RAILWAY SPEEDS

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 47, 25 February 1901, Page 2

RAILWAY SPEEDS

WHAT EUROPE, AMERICA, AND AUSTRALIA CAN DO.

The speed which a train can accomplish depends on other things than the power of the engine. It depends on the condition of the line, the quality of the curves, and In no little degree upon the instructions to the driver. Nearly all railway companies give engine-drivers a "coal premium." which j can be earned by effecting economy in the amount of coal consumed. The result is that drivers are often tempted to sacrifice punctuality to the company's niggardliness, one way being- by keeping an indifferent fire going, and another by reluctance to come to a dead stop when the signals are adverse. But one, at any rate, of tlie big United States lines has abolished this system, making punctuality the first consideration; and, says Mr Burton, Alexander in "Railway Ri/ns in Three Continents" (Elliot Stock), this has been done without any bad results in the way of extravagance. English railways should note this. Coal premiums are responsible for "coal dodging," 'which is worse tTian colour blindness in an engine-driver. Colour blindness entails instant dismissal; coaldodging simply aggravates the passengers, whose time it wastes. It is interesting- to note which lines make the> best running. Mr Alexander, a traveller in many lands, has been taking careful notes during his railway journeys, and one of the first things-that one notices in examining these records is the frequency with" which tra'lns are late In starting-. LATE IN STARTING. The best English lines are oiTenders in this respect; the Caledonian, Midland, and London and North-Western all showins delays at the outset of the Journeys, and, in most cases, inability to make the loss of time good. The solitary run on the London, Chatham, and Dover.recorded in this book under notice shows a loss of five minutes in starting, which loss was actually no greater at the end of a seventy-five mile journey—a creditable performance indeed. One of the best runs recorded was on the Nord de France, when an average speed of 51.79 miles per hour was maintained by a small engine, with a heavy load, and in bad weather. .This train, by the way, was over an hour and a quarter late both in starting and arriving. French and Italian railways come out of this somewhat inconclusive test with a good name; but North American takes the lead. The Canadian Pacific is credited with some fine performances, speeds of more than fifty-four miles per hour over difficult roads being common. On this line Mr Alexander has recorded single miles in-41 2-ssec. The Empire States express, on the New York Central, did a Journey of 148 miles at the rate of 58.2 mi'es per f.oar, which Is the best run given for a long- journey, although on a run of about sixty miles the P.R.R. got an average of sixty-eight miles an hour. As to Australia, long runs fere accomplished in Victoria at an average speed of seldom over forty-two miles an hour. The railways in this colony are broad gauge and the trains heavy. It appears that English railways suffer in the matter of speed for running heavier trains, than are usual In other countries, from the fact that great distances of straight running are not obtainable.