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Show SPEED OS RAILWAYS. THE FLIERS ON AMERICAN, GERMAN AND ENGLISH LINES. Curres and Grade Crusslngs tho Greal Drawbacks In Tills Country limited Trains So 2tot Pay expenses, bnt The; Benefit tho Service In Otbr Ways. The writer broached 4jo subject oJ fast trains recently to ono of the shrewdest shrewd-est civil engineers employed on ono oi the roads entering Washington. This employee has made railroading a life 6tudy, has inspected tho railroads oJ Europe and speaks by tho card. He said: "If our railroads "could spare the money to elevate their traoks in oitiei and at crossings, to say nothing of com pleting tho work of straightening out curves, now going on, I, for one, will predict that we can make an average of 50 miles an hour between New York and Chicago. I say this with the Alleghany Alle-ghany mountains almost staring me in the f ace. Wo might lose time going uj that rango, but engineers, as a rule, HIm to coast, and wouldn't they slide down the other side with a roadbed minus curves and grade crossings I In the matter mat-ter of cost in making improvements, few people are aware of tho expl-nse at tached thereto. In round numbers om road 'blew' in fully 5,000,000 in the latter part of 1892 and the beginning oi 1898. That was before the financial depression de-pression set in. Wo are now resting 00 our oars. Wo cut one curve ovsr a mile long, and tho work cost us fully 500,-600. 500,-600. Other roads have been doing likewise, like-wise, and with the return of a prosper ous period wo will surprise tho world, and especially the English, with the average av-erage speed our tiains will attain. "Many pecplo will bo surprised U. learn that Gormany and not this country coun-try or England furnishes the fastest trail In tho world. The United States oinie.1 second and England third. The German train runs from Berlin to Hamburg, a distance of 178 miles, in 2t4 minutes, an average octsido speed that is, not counting stop3, of over 52 miles an hour. The Empire State express on the New York Central road runs from New York to Buffalo, a distance of 440 miles, i 520 minutes, and its outside speed aver- oga is nearly 51 miles an hour. The fastest English train, that comes third on the list, is called the 'west coast flier' and runs from London to Edinburgh, s distance of 400 miles, at an average out side speed of 50 miles an hour. "Tho farther we go west tho slower tho train service becomes, a thing ncj looked for on account of tho miles an5 miles of track traversing prairie land The Burlington road's best train averages aver-ages about 8G miles an hour. That on the Milwaukee road- the limited, can only reach an average of 84 miles on hour. The Denver iimlted, on the Northwestern North-western road, has to hustle to score an average gait of 29 miles an hour. "Very few of tho fast limited trains In this country pay for the expense of running them, and it is an open secret that the limited between this citv and Now York, the limited between New York and Chicago and tho Empire State express between New York and Buffalo and tho Chicago limited an the New York Centril road cost their respective toads a good deal more than they, bring in, bat they are great advertisers for their respective roads. "Tho advantages of fast train service on well built and jpell equipped railroads are not confined to the carrying of pas uengers swiftly from ono point to another. anoth-er. They are felt all through the operating operat-ing department of a road and exercise an important disciplinary influence. The running of such extraordinary fast trains as the Congressional limited and the Empire State express has had a wonder' f ul effect in increasing the vigilance and efficiency of all the trainbands. The schedules on which such trains are run require the most arbitrary enforcement and they consequently keep tho men all along the line traversed constantly on the alert Each man is made to feel his full share of the burden of responsibility, and the never ceasing admonition to watch for the flier' reduces to a minimum mini-mum personal inclinations to be slaca or neglectful. The telegraph operators faavo a suspension of 80 days staring them in the face for tho slightest delay to the limited, and similar penalties aiK inmosed on other emnlovces. . "Besides this stimulus to duty tho fast trains serve as an incentive to the men to strive for promotion. Conductors, Conduct-ors, engineers, firemen and other hands on the limited getmoro pay than do the men employed on the trains of subordinate subordi-nate grade. That tho 'flier, ' in its generic ge-neric sense, is actually an improving influence in-fluence in railroading is evidenced by the remarkable careers of the Congres sional, the Boyal Blue and tho Empire State express. These are tho fastest trains in this country and have been running several years baok, and, with ono unimportant exception, havo met with no mishap. These trains pass through year after year without a single sin-gle mishap, and I believe it is all from the discipline put upon the omployees by the fast service. The men take a pridp is ttio fast fcraiaa. ' WrfLiagt ?4aa |