The morning call., 1891-11-15
SIT will begin to do It between Chicago

and Milwaukee at the Worlds Fair"
1.-THE problem of electric locomotion on
what are now called railroads Is. wonder
fully simple one. The street-car problem
was the poser. Any electrician can run a
train at high speed on a steam railroad
track"
without the trolley, wire or storage bat
tery?"
The Wizard laughed. not contemptuously.
He is too good natured a Wizard for that.
But his laugh seemed to say, Those are
nice little toys for those who can be amused
by them"
"Why. eleven years ago." he said, "
ran train at the rate of forty mixes an
hour on my three-mile track at MenlO Park
by the same central rail system by which /
propose to run now. Ran it round curves
at such rate that the people wanted to
walk back. l had Frank Thompson and all
the Pennsylvania people riding on it. |
wanted to begin at the big end of things. l
wanted to run all the trains on the Penn
sylvania Railroad from Jersey City 10 Pitts
burg by that system, and | could have done
1t then. But in pioneering you have to be-
gin at the little end. So l went into the
electric light. Aud in pioneering you have
to have a man with nerve to adopt your
ideas. have found the man. He is Henry
Willard. 1t is his idea to have this system
In operation between Chicago and Mil
waukee during the Worlds Fair. He in
tends to demonstrate that there need be no
such thing as waiting for trains between
cities now considered long distance apart.
He intends to run train, say of two cars,
every twenty minutes"
II would not be surprised after that to
see him introduce the system over the whole
of the Northern Pacific lines, though he
would not be compelled to Introduce it all at
once and throw away all his locomotives.
BY this system electricity can be gradually
introduced, more trains being saudwiched
In between the steam trains as the lUcomo-
tive wears out"
How can that be done and how VIII the
current be applied?"
- cannot 60 into details" replied Mr..
Edison. " for fear of iniuring my rights on
the other side. though, by the way, | never
made anything out Of European patents.
But will say briefly that the current will
pass from stationary engine to q centred
rail between the tracks, thence through the
mechanism attached TO the bottom of the
cars or motor. A freight train, of cours g,
would need motor because of the number
| of cars, but single passenger car could be
| run carrying its own motor beneath 1t
thence to the wheels and thence back by the
side rails to the p0wer-house or stationary
engine"
And how many of these stationary en-
| gines would be needed?"
Three of them, with a horse power OF
| 10000 or 1900 each would run the whole
| Pennsylvania Railroad system between here
and Philadelphia"
Freight, local. express trains and all ?"
"All of them, and at great reduc ton OF
expense. For not only is this horsepower
| produced at much less expense for you
must bear in mind that 1t is one or two
pounds OF cheap coal that will produce one
| horsepower IN stationary engine and six
| pounds OF dear coal in locomotive. but the
| depreciation OF rolltng-st0ck and road-bed is
| much less. Every eXertiOn of steam power
| Is in the nature of an explosion, and when
you take into consideration the fact that 40C
| or 500 engines are on road like the Penn
! sylvania at one time. each exercising dir
| ferent degree of this explosive power the
| depreciation Is a great factor. But with
| electricity 1t Is always the smooth, rotary
| motion, impaired in the same way by the
same men at the stationary engines"
| A HUNDRED MILES AN HOUR PRACTICABLE
"Can equipment be devised which will
| stand the strain of this system at fu!
| speed ?"
The Wizard smiled. full speed of this
| sy.tem," he said, lis. or | see no reason
| why 1t should not be. 200 miles an hour
But as for practical purposes feel sure
| that 100-round rail on q rock eallaSted
track would stand the speed Of 100 miles an
hour"
And how will your train be stopped"
BY air brakes, the same as at present,
| and that Is about ali the one man who would
take the place of engineer and two fTemen
| on the present express trains would have IL
| do-keep lookout and mimi his brake"
THE system. then, will not be popular
among the Brotherhood of LOGON )tIye En-
| gineersP"
Everything has opposition at first" re.
| piled the Wizard, nOn-committally. and
then went on. . Indicators would tell the
men at the power-houses the location Of
every train at every moment. There, you
| n abSDlufn hlnpk cUstam
Your system will be indispensable FOL
the rapid transit tunnel, when completed
| if it is completely"
ANY electrician ought to be able to drive
train at The rate of forty miles an hour.
/ was the modest answer. And Sienens
| ran the first electric railway"
But since youdroppcd the subject eleven
years ago ut Menlo Park no electrician
seems to have got very far with itP"
The Wizard only smiled a deprecatory
ought to be able to get the capital for thai
tunnel If there is provision against paral.
| lei lines; even If it is 800, 100000. You SEE
anything will pay in New York if the people
| want it.
Here Mr.. Edison broke off to walk ou
| through the rain TO the works with hi
Superintendent in order to give him ocular
| proof that there was enough beltipg.
| When he retured he attacked the street
car subject with interest. This was the
| pTOUlcill, nv odiu l. nave Dcel WOrkinI
on it two years. As told you before, any
electrician can get high speed. One thinl
was to get low sreed-to run four or five
miles an hour when necessary. And ther
the grades. Why. some street-car grades
are IL per cent. With railroads the highes
is generally 2per cent. And then the mud
Well, l can pick the current up out of tw,
| inches Of mud. l have done so on my ex
| perimental track down at Grange, but, cal
tell you, it took all kinds of contrivances to
do it,"
rs the system the same as that for the
railroads.
mo; there was another difficulty The
thing was to get a system which man sucf
as street-car lines have to employ could
operate without knowing about it, To make
it more simple for him makes it more com.
| pick Tor us. or course i have the stationary
engines; but tor simplicity's sake l have
abolished the central rail. The curren
passes along one side rail to the motor ant
back to the stationary engine through The
other"
"But In city street will not condition.
| arise that will distract the current running
along naked rail under wagon wheels?"
The Wizard smiled again, AS If to say
That's an easy one, and replied: "Ther'
are four fire engines In the city of New
York which have iron wheels and wee
have to LOOK out for them somehow. Blu
these are the only vehicles, so far as
know, of the thousands In use there whic
have iron wheels. The rest are all wooden
and would not affect The current"
Now, how about the safety of the pub
lie with an electric current running up ant
down the car tracks in the middle of
crowded street?"
The nearest approach to proud, tri
umphant smile which had appeared Their
then made its appearance known OH til
Wizards round, cheerful visage.
"A pressure" he said, "a little heavie
than the one use would make n horse Lii
his foot So" and Mr.. Edison raised one O
his own feet about half an inch from tn