Sketches in Crude-oil: Some accidents and incidents of the petroleum development in all parts of the globeMcLaurin, John J. (John James)
History
Sketches in Crude-oil: Some accidents and incidents of the petroleum development in all parts of the globe
McLaurin, John J. (John James)
Petroleum -- History; Petroleum industry and trade -- North America -- History
Later a train in Scotland, keeping step with the oatmeal-and-haggis fad
that has deluged the land with Highland-dialect tales, snatched the
garland by adding a mile or more to the Central’s achievement. The
Scottish triumph was very brief. “Ian McLaren,” Barree and Crockett
might shine in literature, but no foreign line could be permitted to fix
the record for railroad-speed. Engineer Charles H. Fahl, of the Reading
system, believed American railways to be the best on earth and backed up
his opinion by solid proof. During the past summer he ran the famous
flyer between Camden and Atlantic City the entire season on time every
trip. The train, scheduled to travel the fifty-six miles in fifty-two
minutes, always started at least two minutes late, owing to the
ferryboats not connecting promptly. Yet Engineer Fahl made up this loss
and reached Atlantic City a trifle ahead of time, without missing once.
The trips averaged _forty-eight minutes_, or a fraction above
_sixty-nine miles an hour_! This was not one experimental test, but a
regular run day after day the whole season, generally with six
passenger-coaches crowded from end to end. Week in and week out the
flyer sped across the sandy plains of New Jersey, with never a skip or a
break, at the pace which placed the record of Train 25, of the
Atlantic-City branch of the Reading Railroad, upon the top rung of the
ladder. This performance, unequaled in railway-history at home or
abroad, brought Engineer Fahl a commendatory letter from Vice-President
Theodore Voorhees. It was rendered possible only by the exclusive use,
on locomotive and coaches alike, of the Galena Oils, which prevented the
hot-journals and excessive friction that are fatal to speed-records.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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