The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1904-05-19
A RECORD ON THE RAIL
Train Covers a Hundred and
Eleven Miles In an Hour.
SUPPOSED SPEED LIMIT BEATEN.

President OF Michigan Central Rail-
road Furnished Record Breaking
Train ON Wager-PiIot Engine
but Best Road Equipment Was Pro-
vided.
o. w. Rugges, general passenger
agent of the Michigan Central railroad,
recently sent out official figures re-
ceived from the operating department
of the road respecting run made by
Mr.. Ledyard's special train, which
broke the worlds record. The run was
made few days ago from Niagara
Falls to Chicago, and, according to the
dispatchers' train sheets, maximum
speed of 111.90 miles was attained and
kept up for a distance of 1913 miles
from Crisman to Lake, Ind, says a
Chicago special dispatch.
In view of recent experiments in
high speed made by the Pennsylvania,
which resulted, it is said, in demon
strating that 95.1 miles an hour is the
limit possible in modern railroading,
the performance Of Mr.. Ledyards
special train is amazing. The special
carried Mr.. Ledyard, president of the
Michigan Central railroad; Mr.. New
man, president of the New York Cen
trail, and Mr.. Truesdale, president Of
the Lackawanna.
The performance is said to have re-
suited from an argument which arose
regarding the physical condition OF
the various roads. President Newman
maintained that the Lake Shore road
development in the art of railroad
construction and that Lake Shore
trains were, therefore, capable of
greater speed than any other.
President Ledyard declared that the
Lake Shores physical condition was
no better than the Michigan Central's,
and asserted that If he desired to do
so he could with the very train they
were on break worlds speed records
and at the same time demonstrate that
the discipline of the Michigan Central
was Of the highest type.
The wager was accepted, and the
only precautions taken by the president
were to run a pilot engine ahead OF
the train and give ample notice Of the
schedule which he was going to try to
maintain. Switches were not spiked,
but the best road equipment VIZ pro-
vided
The distance between Niagai~ Falls,
Ont, and Windsor, 225.66 miles, was
made in 1917 minutes, or at the rate
Of 1910 miles an hour, excluding stops.
The distance from Brownsville to
Springfield, $50 miles, was made in 3
minutes, or at the rate of 104 miles an
hour, establishing a worlds record.
Between Bismarck and Rodney, 4.4O
miles, was made in 21a minutes, or at
the rate of 105 miles an hour.
From Pokagon to Niles the run was
at the rate of 9S.7O miles an hour.
From Niles to Chicago, including stops
and delays in entering the city, an av-
erage speed of 1907 miles an hour for
1882 miles was maintained. Outside
Of the Ill 80 miles an hour attained on
one portion of this stretch of road the
best performance of the section was
4.O7 miles, from Furnessville to Porter,
at the rate of S1.40 miles an hour. The
average speed, excluding stops, for
the entire distance from Niagara Falls
to Chicago, 471.61 miles, was COST
miles and including stops 55.31 miles,
or nearly six miles an hour faster than
the schedule of the Twentieth Century
limited, the twenty hour Chicago-New
York train over the Lake Shore and
New York Central railroads.