Anyone know how and when this happened in America? "Hint" It was NOT on steel rail either! NO I DON"T REMEMBER, but I'll tell the story, if no one knows.
This is an unadulterated guess .... was it the John Bull? I believe I remember reading that it occurred on strap-iron rail with stone sleepers. Man, talk about a rough ride! [ 06 July 2002, 00:59: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
If I remember correctly, it was made in 1848 on the Boston & Maine's western division by the locomotive Antelope with Superintendent Chas. Minot at the throttle.
Watash, we New York natives know it was Robert Fulton's steamboat pulling waterskiers up the Hudson River in 1848, right?
Gee Whizz guys, I thought I was the oldest one here, but Alan says he "remembers" (and correctly) that it was the run made by the ten ton "Antelope" with engineer Pemberton at the throttle. Charles Minot took the throttle for a time as they approached Somerville Crossing building speed past forty while Pemberton helped feed hardwood to the firebox. What a thrilling sight to see that 4-4-0 charging down track showering ashes and coals like 4th of July! They passed Andover Crossing at full speed leaving a trail of curling snakeheads in the dust, as the flying monster clawed its way toward Lawrence! Don't you know covering that 26 miles in only 26 minutes back in the wood burning days must have been a heart pounder! It would have been a thrilling story even today!
Perhaps I should have said that I recalled reading accounts of the first mile-a-minute run. It should also be noted that during the Andrews Raid on April 12, 1862 three Western and Atlantic Railroad locomotives were reported to have achieved sustained speeds of sixty miles an hour or better during the pursuit. Those locomotives were the 4-4-0s General, Texas and Yonah. The maximum authorized speed on the line at that time was 20 mph and the Texas was running tender first! In 1914, the General was confirmed to have been run at speeds up to 50 mph during a test run after the locomotive was rebuilt. Remarks from an interview with a railroad employee present at the test run indicate that the locomotive was extremely responsive to the engineer's control inputs and would have gone faster if the master mechanic had allowed her to. The locomotive had been fully overhauled for a motion picture project that never materialized. The locomotive emerged fully rebuilt as its condition had been found to be wanting and the Cravens Yard master mechanic, Maj. Alf Law had recieved instructions from railroad management to make whatever repairs were necessary to put the locomotive back in first class running condition.
You are correct again Alan! The tale of that chase was a thrilling experience. My father-in-law is a Civil War buff, who can tell many tales of that era.
Of course, being the first modern war, other capabilities were developed such as special tools necessary to repair damaged railroads or destroy them beyond immediate repair. Not enough can be said of Gen. Herman Haupt and his Construction Corps that kept the wheels of the war rolling. As one Confederate prisoner of war groused, "It's no use buring bridges as the Union army carries spare bridges with them." And remember Lincoln's remarks about the Potomac Creek Bridge? On the other side of the coin, Haupt perfected tools of destruction in his workshops that would render rail lines irrepairable in the short term. He developed explosives that would allow soldiers to destroy a large bridge in under fifteen minutes. Other tools included a rail puller that twisted the rail as it pulled the rail from the crosstie, rendering the rail useless. There were other tools as well. The key to their sucess was that they were lightweight and compact, allowing them to be carried by cavalrymen in their saddlebags. Getting back to the Western and Atlantic Railroad, it should be noted that that railroad used inverted U rail, not strap rail. What was most amazing was that the Yonah, a 4-4-0 built in 1848 with an outdated kettle-type boiler was able to attain a sustained speed of 60 mph at all, not considering the track condition. [ 07 July 2002, 09:59: Message edited by: Alan Walker ]
Flash, Good bump. The first steamer to be documented to break the 100 mph barrier was a NYC 4-4-0 #999 in 1893. The lastest steamer to do 100 was a DR 18 in 2005 I believe. Jim
