Air-Rail

YOUNG HANDSOME FATHER OF SIX CHILDREN LEAVES BY AIR-RAIL.

The headline was made possible by R. B. Gentles, grain broker, as he started on the first westbound trip of the Transcontinental Air Transport, Inc. Others who traveled on the first eastbound T. A. T. express were a businesswoman who wanted to catch a boat to France, a physician who was in a hurry to see his sick daughter, the Mayor of Fargo, N. Dak., several railroad executives.

The air lap of the T. A. T., put into operation last week, was between Chicago and St. Paul-Minneapolis. The schedule:

Westbound: Leave Chicago at 3 p. m.; arrive St. Paul at 7 p. m., Minneapolis at 7:10 p. m.

Eastbound: Leave Minneapolis at 8:30 a. m., St. Paul at 8:40 a. m.; arrive Chicago at 12:10 p. m. The first eastbound plane landed at Chicago 40 minutes ahead of schedule.

The rail connections at each end are arranged so that one business day is saved for commuters between New York and St. Paul-Minneapolis.

The planes are Ford all-metal monoplanes, with enclosed cabins seating 12 passengers, plus hand baggage; equipped with three Pratt-Whitney Wasp motors, top speed of 140 m.p.h., cruising speed of 115 m.p.h. The pilots are veterans of the airmail. Safety, comfort, speed are the T. A. T. keynotes.

By spring, the T. A. T. will put into operation a daily air-rail service between New York and Los Angeles. The founders of the T. A. T. are Clement Melville Keys, president of Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Co., Inc.; Charles Lanier Lawrance, president of Wright Aeronautical Corp.; Gen. William Wallace Atterbury, president of Pennsylvania Railroad; William Benson Mayo, chief engineer of Ford Motor Co.; and other air-minded potentates (TIME, May 28).

Meanwhile the Universal Air Lines in cooperation with the New York Central Railroad, prepared to establish, beginning Sept. 8, an air-rail service between New York and Chicago. The schedule:

Westbound: Leave New York at 6 p. m. by plane; change to train at Cleveland, arrive Chicago at 8:45 a. m.

Eastbound: Leave Chicago at 5:20 p. m. by plane; change to train at Cleveland, arrive New York at 9:50 a. m.