The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-08-25
ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES.
THEIR 4DTiNTiGEs OYER STEM
RATLWAT ENGINES.
Saving of Wear and Tear on Eoadbed'
Bridges. and Trestles-Liectric ia'i-
ways In Europe and America.

| SCHENECTADY. Aug. 13-Ihe edlior-
ial that appeared In the sun lle otneI
day about eloctriclty's supplantinS steam
| on railways was very opportuhe LOT J..
looks as If this subject were alrealy at
| the front. one OF the engineers hers,
I'm talking about electric railways sdu
| some of the conspicuous railroad men
feel that there are other reasons, Lt-
sides economy for thinking IL prODapie
that great many steam railroads VII
take the earliest opportunity tnat oH1fs
| TO make the change 10 electricity. ne
| then went on TO give very much me
same reasons as We're indicated by the
sun; but. in addition. he pointed out one
| which ne saws is generally oNcflocktp.
| Those who have not paid much attention
| 10 railroad building and operating, pro.
| badly fail 10 recognize the fact that All
| roadbcds. rails, and bridges are con-
| structed so as 10 take care % the weibht
| and pounding incident 10 the use OF
| heavy locomotives. and the recent tend-
| ency has been for locomotives 10 become
| larger and heavier. IL, then. TINS ire
| mendous weight can be disposed OF. anu
| the wear and tear on the road can DC
! reduced TO that occasiOncd ~ the cars
| themselves. the cost Of the rOadbed, ele-
waited structure, and bridges VIII ne
ch"apened greatly. Conser'aliv,e r', ~
fected in this way would amount to about
| one-third Of the present cost.
| All the electric street railways running
| nj present are worked by the direct cur
|
| electricity transmitted over any distance
| the alternating current must be used.
one Of the General Electric engineers
| when asked the other day how the alter
mating current would be used in this way.
"Two methods might be employed At
! Lowell. Mass, they are CARVING an
| alternating current distance OF Twelve
| miles for use on the street railway me
Then this current IS taken from the
| stcp-dOWn transformers IL is carried INTO
a machine which we call rotary trans,
| former. This machine has the genera
| appearance Of a motor but seems 10
have two commutators, one at each en1
| Of the armaturc The alternating cur
| rent is supplied at one end, and then
| from the cOmmutator at the other eha
| the direct current TO operate the line n
| given off. Another method IS % supply
| the alternating current TO an alternating
| current motor, and belt this TO another
machine which Will generate a direct
| current
Here they seem to think that probably
| before very long a motor viii be prDiuc-
| ed which can be operated on the alter
mating current system, SO That the cur
rent can be taken directly from the
| transformer. This will be a great i'm
| prOvement for n rotary transformer is
an expensive machine.
| IN connection with electric railways,
| one of the most important installations
| in the world is that being introduced i'm
| Dublin. Ireland by the British Thomson
| Houston Company. This railway is OF
| especial interest 10 Americans because
| the machinery and installation a%e de-
| signed By Mr.. II. +. Parshall. who for
| so many years has been connected with
| the General Electric Company. The rail-
| way starts from Haddington read, yuD-
| lin and goes 10 the township or Dalkey,
| a distance of about s IL miles. \ nlEn-
| voltage alternating current is used 10
| transmit the power 20 the sub-statOus on
| tine lires. The reasons for adopting TINS
| system We're: First, the length of the
| line. second, the English Board OF Trade
| rule, which specifies that the fall OF po-
! tential I'm an earth return must not eN-
| coed seven volts. and third. the suitable
| ~ of establishing a large main station az
| Rall's Ridge about half mile from
! Hadlington road, whore the waters of
| the river DOldcr can be- used 10 supply
| condensing and feed water Tor the ste4m
| engines. In the main station az Balls
| Bridge there are four generators. OF
! these two are 50O-vOlt direct.current mia
| chimes, with a capacity of about l3p horse
! pONer each, and supply current 10 the
! first part OF the line. The other two
| generators are ihTce-phase alternating
machines. with a capacity Of about l"o
| horse power each. ncsc supply cur
| rent at about 300 volts 10 the three
phase mains, which 20 10 the sub-si1tions
| at Black Rock and Oakley At each OF
| the sub-statons there are two >o horse
power synchronous motors, which are
driven by the three-phase current. The
! shafts of these machines are connected
directly by an insulated coupling with ihe
| 50p-volt generators, which supply de
| rect current.
The Balls Bridge main station SIS about
! half a mile from the beginning OF tnr lue.
Three and half miles beyond Balls
| Bridge Is the Black Rock sub-station.
| ana four and q half miles beyond tnat
the Oakley sub-statiOn
The thrce-phasc current Is carried by
! a triple cOncenfric cable which has been
| accident there need he no delay. The
! drop i'm voltage in the fhree-phase mains.
plus the drdp I'm the trolley line. viii
be less than 8 per cent, but IF current
| of 80 volts were employed with inc
| same amount of copper the drop would
be 80 per cent. 4 drop Of 20 per cent. in
| the voltage could not Dc allowed, so lt
| low voltage current We're used Do would
be necessary 10 have good deal more
| copper. and this owing 90 It's hi1n price,
! would increase greatly the expense oil
the line. To offset this however. there
| Is in the present arrangement the extra
! expense Of tho synchronous motors and
the generators which they drive.
The opinions Of various officers OF the
General Electric Company about tho fu-
! ture of electric railways are not in ac-
| cord as regards details. Thus some seem
TO think that railways that will extend
| over great distances are stu rather pro-
hlematical which others expect that We
shall not have to wait long for them.
| They all agree. however IN believing that
as FAR as local railways are concerned,
| there Will be a great increase as time
goes ON. They think. too. that these not
only Will handle the passenger traffic,
but also will carry freight In many places
| with much more economy and displtcn.
| Looking back ON the history OF electric
! railroads 10 Is interesting 10 observe how
| rapid their growth has been. Although
| the earliest railways We're laid in Europe,
this country has surpassed all others in
| the development of this branch of cleo
trical engineering and thus IL comes that
! when an electric railway which has 10
| be operated under peculiar circumstances
| like the one in Dublin is desired. 30 rs
| planned In America. No doubt the main
| reason Of the superiority OF America In
| this respect Is the enterprise and iugcu-
! uity Of the engineers in this country; but
| there IS "a cause which has retarded the
growth of the electric railway I'm Europe.
] This is a prejudice against the trolley
fWire. which is regarded as a lishgurc-
| mcnt OF a street 10 may be- however
= that the use OF the trolley wire can be
| avoided now and that electric railways
| can be run In the streets without hurting
| anybody's artistic sensibiiities III Is IT,
ported that the conduit system used I'm
| LenOX avenue. New York, is working
| satisfactorily and that even in the wet
| test weather there is no trouble from
! leakage. IL remains To be seen whether
! this system VIII work equally well when
| winter comes and the emergencies from
| snow and slcet have 10 be met. II the
| railway works well under these adverse
| conditions the present objections 10
street electric railways VIII bee removed.
| and they probably viii become more pop
uar In Europe. II this proves 10 be
| the case. electrical manufactures I'm this
country will bee likely 20 have their hands