The sun., 1910-05-08

protested against the alOwneas Of even
I so-called express trains, bat such people
rarely displayed readiness 10 pay the
! higher fares necessary - make taas
/ train pay the extra cost Involved 80
the comparatively slow train became The
prevailing kind, and tha Enosye power
and rolling stock wer0 de1l gned 20 meet
the resulting conditions.
THR AIRnRAkR.
Il is absolutely necessary in railroad
operating 10 provide tho means for keep
/ ing trains apart. Before power brakee
I we're introduced the train sometimes had
fearful resemblance 70 a proioctlo. Lbs
I its velocity without the meana Of bringing
Il back % a state Of rest. Tho invention
of the automatic airbrAko BY George
Westinghouse In ls7S hrst provided the
means Of controlling train speed 10 thAf
! ffty or aixty miles an hour wea as safe aa
the lower speeds had previohaly been.
In train service there arc Always occur
ring close escapes from SERIOUS accidents
that are known only 20 thoss partlcipat-
ing. once ives an actor In QUO OF these
close calls that haunted me for years.
was an angineman on an excursion
train Of twenty-five cnrriagel, loadSo
no@Ay WIN AInu4l NluolNA ~ t1e-l--W1y
90 Aberdeen, on the Scottish North East
srr Railway. IL Wsn IN no haFrimg
season. TFains loaded with berrinRl
passing over the linz groaosd the tFack
! from tho brine dropping fE0m the cars
Our excursion train had 20 descend about
iivs milea- Of q steep grade ending a.
StonohAvdh. a station where local trains
from Aberdeen often occupied the main
line.
There were only two brakes on our
train, one on the engine the other on the
brake van. AZ soon a. We entsred the
descending grade. over which horring
train had passed q few hours before.
the train ran away. The two hrakos
seemed 70 have no restralning effect
ls We approached Stonehaven We found
the distance signal against us. and We
were running at terrific speed, the moat
rapid | have ever experienced We
kept sounding the whistle and some cne
ON the ohstructing train recognized the
danger and got Il out Of the way e. We
flashed past like q rocket How many
OF thoaa happy children would have been
slaughtered had the obstruction stOodi
Running the sO-called limited trains
tFaversing nearly all the important
railways to-day has been made prac-
ticahle by the invention Of the airbTake
ana uN the INTRODUCTION oi sAaAluu aihnAla
that keep the trains apart.
The PAYING LOAD QUESTION
The term limited train 70 mosi
persons conveys the idea of train always
rushing along at terrific velocity. guided
by a mind that -slumbsrs not nor sleeps:
but the real speed ls considerably ahort
of the mile a minute paoS. A question
always present with railroad managers
concerning tho speed Of express trains
IL: VIII the engine haul q paying loadf
Keeping high speed trains from strik-
ing distractions calls for the hest OF
stopping appliances maintained In per-
feot order. and eternal vigilance on the
part Of every person connected with
! train movements In 1882, a time when
q public demand was active foE faster
trains. George Westinghouse made the
statement that with q perfect brake act
ing upOn all the wheels Of an express
train running a. a speed oG ninety miles
an hour az the end % ten aooonda after
the application Of the brakes the train
would still be moving a. sixty miles
an hour and would have travelled i.lS1
In about leo feet more or !. $50 feet In an
That was with u~rfect Saaipmsnt which
u rarely found In practice
started running on the New Yofk Central
Railroad | was proaent at q eeries %
tests made % find out what paying load
tho most powerful claas of locomotive
would haul az an average start 90 hniah
speed OF sixty miles an hour. What was
regarded as \ paying load wAs haulsd
from New YORK 20 Buifalo eco miles 10
eco minutes. bus it was feat that could
not be accomplished except under favop-
able conditions thHt DO not sxigt daily
The track w1s kept ahSolueely clear. the
weather Waa hns and the unRinss steamed
very freely. = special qualify Of coal
ing grade had 10 be rushed over and
towns tTavorsed at Illegal speed.
With these Advantages enjoyed the
running speed had 70 b. maintained az
50 seoOnds Tor each mile 10 make up for
unavoidable reduction Of speed. When
more seconds were used every peFaon
familiar with the problem under solution
feared that the train would reach Buffalo
late. The feat undertaken was accom-
plished but We were all wen aware that.
q train 10 make the run daily would re-
quirs considerably mOFe time.
The Empire State Express. which re-
suited from the speed tests referred 70.
makes q start 20 finish speed Of about
. my AAAAA'H NJ NNANa anu - gLN OF NMh
fastest trains IN the world
The demand for accelerated train snegd
which passed over the world and beoame
epidemic about 1880 brought many fast
trains. Not a few railroad managers
having been seized by the prevailing
oontagion were moved 70 Introduce q
Limited Express, a Blue Grass Flyer. q
Lightning Special. a Cannon Bail Limited,
Morning sun Racer or some other
named train that would please the patrons
% the road. keep operative employees
upon the anxious scat and provide the
company with an excuse for sRactinR
higher fares and relegating deadheadS
10 allow trains.
NIsTAERs As TO sP8BD
There has always been an impression
among Americans that trains Ia Europe
were run much faster than the trains
on this continent but there was very little
difference In iSss tho fastest train in ths
world was run from London 20 Manchss-