The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-07-12

the Camden station, where they Will be
switched into the cut, The electric To-
connective viii then couple on behind,
without stopping the train, and push 1t
through as far as the Mount Royal ave-
nue. portal, a distance of S,l46 feet, the
steam locomotive doing no work, After
passing out OF the tunnel, both steam
and electric locomotives pull and push
together up the heavier grade as far as
Huntington avenue, the average speed
over the entire distance being about tif-
teen miles an hour. AT Huntington av-
enue the electric locomotive will uncou-
pie and run into its siding.
The plan Of pushing the passenger
trains through the tunnels has been
abandoned, in view of the possible re-
suits if one Of the cars or the steam
locomotive should leave the track, in
front of the heavy electric locomotive
travelling at thirty miles an hour, The
passenger trains will, therefore, be pull
ed through from the Lombard street
station, near the south end of the tun-
mel, to the Bolton street station, at the
north end.
The most interesting portion of the
installation is, of course, the locomo-
tives. Electric locomotives of such
weight and power had never before
been conceived, but it has always been
a rule in American electric railway
practice from the beginning to push
ahead where improvements were possi-
BILE, and make the results realize the
expectations, and there has been no
departure from the rule in this case.
The ninety-six ton electric locomotive
is a success.
The General Electric company under
took the task of building these ma
chimes, and the tests made on the one
completed, before it left the Schenec-
tady shops, as well as those made dur
ing The past few days, show that they
are fully equal to all reasonable re-
quirements of trunk line service. They
are designed to do very heavy work,
and to handle trains such as the larg-
est steam locomotives handle. They
are, of course, also designed to run in
either direction.
The locomotives are massive pieces of
machinery, rivaling in size, impressive
ness and weight the heaviest steam
L uGy dlG ~ llluCll lNeti,
even handsome in appearance, and are
not, of course, disfgured by the series
of Jumps and bumps which we are ac-
customed to on the steam locomotive.
| They are examples of the finest piece
| of electrical engineering ever conceived
| and carried to execution. They are not
playthings, as the following dimensions
show: Number of trucks, 2; weight on
| driving wheels, 10000 pounds (96 tons);
number of driving wheels, s; draw-bar
pull, $4,000 pounds; starting draw-bar
pull, 10000 pounds; gauge, feet, So
| inches; diameter of drivers, g. inches
outside of tires; length over all, So fet;
height to top of cab, IA feet inches;
extreme width, feet 6A inches.
| The locomotive consists of sheet
steel cab set upon two trucks, each of
which rests upon two pair of 81 inch
| wheels. The cab is in two parts, and
each is supported upon one truck.
| There are four motors, one to each
axle. They are the largest railway
motors in the world. The are rated at
| $50 horse power each, and require nor
mally 900 amperes of current to operate
them. The are pyramidal in shape,
| have six poles and six brushes, and are
gearless, They rest upon cross bars,
hung upon springs upon the side frames
| of the truck.
| The armature Of the motor Is built
| UP very much in the same manner as
| the generator armature Just described
and is known as series drum-wound
1t is not mounted upon the axle Itself
but upon a sleeve through which the
axle passes. When the current is turn
| ed into the motor the armature revolves
and communicates its motion to the
| wheel by a novel method. Shrunk on
| to the ends Of the sleeve is cast steel
star, each arm Of which carries two
receptacles into which these arms are
pressed. AS the armature rotates, the
arms Of the star revolve and the wheels
on the axles are propelled forward. This
method Of suspension allows the arma-
| ture to revolve freely and adjust Itself
| to any uneveness of the track. All the
/ good features of bearings and lubricat-
| ing known to the best steam practice
are embodied in the locomotives, which
are fitted with regular couplers, safety
| chains, etc.
The cab is sheated inside with wood
| 1t has windows on all sides to give ar
unobstructed view. Set up on one enc
| is a series parallel controller, a wonder
| full piece Of ingenious mechanism, turn.
/ ing the current into the motors, so that
the greatest pull is exerted as the train
/ starts, and no power Is wasted. This
Is operated by hand wheel The mo.
ton of the motors may instantly be re.
| versed by pulling a small reversing lev.
err, protruding through the top of the
controller. Above the controller are
| the instruments which tell the driver
| the amount and pressure of the current
| the motors are taking. A slot in the
floor enables him to keep his eye on tbs
commutators of the motors.
| There is as Looping shield on each side
of the cab, forward and aft. One shield
carries a headlight and bell, and the
other headlight and whistle. The To-
connective is fitted with sand boxes ant
air brakes. The compressed air for the
brakes and whistle is pumped into the
tanks by an oscillating cylinder ali
pump, operated by small electric mo-
! tor.
AS the pressure of the tank decrease.
an automatic device speeds up the mo
| tor, which stops as soon as the air in
| the tanks is at the right prasSure