An interesting document which the Great Western Railway has kept secret for nearly 20 years was disclosed in the company's ma-gazing for November. It describes a record train run made on May:9, 1904, when one of the Great Western ocean specials from Plymouth to Paddington attained an over-all speed, exclusive of stops, of over 66 miles per hour and at times during the journey exceeded 102 miles per hour. The speed was recorded by the late Mr. C. Rous-Marten, a well-known writer on locomotive matters, who had been permitted to travel by the train, but subsequently the general manager, at that time Sir James Inglis, refused to give his permission for publication of the details. Mr. Rous-Marten declared that at the time of the extreme speed travelling was so curiously smooth that but for the sound it was difficult to believe the train was moving at all.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.