The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-07-28
THE UNDERGROUND TROLLEY.
Successful Test of New Electric KALI
road in New York.

Successful Test of a New Electric Rail-
road I'm New York.
New York Times.
The new electric conduit road Owned ana
operated by the Metropolitan Traction
Company began 70 carry passengers yes
terss4y morning without any foEstsal open
ing ceremonies Il begins n tosuuDt7s
avenue Al on. Hundred and Eighth stree.
where the present cable road endss tHoIgh
there IN nothing IN the outward APPEAR
ance OF the line 10 show the cnaage ffoEsi
one motive power 20 the oIaef- NOT are
the cars OF the new road different IN Eiy
outward respect from the regular Broad
way cable cars, except that instead
wheel for the cable grip there IS an ord-n-
arx fsox for electric switches suen as are
commonly seen on trolley cars
TIE road turns OF Columbus avenue al
One Hundred and Eighth street, and By
descending gradient Of 81 per cert
reaches Manhattan avenue Then. turning
northward, IL runs along that avenue TO
One Hundred and Sixteenth street. afford
fng a beautiful view OF Morn!ngside park
on the left and fine view or ne highest
elevation OF the Manhattan railway as it
runs along Eighth avenue on ne right.
The line forsakes Manhattan avenue at
One Hundred and Sixteenth street. which
IL follows until X reaches Lenox avenue.
From that point 10 One Hundred and
Forty-slxfh stree; the line keeps on Lenox
avenue, reaebing the temporary power
house at the north end Of It's route.
A reporter for the New York Times
Travelled over the new road early yester-
day morning and found the new method or
propulsion as perfect as 1t well could be
for the comfort of passengers The car
had ten or twelve passengers on board,
nearly all OF them women. The rails were
smooth and elastic, and so well laid thar
not single joint could be felt.
The starting of the car was accom-
plIshed so gradually and with such a con-
slant gain in impetus that there was no
necessity for each fresh arrival on the car
10 clutch frantically al the nearest over
head strap before landing in a seat The
halls were taken with the ease and stea1i-
ness OF a cable car. The speed on declines
was regulated with the brake alone. the
current being turned off.
The chief point Of novelty In the new
system IL the method OF making the elec-
tric contact between the car and motor
and the conductors. The motors ara or
the largest approved trolley type, MADE py
the General Electric Company. and the
generators at the power house are of the
ordinary type from the workshops of the
same company.
AS the road has been constructed with a
regular cable trench in order that this
method OF traction can be substituted at
any time, its outline VIII be familiar TO
those who have watched the building OF
cable roads In different parts or the city
during the last five years.
Thirteen inches below the conduit are
the two conductors, one on each side, six
inches apart. They are simple strips or
channel iron, four inches deep and thirty
feet in length each. suspended from the
roof OF the conduit by proclaim insulators
~ - a ~s.l- 1sh ~~
the same side by copper wire firmly rivet-
ted into both ends. Both are connected
with the generators in the power house 10
opposite po.es. In this case the rails 90
not carry the return current, as is usual
I'm trolley systems. but one iron strip car
ries the outward. or positive current, and
the other the return, or negative current.
The apparatus which collects this cur
rent from one side and returns Z TO tie
other IS exceedingly simple. II consists Of
longitudinal plate OF non-conducting
fiber. with an iron plate on each side. The
lower end of these iron plates has a wing,
kept extended by spring, so that IL al
WAYS makes contact with its conductor
The upper end Of each plate leads off into
a copper wire. The current comes from
the underground conductor on one side
through the wing, up the plate. through
the copper wire. then through the motor
turning IL in its passage, and down the
other plate back 10 the power house by
the conductor on the opposite side.
There are two motors In each car, hav-
ing a nominal strength of fifty horse
power between them. The current Is de-
hvered at a pressure OF $50 volts, when IL
leaves the generator. The engine which
turns the directly connected dynamo of 500
kilowatts is a horizontal. cross-compound
AIlis-Corliss OF $50 horse power. Both en-
gines and dynamos are duplicated as a
precaution against the accidental breaking
down OF one SET.
H. III. vreeland. president OF the Metro
politan Traction Company. speaking yes
terday OF the latest addition to the CON-
pany's lines. said:
New York is behind the age in It's me-
chanical traction appliances. There are
stu 100 miles OF lines in the city with 5000
horses Popular sentiment forbade over
head trolleys, and We found that cables
for our cross-town lines, with their twists
turns and crossings. would be far too ex-
rensive- SO we set 70 work year ago in
earnest TO build a conduit electric railway
AT present II IS everything we could
wish. and hope TO see a great extension
OF the conduit system before long. In fact
the fittings look absurdiy simple when we
look at them actually completed. We
have trolley motors and trolley constant
current generators and conductors better
protected from the weather than over
head lines are.
AT present we are working the con-
ductors directly connected with the sta
ton without Intermediary feed wires. This
gives us a capacity OF about ten cars. AS
soon as we require more cars on the line
we shall supply additional current through
feed wires.
The only practical difference between
our system and that in operation at Buda-
Pesth IS the slot for taking up the cur
rent In Buda-Pesth II is on enc side OF
the track: in ours Il is in the middle I
hope that the LeRox avenue electric road
Will oe a great practical commercial sue
cess so that we can use Il everywhere in
tho city where our cars are now drawn by
horses"