File:The story of rapid transit (1903) (14783409412).jpg

Identifier: storyofrapidtran00willrich (find matches)
Title: The story of rapid transit
Year: 1903 (1900s)
Authors: Willson, Beckles, 1869-
Subjects: Local transit -- History
Publisher: New York : D. Appleton and company
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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heGrand Trunk Railway of Canada the best service •/ is 36.8 miles, including stops, and 39.2 excludingstops. The best service in India is from Bombayto Calcutta, about twenty-five miles an hour. InAustralia from Melbourne to Sydney is run atthirty-three miles an hour, including stops, andthirty-seven excluding stops. Less than forty years ago Jules Verne wrotehis entertaining romance, Around the World inEighty Days. He was thought to have ex-ceeded all bounds of possibility; at that time thecircumnavigation of the globe never had beenaccomplished in less time than 121 days. In 1873it was done in 109 days. Eventually, an Amer-ican performed the feat in ninety days, and in1891 a Miss Bisland lowered the time to seventy-two days. Since then the record has stood atsixty-nine days, the main obstacle being to trav-erse speedily the mighty tract of Asia. Eastern Siberia, which a few years ago wasone of the most remote districts on the face ofthe globe, will soon be as accessible as Canada.
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,« o C-*-»o (U w (U r^ h 94 THE STORY OF RAPID TRANSIT The connection between Russia and Siberiaforms the greatest railway scheme in the world.The first sod was cut at Vladivostock May 24,1891 ; and to facilitate the work of constructionthe line was divided into three parts. When thewhole is completed in 1904 it will be possible fora traveler to circumnavigate the globe in thirtydays! The distance from Moscow to Kaidalovois 4,146 miles. Even in the incomplete state ofthe line, by means of the lakes and rivers, unin-terrupted steam communication between the rail-way system of Europe and Vladivostock on thePacific was rendered possible in 1901. FromCheliabinski, the first station in Western Siberia,to Stretensk via Omsk, Tomsk, and Irkutsk isa distance of 2,762 miles. This section of thejourney comprises the passage of Lake Baikal,just beyond the Irkutsk. For this passage ice-breaker ferries have been specially built, capableof transporting a complete railway train acrossthe lake. Fro

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