Automobile Races the Black Diamond

 

  Binghamton Press 
  Sat., Nov. 20, 1915

  COLE TOURING CAR GOES DISTANCE OF 107 MILES
  IN HOUR AND 55 MINUTES AND WINS SPECTACULAR
  RACE WITH FAMOUS BLACK DIAMOND EXPRESS TRAIN
                             _______
      Average of 55.8 Miles Hourly Is Maintained, Including

            Two Stops and Delay on Detour

                             _______

    Shattering practically every known stock pleasure car highway speed record for the distance of 100 miles or more, A. E. Higgins of Buffalo, on  Nov. 7, drove a 1916 Cole Eight stock touring car from Buffalo to Geneva, a  distance of 107 miles, in 1 hour and 65 minutes, defeating the famous   Black Diamond Express, the pride train of the Lehigh Valley railroad, by 14 minutes. An average of 86.8 miles an hour for the entire trip was made, including two stops and one delay necessitated by a detour.

    The race between the Cole Eight and the fast passenger train had been announced several days prior to the date scheduled for the run, and people in all of the towns along the route were out to see the speeding auto as it passed through.  Several of the large Eastern motion picture companies had   operators stationed along the course and pictures were taken of the car and train as they sped by. The engineman in charge of the Black Diamond knew that his train had been pitted against the Cole Eight and pressed the monster locomotive to its utmost.

    However, from the time the train the automobile, which marked the actual start of the race, there was never a moment when the train could have been considered as a contender for the honors of the day.  The Cole Eight and the express train left Buffalo on even terms, passing the city   limits neck and neck. Just as he crossed the starting line, Mr. Higgins "stepped on” the accelerator, and from then on, the Cole eight-cylinder car never once gave  the train a chance to catch up with it. The course led from Buffalo to Clarence, Batavia, Leroy, Caledonia, Avon, Lima, Bloomfield, Canandaigua and Geneva. Only one passenger rode with Mr. Higgins, so that the car depended solely on is natural balance and roadibility in sticking to the highway. This in itself is regarded as one of the most remarkable features of the trip.

                          Thrilling Moments

    Thrilling moments were numerous along the course. About 40 miles out a tire blew out. A stop was necessary, but a new pneumatic was in place in a little more than two minutes and the car was on its way. The Cole Eight had acquired such a good lead on the speeding train, however, that even with this stop, the express could not begin to catch up with it.

   Again at Avon, the car was threatened. Just as the limits of the town loomed up ahead, a switch engine, hauling a train of freight cars, lumbered on to the crossing and stopped. The brakes had to be applied to prevent a collision and a wait of several minutes was encountered before Mr. Higgins again secured the right of way.

   For a third time, the path of the car was crossed by an obstacle, when, on a little farther, it was found necessary to make a six-mile detour to avoid a stretch of road that was under repair. With all these hindrances, however, the Cole Eight made the first 89 miles of the journey in exactly 35 minutes, and completed the first 63 miles in just 67 minutes. With the necessary six-mile detour, the Eight negotiated 107 miles in making the trip while the route taken by the express train between the two points is only 102 miles. Thus, the Black Diamond, In point of actual distance covered, had a five-mile advantage on the Cole Eight.

                                Will Try Again

      Because of the two stops and the detour, which prevented the motor car from making tho best possible time,  Mr. Higgins has determined to repeat the performance in the very near future. Arrangements have been made to give the Cole Eight a complete right-of-way along the road just the same as was accorded it In the towns through which the route led on, the last occasion. And so confident is Mr. Higgins that he will better his previous time that his friends have posted a $600 forfeit, which will be sacrificed If the Cole Eight does not make the trip in one hour and 40 minutes, flat To do this it will be compelled to cut 15 minutes from the   last record It set and, will have to average  60.6 an hour for the entire distance, providing it will not be necessary to make the detour. If it still necessary to take the 6-mile circuit to get back on the main road, an average speed of 64.2 miles  an hour will  be necessary.

  This is the second time that the Cole Eight has established a speed record at Buffalo. On a previous occasion, but on a much shorter run, the Cole Eight defeated the Empire State Express, another of the fast passenger trains which pass through Buffalo, and at that time set an average of something over 60 miles an hour. It is doubtful   whether any stock pleasure car, however, under similar circumstances and on roads such as those which the Cole Eight covered, ever made better time than did Mr. Higgins' car in the race with the Black Diamond for such a distance.