SPEED RECORDS

Hokitika Guardian, 11 August 1932, Page 8

SPEED RECORDS

WORLD’S FASTEST TRAIN

BRITISH SUPREMACY

WELLINGTON, Aug. 9

To the magnificent perfounanoes on Tanay and water and in the air, in which she holds the world’s records, Great Britain has now added her cla.in to speed, supremacy on the railway. The new railway * ypeprd was announced in; the cables about June 7, but the story of this thrilling achievement is contained in'.the July issue .of the “English Railway Magazine,” which has just, arrived in Wellington. On part of the run a speed of over £0 miles ,an , hour was maintained for a distance of 20 miles.

OTHER SPEED RECORDS,

The world’s air speed record, 407.5 miles per hour, was established by ivligaf-Lieutenant G. H. Stainforth in September last, when a special attack on the record was made at Calshot in a Supermarine 5.68. Sir Malcolm ; Campbell won the world land speed title foy the fifth time with 253.9 miles per hour at Daytprta Beach in Februaryt and Mr Kaye Don, registered 119.8 .miles per hour, in a speed-boat Miss', England 111 last month. Both Sir Malcolm Campbell and Mr Kaye dofi; are planning fb improve the pivs,hnt figures. 1 . '

-’ Hitherto America had claimed to have run the fastest tiains, it being unofficially'‘recorded that an express run from/ Camden to Atlantic City covered the 55.6 miles between those twg pointp ih 41 minutes, which would give. a . si&rt-to-stop average of 81.2 ! ‘miles per; hour.' Before this the Great ‘•Western Railway in England, on Sep- , temher 16 last, had set up a properly checked record ifrom .Swindon tp Paddington by the up Cheltenham Flyer, a 3tart-torstop run of 79.5 miles per hour, by completing this journey of 77.3 miles in 58 minutes 20 seconds. The daily schedule time for this run is 67 minutes, and is the fastest booked run every) attempted. Soon after this the American claim was set up.

TRAIN WEIGHING 195 TONS

On Mop,day, June 6, the Great Western Railway determined to assert an unchallengeable claim to the . .blue riband of/ railway j speed, and now holds it securely. l The fun- was. timed and checked :J>y four.. 1 ' expert officials with slop-watches, ;*• ..'7' ))•. .!, • , The run was from the Swine op stop to Paddington, -the London .terminus, a dis'fconph of 77.j3 ; miles, for which • the daily .time-table allows only 67 minutes. One .June 5 it . .was. accomplished in 56 mnutes 47 seconds stayt-i by j: ,the ordinary 4.48 p.m. express. With a-logd of. six corridor cars weighing 195 tons gross, and drawn by one.htyginp named genna Castle, manned by Driver Ruddock and and Fireman Thorpe, both London men, the -Cheltenham Flyer gave am average speed start-to-stop of b1..68 miles perdKfur. Sixtyr-miles an .hour was attained within two miles- from the start, and ,a speed of 80 miles an hour was reached, before the/ sixth mile-post The 1 Speed of 90 miles an hour was reached at the twentieth mile and maintained continuously for 21 miles, during' which a maximum speed of 92 miles ,an hour was reached at Tilehurst, near Reading. ' y. ■ . ,one of . j most .extraordinary features of the run is that,steam was not shut off until two. ; miles out of Paddington, when the speed was 82$ miles pier hour. The record is a double one, being the fastest scheduled tram in the world and the speed, attained on this occasion was the record for a-,start-to-stop run. , . ...

.The greatest railway speed .over, half a,; mile wife established in Great Brit- , aip at theo close of the last century, also on the, Great Western Railway, .-wken a speed of 101.3 miles per hour was achieved down the Wellington Bank, Somerset.