"Mile a Minute" Trains.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 207, 5 September 1904, Page 4

"Mile a Minute" Trains.

FRENCH RAILWAYS STILL HEAT BRITISH. Notwithstanding the many remarkable accelerations revealed by the summor 'time-tulbles of British railways, it is mortifying to iind that the fastest schudu'lud start-to-stop runs are still performed across the j Channel. The Northern Railway of France has live starHo-stop runs which yield a rate of speed of a mile a minute. These are : Paris to Busigny, 112j miles, in 112 minutes ; speed, 00.2 miles per hour.

Paris to Longueau, 78$ miles, in 78 minutes ; speed, G0.5. Four runs from Paris to St. Quentin, 95i miles, in 95 minutes ; speed, 60.4.

In every instance tihe train is a heavy one, while the journey is by no means easily graded. British railways, on the other hand, can produce only one start-to-stop run attaining a speed of a mile a minute, namely, North Eastern Company, Darlington (dep. 1.8 p.m.) to York, 4-1 J , miles, in 4Bmin., speed (51.7. However, the new "Cornisfiinan" express which runs between London and Plymouth without stopping, is timed at sixty miles an hour for a greater portion of the distance, and some of tho Midland "down" Scotch expresses are allowed only 51min. from tho time of passing liawes Junction in which to perform the 51 miles from Hawes to Carlisle. Tile 10.50 a.m. ex. Paddington, which covers the 118J miles to Bristol without a stop in 120min., slips a coach at Bath at 12.38 p.m., thus running 106Jd miles in 108min.

But the smartest piece of running in the country is undoubtedly performed by the Groat Central Railway, which has an "up" train from Leicester to Marylabone, 103 miles, in lOamin., speed 58.8, inasmuch as the speed of this train does not average over fifty miles per hour between Quainton Road and London (44 miles') owing to the bad curves .and steep gradients of the metropolitan track. British railways, however, leiul the French lines in respect of length of no-stop runs.—Daily Mail.