The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1900-11-24

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Railroad officers are seriously consid-
erinS the possibility Of reducing freight
train speeds, and We believe that the
subject l. 70 be introduced at the next
meeting Of the Western Railway club
by gentleman quite competent to pre-
esent,it. We should not be surprised II
it is correct to say that no other single
reform would yield so large an increase
in net earnings. Adozen or IS years
j ago the doctrine was pretty ably stated
and supported that there would be
actual economy in running freight
trains faster than they were then run,
for the losses in wages, in interest on
the equipment, In radiation of heat
from the boiler and engines because
Of the longer time in service, and per-
haps other elements, united to make it
actually more expensive to move freight
trainsat low speeds than at high speeds.
But even then the highest speed seri.
ously contemplated as economical was
20 miles an hour, with 30 as the maxi
mum l at very favorable points. = ::
: 1t is probable that.the notions. then
piausibiy supported have had certain
effect in practice during the in,erven-
ing period, although unqueztionably
the one great reason why 1reig ht train
speeds have been run up to the wasteful
height that they, have now reached is
stthe pressure tor getting and holding
.epmpetitive traffic. Engineering con-
:siderations. have had. mighty little to do
withfthe ease. =,
q reforn4 such as is proposed falls into
the same class as reduction vi passenger
TRAIN speeds and cutting Ut duplicate
passenger service q kind OF reform often
discussed. but in which little has vet
been accomplished. A wise control of
freight train speeds would not reduce
the expenditure Of productive energy.
but II would save waste, and 50 it would
not only add to the wealth vi the rail-
road companies which might have the
courage 10 carry out such reform, but
1T would add to the wealth IF the world.
We Judge that there can lie little ques-
ton as 10 the possibility OF such saw
ing considered an engineering
standpoint. Th. great difficulty viii
come from the traffic department. But
the engineers can al least Try to analyze
the subject and to state somewhat ,le6-
nitely the sources Of waste aud the
amount Of the economies u be possibly
attained. "
It is obvious that at slow speeds heav-
Ter trains can be hauled. We at once
introduce here An economy in wages.
y We do the same work with three
trains that was formerly done y 18th tive
tralqhs we save . part Of the wages of
the crews of two trains. Obviously, all
lPf these wages cannot be saved, beca use
Is trains are run slower they. must be
: s t. s, On the h sud though wages
Are as IS on thssST&igth Of run, still
they must ultimately come down to the,
1haJis ot time spent. - .-s :.
In spite: Of the ingenious argument
that he longer the Locomotive is On the
4oad the greater will Sc the loss Of heat
Pr radiation, nerertm less, il v i'll prob
ably be admitted By almost ever, body
'that great deal-of tuei; can :be saved
by running freight trains s.ow.r than
many Of them are now run, mas nuch as
y greater amounttof heat energy in the
coal will be transferred to available
ENERGY in the steam at some compare
lively low speed.
These. We take it. are the chief ele-
enents OF economy. namely, wag es aud
Fluei, bit there are other elements " hlch
must be important. The REDUCTION Of
the cost Of Smaintenance Of track aid
equipment would he considerable.
Aside from the saving in normal wear
and tear, there would be certain saw
mg--probably not great. but slI sig
s1iticant-~in the losses through acci-
dents. 1t is matter Of commCn kno WI
edge that many der ailments, such, for
example, as those from broken wheels,
.have been made much more costly BY
.1it speed than would have been the
case at low speed. ,:.,s> ! :: ,>:>. =:
1t is not clear that, generally speak,
ing, saving could be made i, :lhs more.
SECULAR and uninterrupted as@t e1Gent
,Sf the traffic over the road III lse1ghtt
strains were run at low average speeds.
II is easy to see. that with a ;nsxed trait
4c the operating difficulties msg.-t be
4 Increased. but on the other hand, it !
seems reasonable that on most roads
freight trains could jog along at slow
snd steady pace and keep their inter
vols and keep out Of the way Of the rela-t
lively few fast trains just as wei as il
the average freight train speed was
high: Possibly they could do1his even
better at a normally low schedule
Railroad Gazette. ST. e. Y.
AI Ne Doubt Of Personal Devil.
81 The assertion which was made res