As far as the test goes on the Fort Collins Municipal Railway, It was done under somewhat controlled conditions (PD closed all side streets during the test.) The FCMRY track was laid to class 4 standards in 1984-85. The FRA has been inspecting the FCMRY since 1992 and has found the track to meet class 4 standards, 49MPH freight 59MPH passenger.The city would currently frown upon us for going over 30 MPH, the current traffic speed limit on Mountain Ave. Our own self imposed standards require a maximum speed of 15 MPH east bound and 25 MPH west bound. The east downtown end is 104 feet lower than the City Park end. The street car does not have a speed recorder and since it doesn't pull anything it is not technically a locomotive. 2 inexpensive ways of determining speed are currently available today without having to make any mechanical connection to the wheels or track. One choice is radar and the other is a GPS reciever. Modern diesel electric locomotive with limited slip traction systems use radar to determine the difference between the wheel speed and actual speed of the locomotive.
Roger Mitchell