File:Midland Railway No. 116; A Jubilee Year Record-Maker. The Engineering Magazine, XV-1, April 1898, New York, p. 97 – No caption.jpg

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Anonymous: “A JUBILEE YEAR RECORD-MAKER. MIDLAND RAILWAY NO. 116. Cylinders 19½x26; driving wheels 7 ft. 9 in.; by S. W. Johnson.” Photographic plate on page 97 in Charles Rous-Marten: “Notable Speed-Trials of British Locomotives.” In The Engineering Magazine, vol. XV, no. 1, April 1898, New York, pp. 87–104.

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96 SPEEDS OF BRITISH LOCOMOTIVES.
[...]
     But Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee year was not to close without a still more notable advance in speed. Mr. S. W. Johnson brought out on the Midland Railway five new single-wheel express engines of singularly fine proportions and handsome appearance. The have inside cylinders 19½ × 26, 170 pounds’ steam pressure, and single-drivers no less than 7 feet 9 inches in diameter,—the largest wheels ever employed with inside cylinders on a gauge of 4 feet 8½ inches. With these superb locomotives I made several special speed-trials without breaking the record. But finally, testing one of these engines with a load of 150 tons down a long grade, 16 miles, mostly at 1 in 200, I obtained the following remarkable figures for five successive quarter miles : 10.2 seconds, 10 seconds, 10 seconds, 10 seconds, 10.2 seconds. Thus the engine ran for ¾ mile at the rate of exactly 90 miles an hour, the speed for the whole mile being 89.5. Unfortunately, after the third quarter-mile, which was done in 10 seconds, a rising gradient was encountered, which steadily lowered the rate. Had the falling grade continued a little longer, or had it been somewhat steeper, I see no reason to doubt that even a slightly higher velocity might have been reached, as the engine was not only steaming freely, but exhausting her waste steam well, when the highest point was reached. A speed of 80 miles an hour and upward was maintained for 13 consecutive miles. The travelling was admirable in its smoothness and absence of oscillation.
     It may be of interest to explain the method that I always employ in testing speeds. While mechanical speed-indicators, such as the Boyer, Westinghouse, etc., may doubtless work well in favourable circumstances, they require special attachment and fitting. It is preferable, therefore, to perfect a system which can be applied to any engine and train, provided that mileposts or distance-points can be recognised. My method is to use three excellent chronographs—one with the split-seconds movement—and a watch. At each (quarter-mile-post one instrument is started, and another simultaneously stopped. At the end of each mile the split-seconds-hand is split,
Text Appearing After Image:
A JUBILEE YEAR RECORD-MAKER. MIDLAND RAILWAY NO. 116. Cylinders 19½x26; driving wheels 7 ft. 9 in.; by S. W. Johnson.
97

98 NOTABLE SPEED-TRIALS
and, at the end of the total length selected for the trial, the chronograph also is stopped, and the times of passing stations, signal-boxes, etc., are noted by the watch. Each observation is at once noted down, either by myself in a note-book open and in readiness, or by a shorthand assistant to whom it is orally dictated. In this way the disturbing element of personal equation is virtually eliminated, and a thoroughly effective triple check is secured. No less elaborate method can be regarded as entirely trustworthy.

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