, 1891-11-02
EDIS0N'S ENGINES.
THE LOCOMOTIVE MUST Co., III
HAS HAD ITS DAY.
The wonders Which the Great IN
ventOr Has in store for the
Perfecftn1n OF ,ErayaItng,


Perfection of Travelling.
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 2.-Steam locomo
tiyes have had their day and electric mo
tors will take their place. This new deyic
for whirling trains of railroad cars at /
minimum speed of 100 miles an hour il
the invention of Thomas A. Edison. The
Wizard Of the Electric Fluid has com
pleted his motor, tested it, and is assured
of it's completeness. and backed by Henry
Willard, the well known New Yorker, will
operate a railroad between Milwaukee and
Chicago with electricity. Thus the era o:
steam locomotives, those tremendous ma
chimes that have been the wonder of this
age, will end on the 40Oth anniversary ot
the discovery Of America.
Mr.. Edison talked freely of the electric
motor yesterday, and said it would dis.
place the locomotive for three reasons, viz.
it was speedier, safer and cheaper.
cit will get one-horse power" he re-
marked, tout of from one to two pounds
of cheap coal, whereas six pounds of ex-
pensiYe coal are used to make horse
power for in a steam locomotive.
sit will carry train at 1C0 miles or even
2C0 miles an hour, while it strains a loco
motive to cover sixty miles in that time.
"The motor will be safer for the reason
that by means of an indicator in the power
houses which supply the electric current
the exact location of every train on the
road will be known at every movement.
There will be an absolutely perfect block
system, and will ensure perfect safety SO
far as collision of trains is concerned.
This will also be a saving of expense in
maintaining the road
STATIONARY POWER HOUSES.
Mr.. Mdison said the trains would be run
by electricity furnished the motors by sta
tionary poWor houses "The current will
pass from the stationary engine to cen
trail rail between the tracks, thence through
the mechanism attached to the bottom Of
the cars or motor. A freight train, Of
course, would need motor because of the
number Of cars, although a single passen-
ger car could be run carrying its own mo-
tor beneath it-thence to the wheels, and
thence back by the side rails to the power
house or stationary engine. Three sta
tionary engines, each with horse power
of 10000 or 12,0O0, would run the whole
Pennsylvania Railroad system between
here and Philadelphia.
For practical purposes [ feel sure that
l00-pound rail on a rock ballasted track
would stand the speed of 1C0 miles an hour.
The train will be stopped by air brakes, the
same as now. On the road between Mil
waukee and Chicago we will run trains
every twenty minutes at the lightning
speed at not less than 100 mills an hour.
CHEAP STREET RAILWAYS.
The Wizard said the new motor could be
used tor street railway purposes to great
advantage. He continued: "The system
will be the cheapest known. The plant
will not cost half as much as the cable,
and there will be no tearing up of the
streets. Why, under pressure | could lay
mile of track for this system in night.
A pressure little heavier than the one
use would make horse lift his foot so,
and Mr.. Edison raised one of his own feet
about half an inch from the office floor,
''but the pressure i do use horse wouldn't
feel at all, nor would man. You see, I
employ the heavy current with the low
pressure. That is the whole secret Of safe
ty. The principle is this, that stream of
water 100 feet wide which falls foot gives
the same power as a stream one foot wide
which falls 100 feet The wide stream is
my way
The third rail for street railways will be
discarded. Mr.. Edison says the difficulty
OF picking the current out of the mud has
been solved. There is absolutely no dan
ger to vehicles, pedestrians or horses.
ToBE USED ON THE NORTHERN PAC1EIe.
Mr.. Edison said that if the Chicago road
was the success anticipated Mr.. Willard
would undoubtedly put the electric motors
on the Northern Pacific for carrying freight
and passenger traffic. He offered to run
all the Pennsylvania railroads trains be-
tween New York and Pittsburg