The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-05
SEEKS RAILWAY LEAD.
Pennsylvania Management is Trying to Make System Best in the World.


 to Make System Best in the World. From New York to Chicago Record
 Herald.
 MT. Cassatt, president of the Pennsyi- vania Railroad, and his associates are very progressive and farsighted men. transportation business in the near future, and are looking far ahead. Rail- roading has made the same progress dur ing the last twenty-five years as other industries. MT. Cassatt expects 1t to make even greater progress in the next twenty-five years, and is accordingly preparing the Pennsylvania system With improvements which will cost not less than $10O, 900. 900 in the next three or four years. The entire road between New York. Philadelphia, Baltimore and Wash ington, on the Atlantic seaboard, and Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis and Cin- cinnati, on the great lakes and rivers of the West. is being practically rebuilt with four tracks from New York to Pittsburg, double tracks on the western system, and between Philadelphia and Washington grades are being reduced everywhere, curves strengthened, new and permanent bridges erected, new rails weighing 100 and even 120 pounds to the foot are being laid, stone ballasting is being laid everywhere, and other Improve ments made for the promotion of econo- my and speed
 Experience in railroading has taught that curve and a grade cost more in fuel and wear and tear than the ex- pense of reducing and strengthening them, and that economy is promoted by having a track as straight and as level as 1t can possibly be made. Therefore all the railroads in the c9untry that pretend to keep up with the times are reducing many of them find it profitable to bor- row large sums of money to do it. The difference in,the expense of operation and maintenance is greater than the interest and sinking funds required by the bonds.
 But no railroad Is doing so much as the Pennsylvania to bring it's physical prop erty to state of perfection. Mir. Cas- sett's idea is to increase speed and save fuel and repairs. The distance from in five hours. As soon as the improve ments are completed 1t will be made in four hours. The ordinary running time between New York and Chicago is now twenty-four hours, and a new train was recently put on to make It in twenty hours. Within a year or two this will be reduced to eighteen and perhaps to sixteen hours. The latter will require a steady gait of a mile a minute-that Is, sS6 miles in 9S6 minutes (which at present Is beyond the speed of any long distance train in the world, although both the Reading and the Pennsylvania companies run short distance trains betwen Phila- delphia aud Atlantic City at an even higher rate. reaching 66.6 miles an hour regularly every day for the entire dis tance.
 The fastest long distance train is the Sud express between Paris and Bayonne France, which runs 4S6 miles in nine hours, at the rate of 5413 miles an hour The Empire State express on the New York Central runs 40 miles from New York to Buffalo in eight hours and a quarter, which is at the rate of 5S. s miles an hour. The Flying Scotchman from London to Glasgow runs 4O1 miles at the rate of 5O.1S mNes an hour. The Twentieth Century limited on the New York Central and Lake Shore makes 9SO miles between New York and Chicago in twenty hours at the rate of 49 miles an hour. These are the fastest long distance trains in the world. although several short distance trains in Europe make a higher speed. The fastest train in the world except those between Philadelphia and Atlantic City runs between Paris and Arras, 120 miles. and attains an average sped of CLOS miles an hour The fastest trains on the English roads make 56 miles an hour for a distance of 133 miles There are eleven trains in Europe making more than 54 miles an hour hut in no case is the distance greater than 150 miles, and all of them run by daylight.