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Hello everyone, it's been a minute since I've posted on this forum.

As I'm sure many of you know, back in the 1930s and '40s it was a common sight to see the 20th Century Limited and Broadway Limited racing each other out of Chicago on parallel track. As an artist I thought it would be a fun challenge to re-create this scene as a digital hand-drawn animation. Before you ask, yes, I have experience in the animation field and have devised a technique that I can use to make the work easier on me. I plan to use one of the PRR's prototype T-1s and one of NYC's streamlined Hudsons as the locomotives of choice to reduce the amount of "pencil mileage" (a term animators use when referring to the complexity of a drawing in animation in relation to the production's budget).

Various photos of this daily race exist, and I was wondering if anyone would happen to know what speed both trains would have been travelling on the 6 mile stretch south of Chicago? I want to make the animation an accurate depiction of the scene. Even though it is 2D, I want to give the locomotives and cars a solid feel.

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@JRothwell posted:

Hudson's ran about 80 mph between stops...not sure about the T-1's...Niagara's did around 100 mph and still hold the record today @ 16 hours for that particular run.

Joe

Joe, what the OP is referring to is the impromptu drag race out of Englewood , when the NYC & the PRR had identical departure times on the parallel track that left the station,….it kinda was a thing of honor for engineers & fireman to push their machines out of the gate before the rival road could catch them…..it was tit for tat. The romanticized races were between the PRR’s K4 class, and the NYC’s J class Hudsons,…..neat stuff,….

Pat

Last edited by harmonyards

Still no answer as to the speed that could be attained by steam powered eastward passenger trains racing eastward from the stop at Englewood.  At some point, the race had to end and the Engineers had to shut off.  Diesels don't count in this because they have design limitations on traction motor rotation speed.

Does anybody on the Forum know the answer?  

Perhaps somebody here knows a retired PRR or NYC Engineer who ran passenger trains out of Chicago.

@Number 90 posted:

Still no answer as to the speed that could be attained by steam powered eastward passenger trains racing eastward from the stop at Englewood.  At some point, the race had to end and the Engineers had to shut off.  Diesels don't count in this because they have design limitations on traction motor rotation speed.

Does anybody on the Forum know the answer?  

Perhaps somebody here knows a retired PRR or NYC Engineer who ran passenger trains out of Chicago.

I have a video where they interview a shop mechanic at Elkhart and he claims they pulled the tape from 5450 doing 96 mph,…..I’ll get the name of the video ( now dvd of course ) that has that interview for anybody interested……

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

I have a video where they interview a shop mechanic at Elkhart and he claims they pulled the tape from 5450 doing 96 mph,…..I’ll get the name of the video ( now dvd of course ) that has that interview for anybody interested……

Pat

Thanks, Pat.  The number -- 96 MPH -- is what GameBreaker64 was looking for.  

Your personal record has been awarded ten merits for obtaining and sharing obscure information concerning speed.

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