First to 100 MPH by bmac62
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Description
Location: Hall of Transportation, Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
Steam Locomotive 999 became what was reportedly the fastest land vehicle in the world in May 1893 when it broke the 100 MPH barrier and travelled at 112.5 MPH hauling a passenger train in upstate New York. [the tracks must have been in better shape than they are now].
This engine has a fascinating history reenacting its' speed record in May 1952 just before being retired.
For anyone interested, here's more of the story to include how it got to Chicago: 999
ZOOM to see the details.
Bill:)
Comments (33)
THROBBE
Fantastic history and collage Bill!
Richardphotos
excellent historical engine and presentation
Mondwin
Wonderful image!!!!!!!!!!!!Bravissimo!V:DDD.Hugsxx
cfulton
Great history, thanks Bill! Steaming capture! Clive
Alz2008
Wonderful capture, and history..
DAVER2112
How cool! Very nice shot. :)
lyron
Beautiful image!!!
PD154
Excellent look into the age of steam, great stuff Bill!
auntietk
Ahhh ... something else I didn't see in Chicago! Aside from our hotel room and various eating establishments, I don't think I saw the inside of any buildings the entire time I was there! Guess I'll have to go back if I want to see things like this in person. I love seeing the information plaque. Those guys look so serious! I bet when they screamed through at 112.5 mph they were grinning like idiots. :D
kenmo
Fantastic bit of photo journalism.... I love these old steam engines...!!! 5++
frankie96
And no traffic cops....by the looks of it they really cleaned it up nicely...great shot..
Rainastorm
Trains are super cool...nice post!
kansas
Super photo. I love trains; especially these older models.
sandra46
great train, and very fascinating!
beachzz
Tara stole my words (or maybe I'm stealing hers!!)---yet another place I didn't see!! Great fotos of this amazing piece of machinery!!
psyoshida
Wonderful history and excellent shot. Thanks for the link too. It's really a beauty.
drace68
Not much for hills between Buffalo and Syracuse (part of the touted "Water-level Route" - eat your heart out "Pennsy"). The "Empire State Express" was long the crown jewel of the New York Central. I rode it in 1954 from NYC to Syracuse - diesel driven with sleek silvery streamline coaches.
jendellas
The trains of today don't have the characters of these puffing billies.
dbrv6
Excellent collage and thats one well taken care of train from what I can see.
bazza
Wow Bill this is one fantastic loco, looks beautifully preserved also. I remember reading when the first train got up to 25mph and the newspaper reported it as a gidding 25mph lol. Wonder what they would say about this speed ;-O Love this shot and the plaque..beautiful.. thanks for the link also..if only locos were as cheap to manufacture and purchase today.
orig_buggy
what a completely different life back then!
flavia49
superb capture!!
goodoleboy
Extremely difficult to believe that this locomotive reached the astronomical speed of 100mpg. It's unsleek design did not compensate for air resistance at all. It just depended on raw brute force. In any event, a marvelous POV in this shot of the magnificent beast.
weesel
Or the maintenance costs. That aside... a 4-4-0 doing that speed is VERY remarkable. Go get 'em, Chauncey!
elfin14doaks
It's a great shot and information, We are taking Ryan and Dave's mom down and hitting this one.
npauling
Lovely clear crisp captures of this beautiful engine and info.
MagikUnicorn
LOVE IT FANTASTIC
flora-crassella
wonderful!!!!
moonrancher
Gorgeous images and presentation. The speed is something. I think they picked upstate NY because there was a lot of money and the best trackage at the time. I bet the guys had to leave their sandwiches behind, to minimize the weight to make the record, though. Old rails that run the Cheyenne steam program tell stories of the stellar lack of teamwork between the fireman and the engineer on those old engines. They also had to be getting along really well that day. I wonder if there were any passengers, too. LOL.
blinkings
Wow what a great photo and a very interesting set of information. There is on old engine near me that takes you through beautiful forests and gullys. I'm sadly too young to remember these old steam trains but I do really love them.