How long would it take a train to travel from St Louis to Kansas City in the late 1800’s?
January 4, 2010 - Posted in travel train
Note I am talking about train travel in the early west, not the present.
Which decade in the late 1800’s are you talking about?
Steam locomotives in the early west were laughed at..and in one famous demonstration in about 1840 or so, a horse beat a steam locomotive in a race. But as the "decades" went by, the technology improved and the trains got faster.
So a steam locomotive in the 1890’s was a lot more powerful and faster than the one back in 1860’s or 1870’s , for instance.
The average speed for steam locomotive in the late 1800’s probably was around 25-30 mph +/- 10mph.(I’m guessing)
Kansas city is about 250 miles away from St.Louis.
So the trip should take about 8-10 hours. That’s non-stop. Back in the day, trains make a lot of stops. That make the trip a lot longer.