The Saint Paul globe., 1900-06-10

ing all records on the Baltimore & Ohio
| road but all of the worlds records from
one mile to twenty miles as well on the
trip made Saturday, May 26.
FOUR MILES OF LOW SPEED.
AS has been stated, it is forty miles
| from Baltimore to Washington From
| the Camden station in Baltimore there
are two miles Of city yards. switches and
| curves which must be taken at a slow
| speed not only for purposes of safety,
! but in order to comply with city ordi-
! nances. Not until Annapolis Junction,
! eighteen miles from Baltimore, Is reached
| is there anything like clear running.
AT Trinidad, two miles from Washing
! ton, the speed of all trains must be re-
| duced and the last half mile is made
/ at speed Of from four to six miles an
| hour. There are, therefore, in this forty
miles four miles which must be run at
very low speed, and decided drop made
| at Relay.
There is very little, straight track for
| the entire distance, the longest stretch
| being less than three miles
! The time between stations was taken
| by four observers, two of whom were
officials of the Baltimore & Ohio rail-
| road. The run to Relay, nine miles from
| Baltimore, was made in about eight min
| utes. From Relay to Annapolis juno
] Baltimore. there are sharp curves and
| heavy grades, but the train did not
! slacken to a speed much below fifty-five
miles an hour
The following records between Annap-
! oils Junction and Trinidad should prove
of great interest not only to railroad Of
! ficials but to all who are interested in
record breaking performances. Here are
! some sample runs made by the cigar
! shaped train, or torpedo train, as Mr..
Adams prefers to call It,
RECORDS AT VARIOUS DISTANCES.
Annapolis Junction to Savage, ~ miles,
IN l minute and "a seconds, a speed Of
SAB miles an hour This was up heavy
| grade.
Annapolis Junction to Laurel. "a
miles, in 9 minutes and ] second a speed
grade.
Annapolis Junction to Contee, dis
tance of 81 miles, in 4 minutes and 55
seconds. a speed of 70 miles an hour.
Annapolis Junction to Muirkirk. 7 miles,
in 6 minutes and seconds, a speed of 50
miles an hour. This was to the top of
the grade.
The figures given below will give an
idea of the speeds on a Ievel track and
on the down grade to Washington.
MUrlHirk to Beltville. % miles. in 1
minute and 4S seconds a speed of 70 miles
Murlrirl1 to Branchville' miles, in 8
minutes and 80 seconds. a speed of so
miles an hour. This was down grade.
Muirkrk to College, sc miles, in 4 min
utes and 5S seconds, speed Of so miles
an hour.
Muirkirk to Alexander 81 miles, in
minutes and IS seconds a speed of 70
miles an hour A slight up grade
Muirkirk to Trinidad, 13 miles in 9
minutes and l3 seconds. speed Of 85
miles an hour.
Alexander Junction to Trinidad. miles.
In 9 minutes and 55 seconds Of
103 miles an hour. This was made on a
slightly down grade. and on a fairly
straight track. This five-mile run is un-
questionably the fastest pace ever travel
ed by a human being who has lived to
tell the tale.
The entire twenty miles from Annap-
oils Junction to Trinidad was made in
about Is minutes, or sustained speed of
nearly so miles an hour.
81 am accustomed to high rates of rail-
road speed" said Mr.. Adams in discus
sing this run with a number of railroad
officials at the WaIdorf-Astoria "and
while I was very intent on catching the
exact time as we passed the stations,
could not but be impressed with the Won
derful speed at which we were moving
through the air AS we struck the down
grade on the other side of Muirkirk, the
roar of the train took on different key.
WAS A DELIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE.
The sounds became blended, and the
pitch became higher and higher as the
speed Of the train increased. The scenery
merged into one long blur, and no one
but a train hand familiar with the sta
tions could have discerned the signs as
we whired past, or even distinguish one
village from another
''There was no violent swaying or any
unpleasant motion to the train. There
was an absence of whistling of air
through the windows and other obstruc-
tions, as is the feature incident to high
speeds on ordinary trains. It was de-
lightful and eXhilaratfng experience, and,
from any point of view, far more eXcit-
ing than horse or yacht racing, or any
kind of sport which I can think Of
1--WE knew we were going to break the
record before we had travelled ten miles,
but it was not until yesterday that I
had time to sit down and calculate the
| speeds at which we were travelling be-
tween the different stations I had
thought that the run between Branchville
and College was the fastest and was sur
prised and pleased to find on going over
the records more carefully, that the run
from Alexander Junction to Trinidad was
not only our fastest speed, but the fast
est record ever made in the history of
railway science.
''I am told by those competent to know
that there is no recorded mile faster than
forty seconds. OF course, we have no
means of knowing what our fastest mile
was 1t is sufficient to know that we
made five miles at an average speed of
10S miles an hour"