The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-06-20
EightY~EiVe Miles
an Hour
(New York WorId)


Elghty-hve miles on hour By steam
locomotives is a pretty fair rate OF
speed Tor staid old Germany.
Consul General Mason, in Berlin. tells
cur state department that the German
government is making experiments
with steam engines as careful as those
with electric cars that recently startled
the world
The elecTic-motor trials were COM
pleIed last autumn. The two motor
cars obtained speeds OF 1872 miles per
hOur-or nearly two miles per minute
without injury TO the car or motor.
without undue strain upon the track or
discomfort TO passengers. This upon
straight, nearly level track 1A5 miles
long, and Of the heaviest and most solid
and careful construction.
The track having been carefully eX-
anlned and the deterioating effects Of
the electric motor car trials noted and
repaired, the experiments with steam
locomotives began about the end of
February and were continued until
few days ago. The tests included en-
gines Of four different types, each
built by a different German firm. TO
make the conditions those of actual
service the load consisted of six Vesll-
Dule cars, weighing about thirty tons
each, one OF which had been equipped
with instruments to measure and re-
cord speed, oscillation and pull Each
engine was first tested with the full
train, then with three cars only.
Inc first trials were those of a loco
motive built by the Egest0rf Machinery
company at Hanover. 1t is Of the same
general model as the Atlantic type i'm
the United States This machine. with
a train of six cars, attained an average
speed Of 68.9I miles per hour and with
three cars 1914 miles an hour.
60 O.
construction, Is a compound lOCOmO-
tive, likewise of the Atlantic type This
engine made with the fun train 1882
miles and with three cars 1912 miles
per hour. and showed good results.
The third Contesting machine was
an eight-Wheeled compound engine
equipped with Schmidt's device for
suDeTheating steam. built By A. BOr5ig
at Iegel, near Berlin. This engine Is
one Of a number constructed by the
same firm and supplied to the royal
Prussian railway administration The
driving wheels are seventy ght
inches in diameter; heating surface, S53
square feet; surface Of superheater, z6S
square feet; weight, 120051 pounds
not very heavy engine as we should
rate it, This engine attained with the
full train 1888 miles and with three
cars 8A5 miles an hour the energy de-
yelOped being about 1900 Horsepower.
The fourth competitor was an engine
of an original type designed by Chief
Engineer Whitfield Of the PTussian rail
way administration, and built by
Measrs. Henschel q Sons of Cassel.
Since the trials il has been shipped for
exhibition at the Worlds fair i'm ST.
Louis. The engineer stands within a
glazed cab like the mOtOrman Of an
electric car, and both engine and ten
der are covered with a sheathlng or
sheet iron with glazed windows, pro-
viding a covered passage from front TO
rear. The engine is carried ON twelve
wheels-namely, fOur-Wheet bogie 10
front and rear and between them the
two pairs of drivers. This arrange
meut is to secure steadiuess Of motion.
The bCileFGs. from the European stand
point. enormous having 2,1i6 square
feet of heating surface, and with coal
consumption of 2.5 pounds per horse
power hour It viii develop about l,1t5
horse power. It weighs 1913 tons ana
cost $50, SEQ. The tender weighs Ior-
ty-seven tons and carries seven tons
of coal and 400 gallons OF water,
which it is equipped TO take up az
speed, as is done on some lines In the
United States. At the recent tests this
engine attained a speed of 1888 miles
per hour with six cars, and 65lz miles
with half that number.
With the pneumatic brakes now III
use on German vestibule cars it re-
CURED a full minute and a distance OF
/. 093 yards to stop a train Of six cars
running at eighty-fve miles an hour.
German fiTa-claEs trains are equipped
for a maximum speed of 52.8 miles an
Eour and their brakes a train at that
speed within 4f3 yards. If any ap-
preach to higher speeds should be
adopted, the change would involve
notifications in brakes ana signal sys-
TENS.
A Berlin engineer. DR.. Reichel' has
given some comparisons Of cost be
tween steam and electric fractions. a
steam train Of FIVE cars and a standard
locomotive weighs $50 tons, seats l6s
passengers and uses at full speed l40o
horsepower. The electric train of one
motor ear and four trail cars weighs
260 tons, seats $50 passengers and utll-
ICES 600 horse power. Each train ana
engine costs about 500, 600. The OPP
Grating cost of the steam train IS liked
by DR.. ReicheI at 121a cents per 100 seat
kilometres, and l11s cents, or i cent
cheaper, for the electric train