High-speed rail
High-speed interurbans
#### High\-speed interurbans

In the US, some of the [interurbans](/wiki/Interurban "Interurban") (i.e. trams or [streetcars](/wiki/Streetcar "Streetcar") which run from city to city) of the early 20th century were very high\-speed for their time (also Europe had and still does have some interurbans). Several high\-speed rail technologies have their origin in the interurban field.

In 1903 – 30 years before the conventional railways started to streamline their trains – the officials of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition organised the Electric Railway Test Commission to conduct a series of tests to develop a carbody design that would reduce wind resistance at high speeds. A long series of tests was carried. In 1905, [St. Louis Car Company](/wiki/St._Louis_Car_Company "St. Louis Car Company") built a railcar for the traction magnate [Henry E. Huntington](/wiki/Henry_E._Huntington "Henry E. Huntington"), capable of speeds approaching . Once it ran  between Los Angeles and Long Beach in 15 minutes, an average speed of . However, it was too heavy for much of the tracks, so [Cincinnati Car Company](/wiki/Cincinnati_Car_Company "Cincinnati Car Company"), [J. G. Brill](/wiki/J._G._Brill_Company "J. G. Brill Company") and others pioneered lightweight constructions, use of aluminium alloys, and low\-level [bogies](/wiki/Bogie "Bogie") which could operate smoothly at extremely high speeds on rough interurban tracks. [Westinghouse](/wiki/Westinghouse_Licensing_Corporation "Westinghouse Licensing Corporation") and [General Electric](/wiki/General_Electric "General Electric") designed motors compact enough to be mounted on the bogies. From 1930 on, the [Red Devils](/wiki/Red_Devil_%28interurban%29 "Red Devil (interurban)") from Cincinnati Car Company and a some other interurban rail cars reached about  in commercial traffic. The Red Devils weighed only 22 tons though they could seat 44 passengers.

Extensive [wind tunnel](/wiki/Wind_tunnel "Wind tunnel") research – the first in the railway industry – was done before J. G. Brill in 1931 built the [Bullet](/wiki/Bullet_%28interurban%29 "Bullet (interurban)") cars for [Philadelphia and Western Railroad](/wiki/Philadelphia_and_Western_Railroad "Philadelphia and Western Railroad") (P\&W). They were capable of running at . Some of them were almost 60 years in service. P\&W's [Norristown High Speed Line](/wiki/Norristown_High_Speed_Line "Norristown High Speed Line") is still in use, almost 110 years after P\&W in 1907 opened their double\-track Upper Darby–Strafford line without a single grade crossing with roads or other railways. The entire line was governed by an absolute block signal system.


Why were the Red Devils interurban rail cars successful?