SPEED OF TRAINS.

Press, Volume XLV, Issue 7176, 11 October 1888, Page 5

SPEED OF TRAINS.

Discussing the speed of express trains forty year 3 ago and now, a correspondent of The Times writes on August 20th: —" It seems to be generally assumed in discussion raised by 'The Eace to Edinburgh," that such high speeds as those attained this present month have never been realised before. On the contrary, will you permit one who remembers the first decade of our great railways out of London to point out that they were not only attained, but exceeded, on the broad eauge forty years ago? For instance, the fastest run recorded during the last week is that from Crewe to Preston, 52J miles in 50 minutes. In May, 1848, the Great Western Railway engine, the ' Great Britain' was driven by Mr Almond from Paddington to Didcot, 53 miles, in 47 minutes, starting and stopping (no efficient brakes), and on another occasion a train of 120 tons was driven the same distance—63 miles—in 50 minutes. The weight of the train which ran the 52* miles in 50 minutes last week ia stated to have been only eighty tons. Nor was this done once only, but repeatedly, as Mr Acworth testifies in his article on the Great Western Railway in Murray's Magazine for last May, And I can myself testify that in those days I repeatedly timed those broad gauge expresses at the rate of a mile in 48 seconds, or 75 miles per hour, as against 48f attained last week, and I have heard of a yet higher maximum being attained. The morning express was timed to leave PaddiDgton at 9.50, and start again from Didcot at 10.47, and if we allow four minutes for the stop at Didcot (the arrival time is not given in the " Bradshaw " for 1848 in my possession), the train must have been officially timed at a mile per minute—faster than the stated times for any run of the two new expresses, and (crede experto) the train often arrived under time."