Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-29
High Speed Electrical Locomotives.

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From the Boston Globe.
A powerful high-speed electric locomo.
tive has just been completed at the Lynn
works Of the General Electric Company
and is to be shipped to the worlds fair for
exhibition.
1t is a remarkable machine. and is de-
scrbsd by the as the first ssS
steam railroads and for maintaining a
speed Of any consequence.
thing n the SHADE aO Of ioWsrng or even a ap.
preaching the records OF fast time made
every day by steam locomotives. still II
It is only expected to make thirty miles an
hour. which is considered a very good rate
for an accommodation train.
The locomotive Is fitted with safety ap-
pliances such as are attached to steam
railroad engines. 1t has air brakes, the
air being obtained from a special electrical
air compressor, which also furnishes the
force to sound the whistles. The oscillat-
ing cylinder of the compressor has g.
inch stroke. and is capable Of providing
pressure Of 70 pounds. The motor operat-
Ing the air pump Is controlled by a special
rheostat, which is automatically regulated
The locomotive weighs 30 tons and COM
pactness of machinery is at once apparent
in it's build. 1t is 1S feet inches long. II
feet inches high, and feet 4 inches wide.
The drawbars are set feet inches from
the top of the rail, while the whole rests
on FOUR 44-lncn wheeIS.
Two electric motors, one at each axle
provide the power, the motors being gear
less and supported upon spiral springs hav-
ing their base on the side frames of the
truck. This arrangement gives the wheels
a certain freedom of movement prospect
i've of each other. which permits them to
the track, making the locomotive ride cas-
Ter and diminishing the wear and tear upon
the tracks and the motors.
The motor fields are solid iron castings
and the hollow field spoois are boited to
them. The ironclad armatures have each
separate windings. embedded in a mica
lined slot In the curved surface of the
laminated iron armature body.
The locomotive axles pass through the
hollow shafts upon which the armatures
are mounted. They rest in bearings of the
motor frame and are connected to the axles
by universal couples. which allow Of con-
siderable freedom Of motion. The commu-
tators are Of substantial construction, and
each one has four sets Of brushes.
1t is claimed that the series parallel con-
tie in the ordinary locomotive, makes il
possible to start and stop the motor easier
and with less straining than is needed for
the steam locomotive. while the speed. by
this arrangement, can be more readily con-
trolled.
The truck. suspended from the journal
and forms thu foundation for the locomo-
tive cab, OF let iron. OF symmetrical de-
sign. and so curved of as to diminish the
atmospheric resistance as far as possible
The interior is finished in hard wood
Two sliding doors are placed at each side
of the cab, and the windows are so arrang-
ed as to permit Of an unobstructed view in
all directions. There is ample space in the
cab for the motorman's movements, and II
affords him considerably better protection
than that usually vouchsafed the steam
locomotive engineer.
The use of these locomotives over very
long distances Is at present limited only by
the cost of long lines of electric feeders
and until the problem offered by this con.
ditton Is solved restriction OF its employ
ment must necessarily exist.
But for places comparatively near ea oh
other and where traffic Is dense, the denser
the better. the electric locomotive Is pecu-
Of electric propulsion are available IN.
hampered by the extreme expense involved
in long feeder lines