The record-union., 1895-04-22
MOST RADICAL ADVANCE YET MADE.
The Transition of Electric Power Into
This City.
What the Leading Electric Authority
in the Country Says of the
Folsom Enterprise.

The following is from Electric PoaOer
for April, one of the leading New York
papers devoted to electricity. The COM
mon talk for years in this city has been
the possibility of a deficiency in power
by extreme low water toward the end of
the season. How this is to be avoided
can be seen in the first paragraph OF the
article:
'The dam is a massive structure of
granite laid in Portland cement, go feet
long, SO feet high, 81 feet wide at the base
and % feet at the crest. 1t is provided
with a heavy wooden shutter or lush
board, 8 feet high, which at high water Is
lowered into a recess in the crest OF the
dam. At low water this shutter is raised
by hydraulic pistons, the depth OF the
basin is increased by feet, ana addl-
tional storage capacity for the waste
water provided. Normally the dam
forms a reservoir three and one-half
miles long, and has capacity OF I5,OOO,UOo
cubic yards of water.
1.-The power-house is situated at the
lower end of the canal, and has an avail
able fall of 90 feet. The hydraulic appara-
tus consists of four pairs OF water wheels
OF the horizontal turbine type, lnclosed
in steel cases having steel inlet pipes
feet in diameter, and double discharge
tubes. Each pair of wheels will have
capacity of l ,260 horsepower at 300 revo-
lutions per minute. They are the largest
ever constructed in this country, with
one exception. The water after racing
past the turbines, will be discharged
through tunnels under the poWer-house
into irrigating canals.
1.-The generators will be four in number,
of the three-phase type, using 500 volts.
The armature shafts will be directly con-
neCted to the wheel shafts by means OF
fange couplings. Each generator will
have capacity of 1000 horsepower and
will weigh thirty tons. They will be the
largest three-phase generators ye: con-
structed.
Especial provision to prevent shut
down by accident has been made In the
pole line, which will be double from
Folsom to Sacramento. For this purpose
$500 fOrty-foot poles are used, and each
will carry two cross-arms for two circuits
Of three wires each. Each of these wire
circuits can carry the output OF one
dynamo, and any dynamo can be thrown
on any line.
1.-THE Sacramento step-down sub-station
will be a tireprOof two-story brick build
ing, which will be divided into four
paIts-the transformer room; the motor,
railway and arc dynamo room; the shop
and testing room and the storeroom.
I'm the main room will be three 300
horsepower three-phase synchronous
motors directly connected to one shaft.
This shaft will drive several 500 volt con-
tinuous current railway generators and
number of arc dynamos.
I'm the transformer room the switch
boards will receive the terminals of the
10000 volt transmission lines and operate
the different combinations of the trans
formers.
This installation will cover a trans
mission OF power over longer distance
than has ever before been attempted.
Embodying as it does problems of gem
eral distribution of electrical power for
all uses over a distant city, it Will attract
attention in the world of science, as well
as that of commerce, as one of the most
cal Industry"