The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-02-16
OUR TRAINS NOT THE FASTEST
England Holds the lead and France
is a Close Second
Reference II Made 20 the Regular
Scheduled Run OF Trains-Greas
Time-Saving Device Is Slipping Of
n Car From the Train, While Run.
ming at High Speed-Ffne Runs Be.
tween New York and Chicago.
milwaukee Sentnei.)

Instictively people think OF speed
as the first and most interesting fea-
ture of the railroad. and i'm view OF
the development Of railroads in h
United States most Americans will be
surprised TO learn that this country Is
not first in the matter OF fast trains
England holds the lead and France T.
8 close second.
In this statement reference Is made
not to the short bursts OF speed which
this or that engine has shown and
may lever show again. but to the reg
ular scheduled run OF trains. In ok
ing first at England. one Is apt 10 be
surprised TO find how many fast trains
and long runs without stops are made
there daily.
The fastest regular long-distance
run without stop in the world Is on the
Great Western from London To Brls-
toll. 11sh miles In IeO minutes. or
practically sixty mics an hour. In
order 10 drop passengers at Bath q
car Is slipped from the train without
stop, a time-saving device in operation
on a number OF European roads. and
still unknown here.
The longest run without stop made
in any country is from London To Liv-
erpool on the Londo n Northwest
ern, col miles. made at the rate OF nifty
four miles an hour. The hex longest
is on the Midland. from London to
Leeds, 1876 miles. at the rate OF fifty
two miles an hour.
The train in this country coming
nearest to these long runs without
stop is the Empire State Express. on
the New York Central. from New York
to Albany, 143 miles. at the rate or
So 64-100 miles an hour. n the time
of the same train TO Buffalo. 4i0 miles
in 500 minutes. is Just a trifie faster
than that of the Midland express from
London to Glasgow. 447 miles in $40
minutes. Each makes our regular
stops. The Northwestern runs a train
from London to Glasgow, 401h miles.
in eight hours. making only TWO stops.
The Great Northern runs a train
from London to Doncaster. 156 miles.
without stop. in 169 minutes. at the
rate of 55l. miles an hour. and the
Great Central train runs over Eng
lands new road, from London to
Sheffield. 165 miles. in 10 minutes.
ovcr SIS miles an hour. slipping a q
at Leicester without stop.
These fast and Ions runs are com-
mon to all the trunk lines I'm England
II III Ail1 oliittu a tAA last
runs are all confined TO two roads. the
New York Central and The Pennsyi-
vania. Compared to many English
fast runs the time between New FORK
and Washington and Boston Is slow.
The distance to the two cities from
New York is about the same, and in
both cases the fastest trains make it
in FIVE hours Cor a little over. now. to
Boston,, or at the rate of ~forty-six
miles an hour. three stops being made
in a case.
For runs Of nearly 1000 miles no
country can show trains to compare
with the New York and Chicago trains
On the New York Central. the best
trains making the $50 miles in 1880
minutes. or at ffty-four miles an hour.
While this is not quite so fast as the
time made by the fast trains from
Paris to Lyons and Marsefles. the dis
lance Is twice as great as across
France
Coming to short runs and special
summer trains. undoubtedly the fast
est are from Camden TO Atlantic City.
Here some very fast time has been
mad over an ideal country for last
time. by both the Reading and the
Pennsylvania. The Reading has set
the pace and the Pennsylvania fol-
lowed. The best Reading time il fifty.
six and one-half miles I'm fifty minutes
CT SlAly~Sih miles an nOur. while the
best Pennsylvania time is ffty-nine
miles at the rate of sixty-four miles m
hour
These constitute all the fast regular
trains in the United States. The FAST
est run in New England outside the
Boston-New York run Is from Boston
to Portland at the rate Of forty-four
miles an hour, and the showing il still
poorer in the west and south. Chi
cago, in many respects the greatest
railroad center In the world. has no
fast trains outside the New York Cen
trail and the Pennsylvania trains re-
ferred to.
Throughout the west. While the best
trains are very luxurious. perhaps the
most up-to-date in the world. the runs
are all short averaging about thirty
miles between stations and the speed
nowhere averages forty miles an
hour Throughout the south there are
really no first-ciass express trains 9TH
er than those from New York CITY or
Chicago carrying the tourist travel at
certain seasons OF h year.