XXXVIII. C. O. BURGE. 



The high speeds of over 100 miles per hour now so much 

 talked of, are looked for, as far as the United Kingdom is 

 concerned, in short lengths between thickly populated 

 centres, such as Manchester and Liverpool and Sheffield, 

 London and Brighton, Edinburgh and Glasgow, etc. And 

 if, by the aid of electricity, this speed is successfully 

 reached in these cases, long distance express lines of the 

 same character may be possible in the future on the Con- 

 tinent of Europe and in America. The element of human 

 endurance, however, must be taken into consideration 

 unless provided for by a very much more elastic permanent 

 way, and easier running rolling stock than exist at present. 



The extraordinary progress in electric traction, the 

 possibilities as to its power not being limited, as in the 

 steam locomotive, to what can practically be contained in 

 the train itself, but which can be expaudedtoan enormous 

 extent in a central power house ; and its greater capabili- 

 ties in acceleration and retardation, have led to several 

 proposals for high speed railways, by this means. These 

 are to be used for express passenger traffic only, between 

 such crowded centres as have been mentioned, viz., Man- 

 chester to Liverpool, London to Brighton, Berlin to Sozzen, 

 Brussels to Antwerp and Vienna to Buda-Pesth. 



The main features of the construction and working of 

 some of these lines are, that many of the most frequent 

 causes ef accident, which would be the more disastrous 

 owing to the great speed, are enabled to be eliminated. 

 These features are (1) constant speed, (2) fixed intervals 

 between trains, (3) absence of intermediate stations, sidings, 

 cross over roads, or level crossings, and (4) single car trains. 



It is evident, that, owing to the constant speed, the 

 superelevation of the outer rail on curves may be exactly 

 conformable to that speed, and not a compromise, as on 

 ordinary lines for mixed traffic of various speeds. Hence, 



