The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1909-09-03
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The development of train service 10
often not fully realized until our at
tention 10 called to the number of
trains running between our chief
towns. Taking the summer time
table Of 1908. for example. there were
20 down and - up trains between
London and Glasgow: between Lon.
don and Edinburgh there were 80
down and 2s up: while between tho
metropolis and Leeds there were Is
down and 80 up. and between London
and Manchester no less than 5S down
and b3 up. that 10. on an average, .
z6-minute service. 1t must be borne
In mind. however. that different routes
are taken by many of these trains and
consequently different towns are con.
rected up by trains running between
the same points.
Although comfort and frequency Of
service are two important features in
railway improvements. the increase
in speed and In the number Of long
nonstop runs daily being performed
on many of our main lines emphasizes
perhaps more than anything else the
high degree Of emciency our railways
have attained. During the past sum-
mer the time tables Of our chief lines
showed . total Of over 1856 runs Of
more than 100 miles without . stop
OF these the fastest running 10 done
by two expresses on the Great West.
ern railway. which cover the 11sX
miles between Paddington and Bristol
in two hours. giving q start to stop
average speed of 59.s miles per hour.
Next to these comes q run on the
Great Northern railway from Grant.
ham to Kings Cross. 105k miles, at
an average speed of SIT miles per
hour.
To maintain such high speeds for
30 many miles demonstrates what vast
Improvements have taken place in the
steam locomotive. for in 1870 the quick
est average speed In this country was
only ~ miles per hour. It IL only by
the aid Of water-troughs that these
long nonstop runs can be made; the
troughs. which are about 500 yards in
length, are placed between the rails
and are automatically kept full. Water
can thus be picked up while running
by a scoop under the tender, which is
lowered into the trough by the engine
men, the speed Of the train forcing
the water up the scoop into the ten
der tank.
In the development Of train work.
In he nj
tant part than the locomotive, for. "a
the trafiic and the demand for rapid
transit have increased. 30 has the To-
comotive been brought up to the nee
essary state Of efficiency, not only as
regards speed. but in economical
working. without which 1t would have
been an impossibility to give the pub
lie what they desired. The modern
locomotive Is an evolutionary product,
and although the main principles re-
main much the same as in the early
engine, It would be hard for the lay
man to recognize any of the old in
the new. The invention Of the loco
motive is nowadays absolutely indis-
pensable to our daily existence. In
its earliest days 1t has been likened
in appearance to q medieval engine of
war and was originally used only on
colliery lines because 1t could pull a
few more trucks than could a horse.
The idea Of speed never seemed to
enter into the minds of its promoters,
and at the opening of the Stockton
and Darlington railway in 1925, when
the locomotive made its first appear
ance in the interests of the public.
considerable surprise was caused by
the speed 1t attained Of some IL miles
per hour. It Is recorded that the
horseman who preceded It with a flag
had promptly to clear out of the way.
to the wonder of the assembled crowd
At first it met with a considerable
amount of opposition and many
strange objections were taken to It;
but as soon as 1t began to be recos-
nized what commercial prosperity was
wrapped up in its development all
these objections disappeared. 1t was
not. however, until the famous loco
motive contest at Rainhill In 1929 that
the hitherto doubtful question of its
practical success was settled once and
for all. On that occasion the Rocket,
designed by Stephenson, astonished
the spectators by running IS miles in
one hour 45 minutes and attaining q
speed of nearly 80 miles per hour
pulling load Of Is tons.
This historic engine weighed in
working order ~ tons and was car
risd On four wheels: it, tender fully