The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-04-16
NINETY MILES AN HOUR
Soon the Travelling Public Will Fly
Along One Rail Track.

New York, April 1.-THE Journal says;
BY an act of the British parliament M.
| 3, f. Behr is about to construct a rail-
road from Liverpool to Manchester that is
| to run an express train at the rate OF
ninety miles an hour. It will be the fast
est train on earth. It Is to be scheduled
! to make the run of thirty miles between
these two big cities in twenty minutes.
| To do this an entirely new kind of rail-
road system is to be built. Instead Of a
| double rail track it will have but one rail.
The bicycle has shown how two wheels
in line with each other can travel i'm
mensely faster than any four wheeled We
hicle. The new Liverpool and Manches-
ter railroad is TO be built on the same
principle. The friction of two rails will
be done away with. There will be no
| heavy trucks. Light, well poised cars will
be mounted on a single elevated rail. They
will be speeded up to atremendous mo-
mentum and shoot forward at this hither-
to unheard of rate.
This sounds visionary after considering
the sage remarks passed by railroad Off
Gals Of late that the limit Of speed in
railroad travel has now been reached.
But the inventor of this new system of
lightning express trains quietly ignores
present railroad calculations and goes 10
work 10 cut ordinary time schedules
squarely in two.
This is how he is going 10 do Il. A sin
gle rail will be put I'D on a steel trestle
work four feet above the ground. On this
broad top rail the wheels of the cars and
engines are to rest and beadr their weight
Two smaller rails Will run along the sides
of the steel trestle. These are merely
guide rails to steady the cars and prevent
them flying the track. On either side OF
the big top rail the sides Of the cars will
extend down to within seven inches Of
the ground with this construction it will
be absolutely impossible for a train TO
leave the track unless the engine rears
up and plunges like a Wild West show
5uCking broncho
The strangeness Of this one-rail track
makes it necessary 10 build an entirely
new form Of engine and cars The cars
are monstrous affairs. eleven feet wide
and rfty-nine feet long. On the inside
they lock Ike a ships cabin with row
OF seats running through the middle. with
the seats placed back 10 back, while along
the sides OF the car by the windows ere
long rows % upholstered seats facing the
middle ones. Each side Of the wide car
viii be entirely separate from the other
Right in this middle section ot the car,
which apparently forms the backs % The
middle rows OF seats. wiI Dc The whole
running gear, large Wheels IN the middle
supporting the weight O. the main top
rsil, and smaller wheels on the side 70
guide ard steady the car All these wheels
viii be 50 mounted With ball bearings -
% run lmost without noise Or jar even
when going AZ terrific speed.
Even stranger than me cars IN sppaar-
aRce are the locomotives % the one-rzII
system They are bull, aouoae- Zach e.
sine has Two boilers. tEo s-rokestacks and
iva IRE boxes They look Ike two e1e-
waited locomotives tacAzes up together ou
top q fsEce. Bat they are SO nlcely al
jusssd and Joined fossthsr thas thsy
work 70 uerfe1t unison Ths driving
wheels ress upon tae rog raiL Teey are
driven wig5 igatl.iag speed b he cyl
Inders art pissouz q iae snrnes. TIE
power exertea is less saal hAH la.g y