Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-09-02
THE LARGEST BUT ONE.
The Tri-Cfty Electric Railway
System.
second Only in Size Co the One At
BostOn-SO Snys Chief Engineer
Wheeler OF the Thomson-HoustO
CO.-The Holmes New Plant and
What IL VIII Consist or.

MIR. George A. Wheeler of Chicago,
chief engineer of the railway department
of the Thomson>Houston electric COM
paBy. arrived this morning to make sur.
vey of the various lines of the Holmes
system in the tri-cities preparatory to the
putting in of the electric plant for which
the Thomson Houston company has re,
ceived a contract involving an outlay on
the part of Mr.. Holmes and his associates
of $3.50, 900 An ARGUS representative
espied Mr.. Wheeler in company with
Supt. Schnitger this morning, and when
asked if he had any information to i'm
part that would be of interest to the pub
lie. he replied. well yes. can tell you
one thing that your people will be
pleased to hear of. and that is with
one exception. yoJr three cities here
will have the largest electric railway
system in the country, and we have
l40 railways in operation, including
Boston, five in St Louis. five in Kansas
City. and those at Des Moines and Coun-
Gil Bluffs nearer here. Boston has go
miles of track. and $50 cars, and you
will have, here 81 miles and so cars"
Asked as to the proposed equipage of
the tri city system. Mr.. Wheeler said: :
ITO commence with, we will use cedar
poles as straight as the tree grows, aud
will have them nicely shaved, trimmed
and painted, and they will be of uni.
form height all along the lines in entire
conformity with the street grades. Then
We will use No. galvanized steel wire
for span wire. stretched from one pole
to another, without kink, and attached to
eve bolts placed i'll the poles, thus giving
it q very neat appearance. Our trolley
wire is TO be single wrought
hard drawn copper wire, which
is placed over the center of each
track and suspended to the steel
span wire by patent insulators to which
is attached an ear which is soldered to the
trolley wire in such manner that it is an
impossbility for it to break away or sag
At all turnouts and crossings will be
placed frogs or switches to conform to the
lines of the track so that the trolley which
is upon the top of the car, will follow
along without interruption. The track,
which is the Johnston girder rail, fifty
two pounds to the rod, such as the
Holmes people have already put down
here, will be connected together at the
joints with a No. 4 copper wire and
joined to single wrought copper wire
which is placed in the center of the track
beneath the pavement for the purpose of
making the return circuit complete. This
enables the cars 10 be operated more full
ly. as on sill parts of the system the
strength of the current is uniform. Each
car has in connection rheostal which is
operated by the motor man regulating the
amount of current used for propelling the
Car and can be regulated 80 that the
speed of the car will be from one to
twenty miles an hour, ard the motor man
has at all time perfect control of the car.
and in a number Of cities where they are
over grades 10. II and IA per cent. they
frequently stop the car in the cen ter of
the grade and go backward. These cars
start off gradually and are free from that
jerking motion found in other systems.
The overhead construction will be
built in the best possible manner,
will be neat in appearance and de-
void of the unsightly objections
found in other lines. The cars, SO in
number. 16 feet long, will be OF the latest
improved pattern. tastefully painted,
lighted by electricity, equipped with
Hubbard patent truck with the most inn
proved break mechanism and life guards,
the latter entirely preventing the posi-
bility of persons getting beneath the
wheels. Sixteen of these cars are to be
equipped with single 90 horse power
railway motors, and "a of them will each
be equipped with q Is horse power mo-
tors, all to have the latest method of
noseless gearing. These cars are elec>
trically equipped with Prof. Thomson's
lighting arresters which makes them pc
fectly safe from damage to persons and
passengers, and at the same time is
tentative against interference with
the propulsion of the system during
storms. The car is so arranged that il
can be operated from either platform and
run in either direction from either end.
The trolly arm upon the top of the cal
for making contact with the overhead
| wire adapts itself to all conditions, es-
| pecially running beneath low railroad
bridges.
1.-The power station will be equipped
with seven 100 horse power dynamo gen
orators of the latest improved design OF
the T. Fl. E company and so arranged
that one or all OF them can be used at any
one time. the generators being connected
with switch board which will have placed
upon it lightning arresters, rheostals fol
regulating tine current, main switches fol
connecting in the several generators tt
the overhead line. together with curren
indicators, volt meters for measuring thu
amount of current which is used To-
Cd Grating each car. and also an automa
tic circuit breaker which If foreign
wires fall across the trolley wire II
will automatically break xhe circuit