The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-06-07

BERLIN, Prussia, May 8, 81.
On Saturday the trial trip was
made with Siemen's improved cleo
trial apparatus and new carriages
on the tramway from Charlottes-
burg to the Spardaner Book, in the
western outskirts of Berlin. The
electrician has in this line solved
the problem of making the electric
car overcome rising gradient OF
one to thirty. For half mile the
line has, ON leaving the suburb OF
Charlottesburg, to ascend a hill. and
here the speed was maintained attsn
to twelve kilometres, or about seven
miles an hour. Once On the top Of
the Spardaner Berg the line is on
level, and here the cars attained
speed of between sixteen and twenty
kilometres, or an average of eleven
miles an hour. The line, conducted
as an ordinary tramway, is distin-
guished from any other by two thin
wire cables, which you perceive at
certain elevation above it, resting on
the telegraph poles. On these two
isolated cables, which are about nine
inches apart, a tiny carriage runs,
carried by eight weels, those on the
right being isolated from those on
the left. A thin cable unites this
miniature machine with the pas
senger car below, and the two wires
it contains transmit. electricity from
the two cables above to the dynamo,
which is fixed to the bottom of the
car. On the top Of the hill is a small
house, where the steam engine is
situated, which generates the electro
motive force.
In the FIRST electric railway, pro-
duced by rDr. Werner Siemens, at
the Berlin Industrial Exhibition,
in the summer of the year 1879, the
current was conveyed into the car
by means Of the rails and wheels,
going from one rail into one set of
wheels and out again on the oppo-
site side from the wheels in the 9TH
er rail. The system is in use on the
short line that connects the Royal
School of Cadets at Lichterfelde
with the railway terminus. Besides
the inconvenience this arrangement
offered in the difficulty of keeping
up the necessary insulation of the
rails, constantly threatened by mud
and dust, this system was particu-
ularly troublesome to the horses,
whose hoofs, in crossing the rails,
came in contact with the electric
current, thus inflicting ON the ami
mails an unpleasant shock. At the
electric exhibition in Paris, DR.. Sic
mems conducted the current through
tubes, but his new invention of
small contact car, running on two
suspended cables and dragged along
by the passenger car, to which it Is
attached, seems to be a decided inn
provement, and Berlin electricians
assert that the problem of adopting
electricity to tramways is now solv-
ed. The two cars employed to-day
were not joined together, but each
went separately. In future it is in
tended that two cars shall always
leave the terminal station at the
same time, so as TO meet half way,
where there is q siding. The sta
tionary steam engine has to work at
the rate of thirty-six horse power in
order to produce the necessary force
of about six horse power for each
of the two cars when on the level
part, and of ten horse power when
ascending the hill. l shall not en-
large on several experiments which
were made to test the facility of
driving the cars backwards and for
wards, and connecting the two cars,
but limit myself to mentioning that,
after lunch, the invited guests pro-
ceeded to Wilmersdorf to inspect an
electric conveyance which runs on
the high road without rails.