The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-08-04
STEAM ROAD DOOMED.
Electricity Certain 10 Take Its
Place Before Long.
EXPERIMENTS ON GREAT LINES.
The Motors of the New Haven Railroad
Can Make Ninety Miles an Hour
Easily The New Machinery.


Easily The New Machinery.
New York Letter in Chicago News.
Electrical optimiSts are beginning %
shout that the doom OF the steam railroad
has come. -Four years ago. when II was
announced that an electrical road was 10
be built in Southern Europe capable 81
sending heavy trains along at 3 speed OF
l2o-or. for that matter, z21-rniies an
hour the same optimiSts agreed that the
DAYS OF the steam read were ended.
Since then. however, great strides have
beer made in the inventive field and, al
though the 12a-rniis-aR-hour road has not
materialiEsd the supporters OF electricity,
as against steam. are in a much stronger
position today than at any tine since the
first discussion of the project.
The fact that the Nantasket branch Of
the New York. New Haven & Hartford
road has recently been changed from
steam 20 ele,tricity and is now operating
successfully under the latter power Is the
best evidence yet produced of the pract-
cabiiity OF the scheme. Railroad men are
inclined to regard the change as almost
too important for newspaper diseusston-
They want 10 see their way clearly before
committing themselves 10 an expression
OF opinion.
That electricity will eventually be the
motive power of all great railroads they
are agreed upon, but on the question or
whether the time has already come Ter
the great change they are in doubt. 1t
is generally bell a ed that the New York.
New Haven & hartford company has
made the test on one OF the least used OF
its branch lines. for a purpose of great
Importance. The new order OF things has
worked satisfactorily so far, and the line
will be operated in the same way through
Ffsf. q - nax
has gone as well as now ii would not sur
prise many people to see the power OF the
main line changed 20 electricity. When
one important line has made the change
IL is regarded as only q question OF short
time when all the other great roads, 10
keep pace with the progressive. viii do The
same. 1t will be the old story over again
OF the trolley suppianting the horse and
the mule on the street railroads.
Electrical experts disagree on the maxi
mum speed obtainahle on the great rail-
roads Some of them claim that there Is
prae tically no limit to II. 800. 400 and 500
miles an hour being within the scope OF
possibility. of course, such high speed
would never be utilized. Travelling at tho
rate of 200 miles an hour the nlotorman
would have TO begin to slow down at
point twenty miles before the objective
stopping place. Then the possibility of &C
cident would he greatly widened unless
the road were fenced in throughout its en-
tire distance and equipped with separate
tracks for freight. way and express trains.
Already speed of more than eighty
miles an hour has been obtained on the
Nautasket road and tho trains can be run
as easily at ninety miles as at eighty, but
the road is comparatively short and ham
pered by frequent curves, except Tor
single long run at point just below Nan
taskct.
There is little 10 suggest the trolley in
the construction of the road. in place. OF
the girder. groove. stilt-like IT. or the
other STYLES Of rail in electric railways,
there is used the conventional T rail en-
ployed by steam roads. The rails weigh
sevonty-eight pounds TO the ward ana are
of the type known as the odd colony sec
ton" four and one-half inches high. and
are laid precisely as the rails OF steam
roads.
Two flexible copper bands. seven Inches
long. are under the base OF the rails at
each joint and r.veted TO them. The
bands are so placed that when the angie
bars used i'm splicing the rails are In post
ton the bandsscannot be seen. The length
of the band is reduced TO "A minimum 10
insure the maximum carrying capacity
with a minimum of resistance.
The tracks are fifteen feet apart from
center TO center and between the tracks
is the single line of poles upon which are
supported the cables and trolley-wire
cross arms The poles arc twelve 10 four
teen inches at the butt and ten 10 twelve
inches at the tor. They arc painted black
TO a point six feet from the ground and
white 10 within one foot Of the cross arm,
then finished black.
-Four motor ears built after the style
of baggage cars, are the electric locofno-
tives To secure traction they have been
made extra heavy, weighing, when FUZZY
.sa.N 1r 1'FFsgs
viii have four motors each and the others
two motors each hung on trucks.
The cars are equipped with the west
inghouse air brake and have all standard
appliances of the steam cars. In addition
10 a fifteen-inch gong at the 'front.' ends or
the motor cars each Of these cars has a
chime whistle. worked with compressed
in place of steam.
Save for a single feature, there Is not the
slightest resemblance 10 the steam loco
native That feature Is the cowcatcher at
both ends of the motor ears IL ls stu
ated underneath the platforms instead or
projecting beyond tho body or the locoino-
tive. as with the steam locomotive. The
wheels are about the size OF the largest
wheels used on steam cars. but the axies
are considerably heavier 10 withstand the
strain OF the electric gearing.
One Of the reasons for selecting tho
Nantasket branch as the line for expert
rrent is that within its short limits are
condensed most of the difficult problems
which viii have 10 be solved before cleo
tricity can be recognized as successful
substitute for steam. The grades ara
steep and the curves sharp and frequent
Trains are now running at short intervals
on the road.
Three wears ago there was a great deal
of talk about an electric road between Chi
cago and St Louis. making the $50 miles
In two hours and a half or less. Practical
railroad men at the time placed little con-
Ndanca in the scheme, claiming that its
projectors were trying 10 attain the per-
fectiou of electrical railroading al one
bound and without the necessary inter-
mediate experiments. Time has SHOWN
their Judgment 70 be true. A wedge
shaped motor was 20 be used Tor the pnf-
pose Of reducing the air resistance 10
minimum.
Railroad men agree that the use OF cleo
trlcitv win not become general on he
large trunk lines until an absolutely GER
tain system OF underground contact has
been worked out. The overhead wIf2.-
they claim. will never do for the greet
roads. No conduit has yet been designed
which will withstand the adverse conai-
tions Of climate Ia the northern states. a
street railway on the conduit system Is De-
ing operated in Washington city with fair
success and another IN Chicago. the only
really successful one is That in Budapest,
which Is thirty miles in length. The eli
r,g,4c conditions there are almost ideal.
but the mechanical features employed are
not superior in any way to those tried IN
this country.
There are a great many obstacles 20 be
overcome, but the Representation Or an
electrical enthusiast that before 1870 trains