RAILWAY SPEEDS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 9 January 1929, Page 7

RAILWAY SPEEDS

Old) AND NEW RECORDS Although there has been a general speeding up of express trains in Great Britain, on the Continent, and in the United Stales, maximum speed records have not been lowered for many years (writes “Metre,” in the “Argus”). Much has been written, for instance, about the Flying Scotsman’s non-stop schedule from King’s Cross, London, to Edinburgh, which was inaugurated in May this year. The distance is 392 miles, and m the opening run the time occupied was till 3min, the train arriving a few minutes ahead of time. Although its average speed for the journey is slightly under fifty miles an hour, this must be regarded as a very fast train, because of the severe gradients that have to he surmounted and the number of railway-yards which the train has to run through at greatly reduced speed. To maintain an. average of fifty miles an hour, therefore, the Flying Scotsman for the greater part of tho journey must bo speeding along at seventy miles an hour and more. But to those who can remember the famous races between London and the Scottish capital inaugurated in 1895, in which the competing east coast and west coast companies took part, the run referred to seems rather tame. On 21st August the first racing train left King’s Cross at 5.23" p.m., and 6h 18min later it had pulled up at Waverley street station, Edinburgh. There is no comparison between the old and the new runs, for that which was accomplished thirty-three years ago was the quicker by nearly two hours. Soon afterwards a west-coast train ran from Euston to Aberdeen, 540 miles, in 512 minutes, with stops at . Crewe, Carlisle, and Perth, an extraordinary record, which was not challenged by the rival companies, both sides agreeing to return to normal schedules. These racing trains were very light (about 100 tons behind the tender), and all traffic was carefully cleared off the course so that they might have an unchecked run. The instructions given to the drivers were to run at the maximum speed their engines were capable of on the straight, but to slacken speed in going through yards and when traversing curves.

BRITISH AND FRENCH TRAINS

In Great Britain the Great Western Railway holds the speed record, having a number of trains timed for an average of sixty miles an hour. One of these expresses makes a non-stop run between Paddington and Bath, 117 miles in 107 minutes. A still faster but a shorter run, is that of the Cheltenham—London express, 77.3 miles in seventy-five minutes. This company, indeed, has always led the way so far as speed is concerned, and should continue to do so for Sir Imamabard Bruxel, the famous engineer, laid the railway as far as was practicable without either curves or gradients. As far back as 1845 the company was running trains which would have been reckoned fast even to-day. The Bristol express, for instance, which left Paddington at 9.45 a.m., arrived at Didcot, fifty-three miles at 10.5 3a.m., thus maintaining an average speed of just under fifty miles an hour for the first part of its journey. The fastest long-distance train in France is tho Paris-Lillc express, which is timed to run the 156 miles between tho terminals in 155 minutes, but a more meritorious performance, on account of the difficulty of the route and an intermediate stop for engine purposes, is that of the Paris-Calais boat train, which runs the 1841 miles in 190 minutes. A strict regulation enforced on all French railways is that drivers shall not exceed a speed of seventyfour miles an hour. The regulation mado in tho interests of safety, has probably had the opposite effect, for as tho train crews are penalised for late running unless they can prove that it was unavoidable, they arc inclined to travel at speeds through yards and on curves which would be regarded as dangerous in Great Britain, where, however, speed approaching ninety miles an hour are daily recorded on long, straight stretches of track.

HIGHEST SPEED EVER

ATTAINED

The record for the highest speed ever attained on rails is held by Germany. Many years ago the German Government (I think it was), in order to ascertain what was the maximum speed practicable on a railway, had a length of special perfectly straight track laid, with very heavy rails and an extra depth of ballast. Over this an electrical-ly-driven cur was run at increasing speeds. Up to 105 miles an hour there was but little oscillation, but when the speed bad reached almost 125 miles an hour the car began to sway dangerously and the speed was checked. The official speed record for a steam locomotive is held by the Great Western Company’s City of Truro, which once, when hauling a special mail train, was timed on a down-grade at 102.3 miles an hour. In the United States it is claimed that the New York Central Company’s “999.” exhibited in Chicago in 1895. attained a speed of 104 miles an hour, hut the figure cannot he verified officially.