Re: Steam speed in Australia

["Derick Wuen" <cullend@webone.com.au>]

Unfortunately steamers were not fitted with speedometers or recorders in
NSW. Accuracy of high speeds judged by "look and feel" or even hand-timed
with watches by quarter mile posts is dubious. Even the famous first UK
"ton" by City of Truro timed by noted train timer Rous-Marten, and 116 mph
claimed by NYC Empire-State 4-4-0 have been rejected on analysis by learned
commentators. In my opinion, anything over 50mph on a NSW steamer will feel
"real fast" judged by lurching, bucking and banging on the footplate. No
doubt your rellie did come down the hill at Campbelltown real fast, but just
how fast is hard to prove.

I once listened to a couple of professional railwaymen (an inspector and a
DLE) discussing the claim that a 38 on a tour train driven by Assistant CME
and noted fast driver Con Cardew had accelerated on the downgrade out of
Woy-Woy tunnel heading north to 94 mph. The DLE offered the opinion that the
balancing on a 38 is such that at 94 mph the driving wheels would be leaving
the rails a couple of times each rev, as the counterweights were optimised
for 70 mph, and that things on board would be mighty rough. He found it hard
to imagine that Cardew would stress the loco and track that much, and put
the claim down to "enthusiastic" timing by amateurs in the train.

I once hand-timed a couple of quarter miles on a tour train behind 3820 on
the main south at 82 - 83 mph, but can't vouch for accuracy.

Any dynamometer car evidence of 80+ mph efforts ?

The Morphetts wrote in message <38D98B94.EE8B4D5C@onthenet.com.au>...
>My Grandfather claimed 100mph (160KPH) on a Lightly loaded Melbourne
Express
>running late on the down hill run into Campbelltown some time in 1952 or
53.
>(He was also VERY careful not to talk about it around Everleigh!)
>Graham
>
>David Bromage wrote:
>
>> hannah (hannah@pacificblue.net.au) won a Nobel Prize for literature by
writing:
>> > Does anyone have any reasonably accurate information on highest speeds
>> > (Passenger or freight) attained by steam in this country.
>>
>> Official or unofficial? :)
>>
>> Cheers
>> David
>
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