The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1895-07-03


With Electricity as Motive Power.
New YORK. June 2S.-A revolution
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 recently. The success of the ven
ture 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 speed of more
than fifty miles an hour was attained
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
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 dist
ance of probably less than three miles.
In the opinion of men qualified by
years of experience to judge of speed,
eighty miles an hour was reached.
The possibilities, they say, were ninety
miles an hour, but the hot box spoil
ed it.
None but officials and attaches Of
the road were allowed on this test,
the entire party comprising less than
twenty. It was exactly Sis o'clock
when Col Heft turned on the current,
and in less than four lengths the car
was going at speed OF twenty miles
an hour. After having gone less than
a quarter of mile the car was speed
ing along at 35-mile gait \ stop
was made at Nantasket for q few min
utes, and then came the run to Penn
| berton. The troublesome curves in the
first few rods We're 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 characters
tic of the steam locomotive, but with
plunge the car began to fly. Just as
the more apprehensive began to Won
der how long the car would remain on
the rails it was announced that there
was hot box, and Col. Heft shut off
the current. Eighty miles an hour
with five notches of the controller"
still to spear was his estimate of the
speed at the time of shutting Off the
current Under the momentum gath
cred the car ran on for two miles fur
ther, most of the distance at an esti
mated speed of sixty miles an hour.
The work of changing the motive
power of the road from steam to cleo
tricity was done under the direction Of
Col. n. II. 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 Col
ony House there IS little to suggest the
trolley railway. In place of the grid
er, groove, s.ilt-Gke ''T;' or the other
styles of railway in electric railways,
there is used the conventional ''T''
rail employed by steam roads. The
rails weigh seventy-eight pounds to
the yard, and are of the type known
as the ''Old Colony section, Il 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 tand 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 minimum, to insure the
maximum carrying capacity with the
minimum resistance.
The tracks are fifteen 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 arms The poles are
twelve by fourteen 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. l is situated mid
! way between Nantucket and Old Col
ony House station. The stack is 115
feet high, with base of thirteen feet.
The power house is SO by ITO feet, and
50 feet to the top Of the roof. \ "a
inch 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,
70 inches in diameter and 10 feet long
with lao 3-inch tubes.
The engine room contains two tam
dem, compound engines with two dl-
rect coupled generators The engines
are of the Green-Corliss build and
specially designed for the work they
are to do. The shaft is is inches and
the fly wheel, which weighs $4,000
pounds, is is feet in diameter. The
condensers are SO piped that the en-
gines can work with or without them.
They are arranged to regulate from
10 load to maximum of l, 420 horse
power. The regulators are so arrang-
ed 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 a speed of no revo-
lutions minute, and are guaranteed
to develop 1,500 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 S 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 issu
ing from the roof of the building and
there is little to indicate that the build
ing is an electric power house.
-Four motor cars, built after the