Railroad Fliers

1895

LITTLE PROGRESS IN DEVELOPING SPEED OF LATE YEARS.

Obstacles That Must Be Overcome Before Fast Time Is Made on American Roads. While There May Be Changes In Motive Power, Curves Are the Worst Trouble.

The mile a minute railroad record, on an average, has not yet been reached, and perhaps the present generation of readers 30 years hence may not be witnesses to its accomplishment. The fastest train in this country at the present time, running between New York and Chicago, attains an average speed of 40 miles an hour, and from the present outlook it will be many years before this average is increased. In 1866 an average speed of 28 miles an hour was recorded between the same cities. It is astonishing, all things considered, how little progress the railroads have made in speed. The progress is so small comparatively that one familiar with the facts cannot fail to be puzzled or to have suggested to his mind the question whether the system itself is not inherently at fault — whether it was not begun and developed on the wrong lines.

The man who stands in the open country and sees the limited express flit by like an angry, panting ghost is filled with wonder at the speed and thinks it fast enough. The traveler who sits in his luxurious parlor car and looks out at the stations as they slide past his window in a long blurred streak of black and gray finds his exhilaration heighten in proportion as the train accelerates its onward motion. No speed is too great for him, provided the road is straight and the motion smooth. The switches click like clock ticks in his ear, and he looks with the eye of fascination on the landscape, distorting itself in all directions as though made of india rubber. People like to travel fast. They enjoy the feeling of superiority which comes with rapid speed. They want to go quick, whether they are in a hurry or not.

It is an open question whether the railroad has reached the limit of speed consistent with safety. Eminent engineers and practical railroad men are divided in their opinions, some arguing that the limit has been reached, others insisting that, if the curves are modified or cut out almost entirely, trains can be run from one-third to one-half faster than at present. Will it be necessary to modify the shape of the wheels and track? Will the present type of engine or motor have to be changed to one where there will be no power lost in the back stroke of the piston? Will steam give way to electricity or some other force?

These are the principal points which are in doubt, and about which engineers draw very different conclusions from their experience. There is now very little, if there is any, doubt as to whether steam will give way to electricity or some other force which produces a better relative result, with less noise and less wear and tear on machinery and is less susceptible to the weather. It is no uncommon thing for a fast express engine to slow down speed in very cold weather, owing to what they call "freezing out the steam."

There is no theoretical doubt that the rails and wheels can be so modified as to make the engine and train stick to the track better and reduce the margin of danger. There is also no doubt, in theory, that an engine could travel much faster if some plan of mechanism could be devised which would do away with or reduce to the absolute minimum the effects of the back stroke of the piston and connecting rods. The shrewd railroad managers of the country have about come to the conclusion that the motive power has almost reached perfection, and that their roadbeds are now the real obstacles to great average speed. With curves and the deadly grade crossings eliminated, who can tell what may be done? Cities and towns, no matter how small the latter may be, have rights which must be respected, and while they are the speed of trains must suffer. In England everything is plain sailing. When the roads were originally constructed, they found thickly populated districts on all sides. In America we built railroads first and imported the people afterward to patronize them. Over on the "little island" everything is fenced in, and grade crossings are unknown. The engineer pulls open the throttle, the train starts, and he knows he will have to look out for nothing but tower signals and other trains. American engineers are looking forward to the establishment of a similar state of things in this country.

Of course the real danger in increasing the speed of express trains driven by steam does not lie in incidental risks. It is not denied that a modern locomotive might be built which could run up to 90 or possibly 100 miles an hour, if the lines were straight. It is the curves of the existing lines which render any such speed impossible unless the weight of the locomotive and train were also increased far beyond what the bridges and permanent way would bear. At the first sharp curve the 100 mile express would fly off the rails. The necessary relation of these curves to speed is accurately known, and it is that, and not the want of power or novel dangers from wind pressure or boiler explosions, which sets the limit to modern train speed.

As the force tending to throw off the line a train running at the speed of 150 miles an hour would be about 6-1/2 times greater than that which a steam express train resists a curve when running at 60 miles an hour, it is plain that the present lines could not be used for the lightning express, even though the electrometer were substituted for the steam engine. The lines must not only be stronger, but straighter than would be possible by any modification of their present form. — Washington Star.

The Florida Razorback

1901

The Florida "razorback" is the hog indigenous to this climate and soil. He is usually large of limb and fleet of foot, being the only known porker that can outrun a darky. He has a tail of wondrous length, which, while he is in active motion, he twists into the tightest corkscrew, but with which while quietly feeding he raps his leathery sides much in the same manner that the docile cow uses her tail.

He is self supporting. He earns his own living and thrives equally well in the highwoods, in the flatwoods, in the hummocks and in the marshes. He subsists upon anything he can find above the earth or underneath its surface. He has a clear, farseeing eye and is very sensitive of hearing. Nature has equipped him with a snout almost as long as the beak of the wild pelican of Borneo, with which he can penetrate the earth many inches in quest of worms, snakes and insects.

He is the most intelligent of all the hogs and is likewise the most courageous. He has been known to engage in mortal combat with a coon for the possession of a watermelon and to rend asunder a barbed wire fence. — Forest and Stream.

Astor's Speed Boat Outraces Torpedoes

1916

Newport, R. I., Sept. 23. — The fastest craft on Narragansett bay is the motor boat Mystery, owned by Vincent Astor. Its speed is estimated at about 45 land miles an hour.

On Thursday Mr. Astor, with his machinist, took the Mystery to the torpedo testing range. From the decks of passing yachts and from the steamer General of the Wickford line, Mr. Astor could be seen chasing torpedoes, which were being tested. The Mystery outdistanced the speed boats the government uses to follow close behind torpedoes in speed tests in order to pick them up in case of trouble.

In all the runs the Mystery was able to keep ahead of the torpedoes, something the government motor boats cannot do.

The Faster You Can Get There, The Later You Are?

1910, editorial observations

Is the speedy motor car an obstacle to punctuality? It would seem so.

Certainly the habit of arriving late at the theater and other places of entertainment is growing with the multiplication of the means of rapid transportation. It is seldom that a play or program is not marred or interrupted by these late arrivals. And the disturbance is greater where motor cars carry the larger number of the attendants.

Does this mean that those who have to depend on the street cars are more apt to give themselves reasonable time than are those who have gotten into the habit of thinking that neither time nor distance counts when the automobile is available? At any rate the habit is a bad one.

Much Fun with Stop Watch

1910

Owner Describes a Variety of Ways in Which He Has Found It Affords Him Diversion

"Having a stop watch," says the man who had just bought one, "reveals a whole lot of ways of amusing yourself that you'd hardly think of before.

"Since I've had a watch I've been able to while away a lot of time. Not a pun, either. For instance, walking in the city where the numbered blocks make calculating easy, I am continually holding the watch on my pedestrian efforts.

"I figure first how long it takes me walk a block. Going at top speed so that some folks think I'm mad, I have been able to do 88 yards in 29 2-5 seconds, or about seven miles an hour.

"Then, of course, I time all intermediate distances up to a mile. I've learned pretty well just what four miles an hour means, and I want to tell you that folks who speak so glibly about doing that ought to hold a watch on their performances to see what it means.

"The other day I got up some sprint races between some boys, just so I could time their running. I find there's lot of fun, too, in making imaginary bets with myself how long it will take me to catch up with some one else walking in the same direction or how long it will be before a car gets to a certain crossing.

"Also a stop watch is a great thing for timing how long you can hold your breath."