Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1910-02-09
RAPID TRANSIT or THE FUTURE
125 MILES AN HOUR.
EASILY.
BUT STEAM WILL REmAHs IN
USE FOR THE HANDLING
OF FREIGHT.

ried on in Brooklyn " Y. at this
time An exhaustive explanation by
the New York World of the opera
ton OF the great modern system in
Germany tells the stoiy.
The German government is greatly
interested just now in new sys-
tenn of rapid transit proposed by Au-
gust Seherl. the well known newspa-
per proprietor of Berlin. Mr.. Scherl
has embodied all his plans and IDEAS
in pamphlet which is about to be
issued for the serious consideration
sqf railroad engineers in all large CEN
tiers of population where the trans
portation problem is growing more
serious day by day
Scherl divides his treatise into
three parts. The first gives sum-
mary of the crisis in the railway
system of today; the second shows
the way in which difficulties might
Pie solved by his new system, ana
the third shows the economical and
social prospects in public life TO be
derived from radical improvements
over the present system OF rapid
transit.
The progress Of commerce and in
dustry, Scherl points out, has in
Creased the demands upon railways
year by year. The lucrative part of
the railway business is without any
doubt the carriage of goods, wniIe
Ethe carriage of passengers, the only
part of railway traffic that interests
the public at large, is a necessary,
hampering evil which costs the ran.
way money instead OF increasing its
profits The cause of this indisput.-
Bile fact is that when railways were
first built they accepted the old no.
ton that the road was the common
means of traffic for men and goods,
and did not understand that the in
terests Of the two diverge completely
and should on principle be separated.
The Inevitable consequence is that
the track has to be given up an un.
flair proportion of the time to pas
senger trains, and the carriage or
IGD1An uHnuG
The author therefore thinks he is
justified in demanding a complete
separation of the traffic OF goods and
passengers.
But this is not enough. Consider
able reforms are needed where the
traffic of passengers is concerned.
First of all, the system of steam en-
gines must be done away with. Elk
perts agree that the railway Iocomo.
tive Is. the most wastefuI OF all our
steam engines, since It utilities only
8 per cent of the power of coal. An
average speed of 60 miles an hour
is the limit of the steam engine s
practical power. Anything gbeyond
this must be classified as sport. Tne
electric locomotive has already
reached a. high state of perfection
in tEat without waste il can be
drought to speed OF 125 miles an
hour.
The one hindrance to the use OF
the electric engine and its full speed
is the present system of railway
foundation. The two-rail system at
present generally in use is an insur-
mountable obstacle to great speed
1t is first of all impossible to lay
two lines as perfectly parallel as is
necessary for great speed. The sec
ond difficulty is to build the curves
with a radius so large that the outer
rail does not have to be raised be-
yond the limits admissible. These
two obstacles are to be removed by
the following innovation: Swift
passenger traffic to be organized with
electric locomotion on the 'one-rail
system
To prove the technical possibility
of this suggestion Scherl caused ex-
periments to be made in his own
workshops with the inventions OF
Brennan and other Englishmen, who
have shown that it is possible TO
change unstable into stable equili-
brium by providing vessels and other
vehicles with enormous gigs The
results of the experiments were most
favorable There can no longer be
any doubt that vessels or carriages
can be given a stable course on
single rail by gyroscopic apparatuses.
This is simple and safe means of
organizing the modern passenger
traffic in a satisfactory manner. the
foundation win no longer be exposed
to the continual shocks inseparabIe
from the two-rail system, and will
therefore be much less expensive.
The question of curves is easily
solved. since the construction of the
carriages enables them to establish
their equilibrium automatically.
The carriage of freight is left to
the steam railways of today. which,
by having been relieved of the car
rage of passengers, wiz not only pc
able to satisfy the demand OF com.
merce and industry but viii become
much more profitable.
The detailed organization OF the
passenger traffic on the new system
takes up the greater part of the
treatise. The following is a con-
dens,s. account Of it:
The chief ceGtefs Of traffic are 10
be connected with each other BY first
class speed lines that run 1s5 miles
an hour at regular intervals. A net
of second class speed lines surrounds
/ each center where trains run from