Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-06-01
MONEY AGAINST TIME
THE GREAT RAILWAY TUNNEL BE- MEATH THE CITY OF BALTIMORE.
The Only Line of the Kind In ths World. Twenty-ave Minutes to He Saved at . Cost Of More Thaa es .O0O, OOO-EIsO- tricIty Against Steam.
Especial Correspondencs.l l

BALTIMORE, May 2S.-Think of Epcnd- ing $7, 500, 900 to savo 25 minutes time! Docs it not mako your head aehCs
 People who do not think this Is a fast world will smile internationally at this statement, but it is true. This is why what Is known as tho Baltimore Belt Line railroad was planned five years aGo-so that trains of the Baltimore and Ohio rail way could go rushing underneath the heart of tho city on thoir way between New York and Washington without being ferried across the Patapsco river. True, tho Belt Line gives the railroad company an opportunity to secure passengers from stations in different parts of tho city, but this was only O minor consideration. The question of time was the main issue and this outlay of money representing 4}3 years of labor and the construction of what Is the only limo of its kind in the world was the result of quiet conferencc which agreed that this time must be saved at any cost.
 At the conference was a short, st out, black eyed man, with determination whic' showed itself plainly on his features He was the father of tho plan to borc undo the city and lay tracks many feet beneath some of the largest buildings in Baltimore The idea of Mir. John B. Mcdonald was at first received with amazcment, but by facts and figures he proved tho possibility of the work. and its progress has since shown his ability and judgment, which may be call cd into play if ho rocciveS tho contract to construct New Works proposed under ground railway from tho Battery to liar lem, on which his company is now flgur- Ing.
 The Baltimore Belt Line as it isfanlil- larly termed Is less than eight miles long but its feature Is the tunnel work. One tunnel is <, l46 feet long and tho other nearly 400 feet, or in all about 2 miles It begins at Camden station, in the south ern part of tho city, and extends north and northeast under one of the main business streets, at some points tho top of tho arch being 70 feet below the pavement and at other points ns near as 10 feet to tho sur face. The line emergeS into n dccp cut in tho northern suburb and thence winds around in a long cuTvo to Q junction with the main road just beyond the city's linn it's The excavation for this GrGas holo in the ground Is over 80 feet wide and s6 tu so feet high, as it is largo enough to allow two trains of tho largest sized cars tn pass each other between its brick lined walls PaSscngers who go through 1t may hc in tereStcd in knowing that every foot of the road, including tho tunnel, cost just S225 rather expensive when you como tO pug Ele over 1t.
 But what makes this Belt Limo so cspo- cially interesting to engineers, inventors, railrnad mon and electricians is that tho long pasScnger and freight trains over it arc to be hauled by enormous electric loco motives. In scientific phrase its motive power will be the trough conduit system. For miles and miles in the open cut and on the steep cmbankmcnt arC what look like little bridges built over tho tracks Big iron posts hold these 'bridxrS'' of stcCl trusSwork over tho rails. From ono rridgo to auOt her Gre suspended iron cables, which in turn support two long narrOw cunduitS. which leo, somewhat like the caves truughs of a hous,', only turned upside down. No one would drNm that thcSo troughs and their supports arC a substitute for the urii- nary electric trolley wires from which the strcct car of today recciVeS thu power which sends it humming along from one part of the city to another. That k just what they arc, but so Cr,,at is the fOrV'r of the Currrnt to be generated that they rCquirC the most powerful support and the most careful in sulation to sec that tho currcnt k not lost and tho power of the locomotive diminish ed As tho latter comes along the track the spectator sceS that it has two trolley poles. Their upper ends arc brass slides which Are loosely yet perfectly fitted in tho trough and slide along in 1t instead uf roll ing as tho street car trolley does on thcwirc.
 It is certainly funny looking lOCnmo- tive Is the first improSSinn. Apparontly 1t is a littlo house on big whcNlS with an ordinary locomotive tender at each end, on each of which arc n bell and a headlight, but the curious and wonderful mechanism by which this unsccn force is controlled at the will of tho engineer needs carVful GOV. ering from tho clements, and this form Is considered to give it the best protcction.
 Tho motorman with ono hand pulls a small lever, not unlike a steam engine throttle valve. But no steam hisscs. Si- lcntly the machine begins to move. As the speed increases ono notes tho peculiar whirring or buzEing sound made by the trolley motor of common use, but ie is not so loud. although now tho apparatus may be rushing along at the rate of & miles an hour. By dCgrces the man at the lever pushes it hack and pulls at another handle. This caus,eS tho familiar hissing of the air brake with which hc controls the motion after tho currcnt is shut of as easily as does a steam engineer, but therr arc no redhOt furnace doors to open, no gushing of steam from tho safety valve, no soft cual to throw into hugo 1lrebOx glowing at a white heat. All these are absent, but still therc is the marvellous forcc which has pulled the train of seven or eight Pullman cars, representing a dead weight of SOu tons and ovcr up grade which would rr- quirc high steam prVSsure on a mogul engine.
 This is what is expected of thcSc ma chimes which will weigh 95 tons each and have motors equal tu 640 horsepower enough to withstand a current of 700 elc,,- trio volts" :" This power it is calculated, will allow them to haul passengers and freight trains through this tunnel at q | Spc('d of 30 and Is miles per hour rCSpCc- lively. Near the junction of the Belt road and main limo tho steam power motors | will replace the electric motors, which arc especially intended to oparate in and near | the tunnel 50 that 1t will be frco from smoke and gases.
 To generate this enormous powcr re- | quircs five engines and l2 steam boilers, | giving in all 5000 horsepower and also supplying current to 1000 incandcSccnt
 lamps, by which the long tunnel Is to be made at all times bright as monday. The | current for the motors is conveyed in large | copper cables insulated from the clements | and firmly joined to tho trough system al | rcady described. Tho steam plant Is in
 closed in large brick building in tho
 southern part of the city. IL is completed, | As we'll most of tho electric system, so
 that the mon who arc now making the | first practical trial of electric against steam Iowor in railroad uss expect to havo the
 aew sy stem in operation in few days. | HENRY HALE.