News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1893-08-31
THE ELECTRIC ROAD.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE SENT no
VIEW THE ROCKLAND, ME-, LINE.

meeting to order it was apparent
that but few, If any, considered them
selves well enough informed on the
subject to wish, at that time, to put
themselves on record either for or
against the project. The meeting
therefore adjourned three weeks to
give the voters a chance to better in
form themselves.
After the meeting was adjourned it
was thought by some of the Norris
town people that it would be we'll if a
delegation from Morristown could
visit some electric road in practical
operation and learn from observa-
ton all they could upon those points
which would enable the voters to de-
termine whether they considered the
construction of the road of sufficient
benefit to the town to warrant the
town to give aid.
For want of funds the number was
finally reduced to three. Those who
contributed to the funds wished a
road in Rockland, Me-, nearly 200
miles distant, to be visited, and after
a good deal of talk they chose the
undersigned. Two gentlemen from
Stowe, Messrs. Pike and Burt, Joined
the party at Morrisville for the same
purpose, but as we do not wish to
represent them, having no authority,
we shall leave them to state their
own views, but wish to say that all
worked in harmony and that their
suggestions and company was to us
more than agreeable.
We arrived in Rockland Wednes-
day. Aug. %, about II a. m. We at
once found the President of the road,
Mr.. Shepard, one of the Directors,
Mr.. Crockett, and the SuperiDtend-
ent, Mr. Weston. These gentlemen
were pleasant men to meet and read
lily offered to show or explain to us
anything we might want to know in
regard to the road We found this
electric road, in its longest continu-
Gus line, to be eight miles, beginning
at Rockland, passing through Rock
port, and ending at Camden.
The most OF the business done by
this road is carrying passengers, yet
they run a baggage or freight car
once dayeach way. Passenger cars
are run every half-hour each way.
The gauge of this road is the same as
steam roads and they use the same
kind of rail as steam roads, but of a
lighter weight. The passenger cars
used in the summer are the open car
similar to those used on all street
railroads. Freight cars used are
somewhat like steam freight cars, but
lighter in construction. They are run
by the trolley system, or wire over
head. This road is connected with
the Maine Central and steam freight
cars can be taken from this to the
electric, but did not understand that
they do this very much, but have in
some cases.
This road is run in the highway
through the city of Rockland it is run
in the center of the road, but the rest
of the way the rails were laid on one
side. The passenger cars will carry
comfortably about 40 people, but the
day we were there we saw as many as
70 passengers on one car. The cars
started with apparent ease and were
stopped with brakes operated as on
steam cars, and the motor-man seems
to have full control of his car. The
road was sometimes raised little
above the highway, but nowhere was
it sunk below, making it practically
correct to say that the grade of the
road was the same as that of the
highway.
The Superintendent of the road in
forms US that the sharpest grade on
the road is 81 per cent, which, as
we understand it, means a trife more
than one inch in going twelve inches,
or SR feet in going 100 feet. The
highest rate of speed, that we were
informed of, over this road was six
teen miles an hour for the whole
distance Travelled, and the next high
est not quite twelve over the route
from Rockland to Camden with the
mail, but the average rate of speed
with passenger cars was from eight
to nine miles, including stops; but
we were satisfied that if this road
could apply as many horse power to
their drawing cars as the steam
roads apply through their engines,
and the wheels of the drawing cars
do not slip on the rails, the electric
can draw the local traffic over a road
from Stowe to Morrisville on sub
stantially the same grade of our
public highways. We base this opin.
ion upon the known fact that when
driving-wheels of engines are so ar
ranged as not to slip, they are able
to rise very steep grades.
From the top of these cars to the
wire overhead was a devise with a
groOved pulley in which the wire laid
and in the night, when the car was in
motion, there would be occasional
flashes of pale blue color, which
would light the surroundings, for an
instant, quite light. With regard to
frightening horses the testimony
seemed to be that there was no ma
terial difference from steam roads,
but, as we saw it, we think the liabil-
ity to accidents of this kind less on
this road than on steam roads, if
they always do as they did when we
were misunderstanding the car to
let a frightened horse go by. This
road is free from danger of fires
from passing cars; free from the
annoyance of smoke. or whistling, or
the ringing of bells; comparatively
still in the passage of cars over the
road.
We believe the people of Rockland,
Rockport and Camden would no
more have the service of this road
discontinued than we would have the
service of our railroad discontinued.
The power house is situated
on the line, about two miles
from Rockland, and the electric cur
rent is made by two powerful engines.
They not only furnish electricity to
run the cars, but light the city of Rock
land and all the villages in that vicin-
ity, and furnish power for other pur-
poses. This road has been in opera
ton about one year, and we we're
told by the President of the road
that there had been but one accident,
and that, of a woman breaking her
arm by jumping from a carriage, the
horse becoming frightened at the
cars, when, if she had remained in
the carriage, she would have received
no injury. These passenger cars ride
very nicely, although the road is
quite uneven in places, and there are
many sharp curves. The sidings to
this road are similar to those on
steam roads. We were told that
the electric road took care of the
snow in the winter so that the travel
ing public was not Inconvenience.
This road crossed but one bridge