explanation for IT,
A new principle in railroad mechanics had
been discovered and put into operation.
Engineering experts OF France. Germany
and England inspected the system. On
the English experts favorable report is
said to be based the present application to
parliament of Mr.. Bshr and his syndicate
for charter 10 build the line between
Liverpool and Manchester. The slow
going Britons are only just beginning 20
understand what this means in the way of
rapid transit. A London paper published
time table two weeks ago showing how
distances would be practically annihilated
in Great Britain by this system cOnstruc-
ted with the same care as to grade and
curve as the present railroads are laid
down. This would insure a speed of $50
clares. lit would then take but an hour
and twenty-one minutes to go clear across
the little island from London to Liver
pool, while the island could be traversed
from Edinburgh on the north to London
on the south in two hours and forty min
utes. This can be better understood by
considering that this would mean that one
could go from New York to Philadelphia
in just thirty minutes. and 10 Washington
or Boston in one hour and half, while
Chicago would be only six hours ride or
an afternoons trip.
This one-rail system, however, has had
a severer test than at the Brussels expo
sition. A road of this kind has been In
practical. successful operation at Llsto-
wei, ireland, since 1883. 1t is ten miles long
and runs across country to Ballybunion.
The speed that has been attained on this
rural line has for the most part not been
remarkable. The trains usually run only
about twenty-five miles an hour. This is
ais fast as the countryfolk want to go.
But there have been times when the trains
are said to have shot over the line like
creased lightning. One record Of this sort
is Of an engine that covered the ten miles
in five minutes, or at the rate of 40 miles
an hour.
Even before this one-rail line was built
in Ireland there was a similar one in
French Algeria, in Africa. A French army
engineer, NJ. Lartique, had built an ele-
waited single rail over the desert to pre-
vent the drifting sands from covering the
track. That was his sole object at the
time. He afterward discovered its won
derful speed.
Mr. Behr points out that this one-rail
system may not displace the present rail
road system altogether. For heavy freight
traffic the two-rail tracks are well adapt
ed But for lightning express passenger
trains 1t will be easy to build these one
rail lines on an elevated structure above
the regular road bed. While the lumber
ing freight trains rumble along below and
the local passenger trains are jogging
from station to station the fast express
trains between the big cities can be whiz-
zing by overhead.
It Is in this combination with the pres
ent railroads that the inventor sees the
greatest future for his one-ran system.