The Washington times., 1935-03-25
NOW
Railways Reply
to the Auto
RIDING ZEPHYR
Bv HELEN ESSARY

O comet among railroad trains.
It rushed us through the Vir-
ginia countryside - sometimes
at 85 miles an hour.
"Hold 1t to so. Sharp curve!"
So warned Mr.. E. M. Hast
ings, chief engineer of the R.
F.. and p, over whose road the
Zephyr was speeding.
The operator, Jack Ford,
moved the lever back a notch
or two. Smoothly the comet
slowed down. Then-straight
road ahead! Mr.. Hastings said:
East as you like"
Up the speedometer climbed.
Fifty-five! Sixty! Seventy!
Eighty! Eighty-five! I clung to
the camp stool Miss Olive
Dennis, service engineer of the
B. & o. railroad, and I were
sharing. Colonel Ragsdale, the
man who designed the Zephyr.
who gave it it's stream line and
flattened out its ears, took the
pipe out of his mouth and
grinned.
Mr.. E. M. Budd. who built
the Zephyr, shouted, "Good!"
Trees with a flash of red
bud in the dark branches,
creeks, flat brown fields whirred
nv Crowds at Way stations
and crossroads waved and
cheered. Automobiles, VIII oSe e
speed has driven the railroads
to such extremities as the
Zephyr, stopped at overhead
bridges.
Country people looked out
of their farmhouse windows.
Came hurrying up and down
hills at the side of the track.
Some with babies in arms. At
Quantico, hundreds of Marines
saluted. Oldtime brakemen on
freight trains shouted hello.
And crossing tenders waved
their canes.
"The Zephyr is bringing
back the old American custom
Of watching the train go BY"
we said, trying to make our
selves heard. Mr.. Hastings
replied:
''YOu have to get them watch
ing if you want to get them
inside again."
There was little talking in
the engine room. The small
group was tense with excite
ment. . The whirr of the 600
horsepower engine drowned
voices. Now and then, over
come by the urge to speak,
someone would pitch the voice
through handicapped mouth.
John c. Lewis, road foreman,
said:
Seventy around that curve
and not a jar. You did that
grade at so. An Oldtimer
couldn't make it at SO."
An oldtimer was com n 6
grandly along on the other
track in steam and smoke and
obvious power. The Zephyr slid
smoothly and pridefully by. We
said:
"If we were only at the 'dep-o'
to watch us go by"
And then listened eagerly for
the staccato talk of the railroad
people. Their talk was concrete
of power and speed. Of trains
that conquer a continent. Not
theoretical washington talk OF
gold standards and bonus bills.
They love their trains and
their railroads. You could see it
in their intensity of expression.
They aren't going to let the
automobile continue to steal
their trade. Indeed, the rail"
road has gone to the automobile
people for its best product.
Automobile manufacturers and
automobile engineers have built
the Zephyr out of stainless steel
and aluminium and horsepower
and imagination.
They've made train that is
like an expensive woman-just
out of a beauty parlor-slick.
manicured, eyebrows plucked,
hair waved, swift stepping. Con"
scious of her own quality. Vain
of her slim figure. They've
dressed her in pastel greens
and grays. And kept the weight
of the engine, baggage car, and
three body sections down to a
mere IS tons, the weight of one
Pullman coach.
The Zephyr has no firemen
Isince there is no fire). Jack
Ford, who once drove the
Zephyr 1,O35 miles in 785 min
utes Cor whoever the operator
may be, who sits at the
throttle), must always keep his
foot or hand on the dead
mans lever" When the lever
flies up, as it would if the
operator were to become sud-
denly i'll, the train would auto
matically stop-immediately.
AS the Zephyr darts through
the country nights it can sound
no nostalgia whistle. A whistle
on g steamless engine is not
satisfactory.
The man who first drove the
Zephyr sounded it's whistle so
1olId as he passed his own