HIGH SPEED TRAVELLING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3306, 26 August 1911, Page 8

HIGH SPEED TRAVELLING.

AN AUSTRALIAN ENGINEER’S b INVENTION. IONO-RAIL, SWITCHBACK, AND l TUBE. j. : Says “Sydney. Sun” t The Chief Commissioner for Rail-j t ways lias at last arrived at the> opinion v that it is most important that an early decision should be come to as to the f best means of dealing with the traffic \ pro Diem in Sydney. It has been ob- J vious to everybody that the limit of j tramway traffic on the principal city streets has been reached; and it has J been equally obvious tnat some scheme will have to be evolved for dealing with the growing traffic. Tramways or railways will have to go overhead; or the traffic will have to be carried underground. The ovorlioctcl 'whilst the cheapest, is unsightly. Tne underground scheme of tubular railways has the factor of the high cost of construction against it, and the time occupied in going from point bo point is comparatively slow. The 'average speed is 15 miles an hour; but deduc- : tions have to be made for time spent ! in lifts and in traversing long passages j to reacn platforms, which, reduces the I speed rate of a point to point journey 1 to about five miles an how for a short j trip; and the speed rate is never more than 12 miles an hour for long journeys. These figures are given on the authority of a writer who has studied the London tube traffic probAccording to recent advices, the hignspeed underground railway has arrived. It is the- invention of an Australian engineer, Mr Eliric W. Kearney. and is ‘known as the Kearney tube system, a combination of monorail and switchback which can be run underground. in tho busy tlioiougli" fares and cm the surface in the open places where traffic is not. congested. If necessary, it can be retained underground in the tube. But the- chief feature is the ground-level station,, which does away with lifts and passages. The station platfoims are so near the surface that they may be entered with much greater ease and less danger than on-the-surface cars. It runs down the grade of 1 in 7, and when at a depth of 90ft traverses a level of 600 yards, then rises up another gradient of 1 in 7 to the next station. The point-to-point speed is remarkably rapid. Within 20 seconds after leaving the station on the down grade the car reaches a speed of .50 miles per hour,and Mr Kearney,, the inventor, states that lie can easily convey. passengers from station to station at an average speed of 30 miles an hour, and can maintain that speed over a long distance journey, allowing 15 seconds at each station. Many tube railwaays only allow five seconds stop. 1 No wonder this Australian genius lays a claim to having solved the rapid transit problem, as well as having : abolished all the discomforfitures of pre- ; sent underground travelling. 1 Whatever may be- said about the . switch-back in the open, none of its illusion-ary sensations are felt under i ground, for there is no eye effect to • cause people to imagine things. The , speedy and comparatively cheap mono : rail when underground, obviates all contentions with regard to strong side ; wind pressure; but the inventor has ■ applied other safety factors for surface i running which more than doubles its i safety in comparison with an ordinary railway train. The car is on four wheels running cm a, single rail, and " is balanced by a series of smaller wheels i on the roof working on an overhead i rail held in position b- large, curving 1 brackets. The cost of construction and maintenance is reduced. It is only necessary, to construct a single I tube. The single tube is made possible by an ingenious system of points 3 and switches. The cost of motor- - power is less, the speed of the down- . hill train shoot providing impetus, and 5 owing to the absence of braking, there ; is much less wear and tear on the roll- . ing stock. .. . The working of this wonderful idea i by an Australian inventor is well illus- . trated in “Everybody’s Weekly, . which states that a feature of the Fes- ; tival of Empire at the Crystal Palace : was a half-mile of single trade laid i down according to the plans of Mr ) Kearney. .. r In view of the urgent necessity tor i dealing with Sydney traffic problems, i the advent of this scheme, by an Australian inventor is interesting.