Ogden Sun | 1905-10-03 | Page 4 | Express Service and High Speed Trains

EXPRESS SERVICE AND HIGH SPEED TRAINS ever since the and the new york central railroads inaugurated their fast service between new york and chicago a heated discussion has been carried on in the newspapers as to the safety of traveling under these new conditions says tha railway world the accident to lake short flyer soon after it was put in service aroused general apprehension that these high speece trains could not be operated with average safety in some official quarters the disposition has been shown to yield to this criticism att least so far as to admit the possibility of an eventual modification of the to conform to what might appear to be a general demand for slower speed the criticism of the policy of these two companies in reducing the lime of their special trains is based upon a misapprehension of i the no which make these high speeds possible the time of these trains is only in a small measure due to their increased speed the main reason for the reduction in dimeis the long runs and the success of the efforts which bavo been mado to keep the tracks clear the average speed of the pennsylvania special from chicago to new york is about fifty milts per hour including stops and slightly more than this taking out the email amount ot time necessary to change engines this speed is not and in fact Is exceeded on many roada with giving rise to the slightest adverse comment the peed of the ex press trains between washington and new york and between philadelphia and atlantic city frequently reaches seventy miles per hour and sixty mile schedules are common similar fast time Is made on many other roads in fact the running speed of the pennsylvania railroads hour train is but a little greater than that of the twenty four hour train ed by the samo company between new york and chicago excessive speed maintained for long distances along lines crowded ith traffic la undoubtedly n factor of danger when met with but this ia not the condition present in the fast service I 1 recently inaugurated between chicago and new york the phenomenal tima of these trains is due rather to the absence of interference than to the speed of the engines and the excellence of the roadbeds As the op crating efficiency continues to increase and in response 10 the growing demand 0 the traveling public an average speed of fifty miles an hour for one thousand miles it is not unreasonable to expect will in a ew years become a matter of course