The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-07-10
ARE STEAM ROADS DOOMED?
An Electric Railroad Motor Runs Eighty
Miles an Hour.
Ne,y York SIN.

New York Sun.
New YORK, June 25.-Arevolution
in railroading is promised by the re-
suit of the trials of the electric power
On the Nantasket branch of the New
York, New Haven and Hartford rail
way yesterday. The success of the
venture is assured. The first trial
was made on Thursday night. News
of the test was withheld from the
public. Two electric locomotives
were run over the road and a speed Of
more than fifty miles an hour was at
tanned between the Old Colony House
and Pemberton.
Last night another trial with an
electric locomotive geared to accom-
plish eighty or more miles was made,
and hot box on a motor car defeated
a new record for speed. The heating
of the box was due to the fact that
the new bearings could not withstand
the friction caused by the terrific
speed. at which the car was run for a
distance of probably less than three
miles. In the opinion of men quail
fed by years of experience to judge of
speed, eighty miles an hour was reach
ed. The possibilities, they say, were
ninety miles an hour, but the hot box
spoiled it.
None but officials and attaches of
the road were allowed on this test, the
entire party comprising less than 20.
1t was exactly 8.45 o'clock when Col.
Heft turned on the current, and in
less than four lengths the car was 60
ing at speed Of 20 miles an hour.
After having gone less than quarter
of mile the car was speeding along
at 35-mile gait. A stop was made
at Nantasket for a few minutes, and
then came the run to Pemberton. The
troublesome curves in. the first few
rods were gone over slowly, but upon
reaching the long stretch just below
Nantasket full power was turned on.
There was none Of the gradual increase
of speed characteristic Of the steam
locomotive, but with plunge the car
began to fly. Just as the more ap.
prehensive began to wonder how long
the car would remain on the rails it
was announced that there was hot
box, and Col. Heft shut off the cur
rent. Eighty miles an hour with five
notches Of the "controller" still to
spare was his estimate Of the speed at
the time of shutting off the current.
Under the momentum gathered the
car ran on for two miles further, most
of the distance at an estimated speed
Of 60 miles an hour.
The work Of changing the motive
power of the road from steam to elec-
tricity was done under the direction
of Col. N. H. Heft, formerly president
of the Bridgeport Traction Company,
but who recently was engaged by the
Consolidated road to superintend their
electric work. Starting at the Old
Colony House there is little to suggest
the trolley railway. In place of the
girder, groove, stilt-like "T." or the
other styles of railway in electric rail.
ways, there is used the conventional
T rail employed by steam roads. The
rails weigh 78 pounds to the yard,
and are Of the type known as the
cold Colony section," 44 inches high
and are laid precisely as the rails OF
steam roads.
Two flexible copper bonds seven
inches long are under the base of the
rails at each joint and riveted to them:
The bonds are so placed that when the
angle bars used in splicing the rails
are in position the bonds cannot be
seen. The length Of the bond is re-
duced to a minimum to insure the
maximum carrying capacity with the
minimum Of resistance.
The tracks are Is feet apart from
centre to centre, and between the
tracks is the single line of poles upon
which is supported the cables and troll
ley wire cross arm. The poles are II
by IA inches at the butt and ten by
twelve inches at the top. They are
painted black to point six feet from
the ground and white to within one
foot of the cross arm, then finished
black.
Power house No. ! is situated mid,
way between Nantucket and Old Col.
ony House station. The stack is 1l5
feet high, with base of 13 feet. The
power house is SO by ITO feet, and SO
feet to the top of the roof. A 24-incb
wall separates the engine from the
boiler room, in which there are two
batteries of four boilers each. The
boilers are of the horizontal hue type,
72 inches in diameter and 19 feet long
with 140 3-inch tubes.
The engine room contains two tan
dem, compound engines with two
direct coupled generators. The en-.
gines are Of the Green-Corliss build
and. specially designed for the work
they are to do. The shaft is 18 inches
and the fly wheel, which weighs 81,
900 pounds, is IS feet in diameter.
The condcnsers are 80 piped that the
engines can work with or without
them. They are arranged to regulate
from no load to maximum of l 1,42O
horse power. The regulators are SO
arranged that in case of an accident to
any part of the machinery the engines
will stop automatically. They can
also be stopped by simply pressing one
of several buttons.
The two generators specially built
for the line run at speed Of ITO revo-
lutions a minute, and are guaranteed
to develop 1900 horse power each.
The armatures, instead of being built
up of wire in the usual way, are made
of copper disks, each insulated from
the other. By this arrangement it is
said to be impossible for them to get
out of repair. The generators are 10
feet high and the armatures 8 feet in
diameter. The switchboard is of the
latest design. 1t is arranged with
two main generator panels. The tation
voltage is 700 volts. The wires are so
arranged that none can be seen issuing
from the roof of the building and there
is little to indicate that the building
is an electric power house.
Four motor cars, built after the
style Of baggage cars, are the electric