Streamlined Trains

Abstract

PEOPLE who have travelled in the new lightweight high-speed trains may have wondered why this new development has not come into wider use, and look forward to the time when most passenger trains will be similarly streamlined. According to a report issued by Science Service of Washington, D.C., L. K. Sillcox, the engineer of the New York Brake Company, discusses this point in a report to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He says that only about 20,000 route miles of the main lines of the. railroads of the United States are fitted by their curves, grades and traffic to be usable for lightweight trains that can go at 100 miles an hour. This length of railway is only about ten per cent of the total mileage of railroads in the United States. It is well known that crowds will gather to see a passenger locomotive go by if it is fitted with a metal shroud that helps its streamlining or presents what the public thinks is a streamlined appearance. But this shroud adds 13,000 lb. to the weight of the locomotive. Another drawback is that the equipment has to be built very robust. Like motor-cars, the internal equipment has to be turned over and renewed every few years. In addition, any new railroad rolling stock has to be designed so that it is in keeping with th& older equipment. A large reserve of the old equipment has to be maintained to meet the changing traffic demands made on it. Some engineers are afraid that there may be a public reaction after the very pleasant boon which the railways afforded when streamlined trains were first used. There is evidence of dissatisfaction when the public learns that a 100-120 miles an hour train is placed in revenue service on a 50-60 miles an hour schedule. Even although the maximum speed has been attained iU route, the public feels that it has been misled.