Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-09-22
SPECIAL FAST TRAINS.
Interesting F acts in Regard to Their
Operation.

OPSUaVOUs
Ever since the Pennsylvania and
the New York Central railroads in.
augurated their fast service between
New York and Chicago, a heated dis,
cussion has been carried on in the
newspapers as to the safety of trav.
cling under these new conditions.
The accident to the Lake Shore Fly.
err soon after It was put in service,
aroused general apprehension that
these high speed trains could not be
operated with average safety. In
some official quarters the disposition
has been shown to yield to this criti.
clsm, at least SO far as to admit the
possibility of an eventual modification
of the schedule to conform to what
might appear to be general demand
for slower speed.
The criticism of the policy of these
two companies in reducing the time
or their special trains Is based upon a
Misrepresentation of the new factors
which make these high speeds pos
sible. The time of these trains is on
ly in a small measure due to their in.
creased speed. The main reason for
the reduction in time is the long
runs, and the success of the efforts
which have been made to keep the
tracks clear, The average speed of
the Pennsylvania Special from Chi.
cago to New York is about so miles
per hour, including stops, and slightly
more than this taking out the small
amount of time necessary to change
engines. This speed is not excessive.
and in fact it is exceeded on many
roads without giving rise to the slight.
est adverse comment. The speed of
the express trains between Washing
ton and New York, and between Phil.
adelphia and Atlantic City, frequent.
ly reaches 70 miles per hour, and GO.
mile schedules are common. Similar
fast time is made on MANY other
roads. In fact, the running speed of
the pennsylvania railroads eighteen.
nour train Is but little greater than
that of the twenty-four.hou train Oh
Grated by the same company between
New York and Chicago. For exam.
pie, between New York and North
Philadelphia, the time of the Penn.
sylvania Special is one hour and AZ
minutes, and of the Chicago Special
two hours and two minutes; between
Harrisburg and Altoona the time is
two hours and SO minutes for the
Pennsylvania Special, and three hours
and ten minutes for the slower train:
between Altoona and Pittsburg the
Pennsylvania Special saves a half hour
over the time Of the Chicago Special.
between New York and Pittsburg the
running time OF the eighteen-hour
special is but two hours and is min
utes less than that of the twenty.four.
hour train, and of this time more than
80 minutes is explained by the longer
stops of the Chicago Special. West
OF Pittsburg the eighteen-hour train
saves four hours over the time of the
Chicago Special. but this is again ex-
planned by the more frequent stops
OF the slower trains. After leaving
Pittsburg, the first stop of the Penn
sylvania Special is at Crestline, a run
of 1873 miles. The Chicago Special
however, makes four stops between
Plttsburg and Crestline, and four
stops between Crestline and Chicago
as compared with two for the Penn
sylvania Special. Eastbound the time
OF the Pennsylvania Special from Har.
risbug to New York, is but Is min.
utes less than that of the twenty.four.
hour train.
Excessive speed maintained for long
distances along lines crowded with
trafflc Is undoubtedly factor of dan
ger, when met with, but this is not
the condition present in the fast ser
vice recently inaugurated between
chicago and New York. The phenom
email time Of these trains is due rath.
er to the absence of interference than
to the speed of the engines and the
excellence of the roadbeds. AS the
operating efficiency continues to in
crease. and in response to the growing
demand of the travelling public, an av-
erage speed of SO miles an hour for
1000 miles, it is not unreasonable to
expect, will in few years become a
matter OF course.-Railway World.