Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-06-23
ELEorRIoIrY AS A MOTOR.
Running Street Cars Rapidly and Under
Control Along an Electric Current.
From NE Ba2tinore San.

Running street Cars Rapidly and Under
Control Along an Electric Current
From The Baltimore Sun.
| The firsttrial trip of the new Daft electric
motor of the Union Railroad Company was
successfully made at O'Clock yesterday
morning as far as Wyeth's switch, half
the distance between the Huntingdon ave-
nue. car stables and Hampden. A good
deal of interest is taken in the test Of this
motor, and the Union Railroad Company
are the first to put it into use on "A bust
ness basis by adapting their line (about
two miles and a halt) for electric rail-
roadlng. A second motor will be here in
few days, and with the two machines
the line will have all the electrical
equtpmentnecessaryf for working the road.
The trial trip OF the motor was made af-
ter the hQTsecar work was done for the
| night The motor, which weighs about
two tons, comprises l0-hOrse power dy-
namO, and is placed on Il little cab about
o by 8 feet in dimensions, open at both
ends fer the engineer. The dynamo i'll the
building at the car stables is OF j0-hOrse
power. The engineer manages the con-
Germ with brake 10 regulate the speed,
an index or gauge, lever to regulate the
electric contact, and arrangements 10 re-
verse the motor, etc. 1t had ralned dur
ing the night aud the track was not in
favorable condition, because in portions
the rails were covered with dirt. When
the motor, in moving along the tracks,
struck this debris the electric contact was
! broken and the wheels threw of showers
of sparks like st. Catherine wheels, that
lit up the surrounding darkness. A COM
mon sweeping broom cleared away the
dirt, aud in every instance the motor at
once moved on. The engineer by sever
ing the contact could come to a full
stop as readily as gaslight is eXtin-
guished
A third rail is the important factor in
this electric lOcOmotion. This rail is ele-
waited above the other rails by being placed
on little wooden insulators saturated
with paratline. These are set on the cross
ties. A grOOYed wheel - inches in
diameter runs in the third rail. That
conducts the electricity from the third
rail to the dynamo in the cab, which is
geared TO the driving wheels, and from
the wheels of the motor to the tracks, by
which means the circuit Is completed.
| The connection is made with the third
rail from the large dynamo in the engine
house az the stables by a covered copper
wire. When the grooved wheel under
the motor is let down, then the circuit is
complete and the car is ready to start. 1t
is claimed the Daft motors can operate a
continuous street car line Of ten miles,
running at a speed Ofeight to twelve miles
an hour and hauling one, two OF more
1 cars, as required.
/ The managers of the Union Railway
| Company believe this is the coming motor
! to do the street car work, and that it Is
| a competition between electricity and hor-
/ SEES or mules-Oats and Cumberland coal.
| The engine for operating the motors will
consume about two tons of coal day,
and is to dispense with the service of about
twenty horses. which have been needed to
team the cars. The feed of horse is es-
| timated at 30 cents day, or 81 for twenty.
/ The motor can haul couple of cars when
! the business is good, and its first cost will
in time not exceed that of pair Of horses.
| The engineer acts as the driver, and the
cars must have conductors, 50 that there
will be no reduction in the number of
men employed on the cars.
The inventor is at work upon plans for
using the motor on street cars in crowded
thoroughfares. He proposes to put the
motors under the cars, between the wheels,
and for an arrangement like the third rail
will have a cOntriVance that will be 80 far
covered in the street bed as to keep it out
of the reach OF horses and vehicles, while
it will be at the same time in connection
with the motor. But this is question of
detail only. The Union Company owns
the Daft electric power rights for Mary
land and Washington. 1t is said that the
power to run light machinery can be had
by running a wire from the motor into the
upper stories of buildings.
Mr.. Leo Daft, the inventor, is an elee-
| trician of repute. He has his works at
Greenville, N. j., twelve miles from New
York, and he has for several years had
patents on electricity for power and mo-
tors. Mr.. Daft will shortly put an cleo
trio engine on the Ninth avenue elevated
railroad of New York for experimental
service. The claim for the Daft motor is
that it Is operated with a low tension cur
rent, which is always within the danger
limit, and is entirely harmless.