New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-06-14
TENDENCIES IN TRAGIC
FURTHER TRIUMPIIs OF ELECTRICITY.

FURTHER TRIUMPIIS OF ELECIRlCIil'
LAST YEARS EXPERIMENTS REvIEwEn-wHAr
STEAM ROAD MANAGERS ARE THINKING AND
porNc-rRArNs INSTEAD OF SINGLE
CARS FOR LoNG-DISTANcE
SUBURBAN TRAVEL
'In few years electric roads Will have ABSORBED
practically all of tho local. passenger tfaiic' aiu
VIII begin to cut into through transportation Inc
s,can, road, cannot afford this. Their only safeV
Is 20 make of electricity an ally instead Oh al en-
envy and this before Il Is too late THESE WORDS
were uttered last summer by DT LOUIS duncan
then newly elected president OF the American III,
stltute Of Electrical Engineers. The most casua'
observer knows how abundant and strong were the
reasons for such prophecy then. And yet they
arc s.rl more numerous and convincing now.
Take for instance the immediate outskirts OF the
METROPOLIS Above the Harlem River. over IN .'e"-
Jersey and In the region lying south OF o'4ei
brooklyn there has been n marvellous eXtensio"
Of trolley lines within the last two or three years
All NJ .hcsc roads have taken away from steam
roads with which they compete a large proportion
Of three classes OF patrons: First Typca! suburban
residents who come into tho business part OF town
regularly or irresu.arly; second essentially Tusai
passengers who only ride from one station 20 inc
ncxt or possibly to the second or third beyond their
bo,,cs. third pleaeurc- seeking excurs!onlsts The
reduction in fare md greater frequency Of trips are
advantages which appeal 70 the purses anc con-
venienca Of every one. II Is not 20 oe "chuereu u
that the steam lines have suffered heavily IN con-
SEQUENCE Nenr Boston Philadelphia Chicaso' d.
Iou,s md other large centres OF population IN the
r-ni,e1 et,tes SUBSTANTIALLY the revolution has
becn croc,ed Then o., through New-Eagani ana
the Middle States in regions that are 50 wei D"'''
no that small but thriving towns ana villages are
strung along the railway Ike beads on d coIu'
.hera s great deal OF social and business trai'ic
hetwecn nolghbor.ng places. Heretofore the steam
roads have had almost a monopoly OF that business
Ru, now the 'lnter-urban" trolley running over
a parallel route. providing more frequent ser''Ue
and stopping anywhere between tho regular stat o'''
Of the old lines. has captured an enormous pe'-
centagc OF ~
TROLLEY TRAINS
Then again there are more p-etentious elec'rc
roods witch run trains instead Of single cars. Inc
C,o,e,a,d Pa,uesvl,le and Eastern. Tor instance,
running through thirty mills OF he Lake shores
.e-r!.ory has regular Goa rhes. hauled Dy motor
car something IKE thosn which are psinS oul'' oF
b,,,.,n0 trains across Brooklyn Bridge. The Ceve-
land and Akron Line. OF about me same length mas
similar cars and motors. The electric road from
I,rrra, 70 Nagara Falls. fourteen and ha!t miles
long did an enormous business la't year WIN "s"'
cars bu. T. now being freshly "Gupp'd WIN
h.,vler rolling stock. Al three Of these. Ike the
r,,l s.u urder construction from Washington 20
,.,s The Niagara Falls rad In particular has
reo,iv denagcd the Interests OF 80 venerable COM
r.ttor Perhaps half dozen other surface roat5
and ~, or three e.eva'cd roads In chicago coud
be enumerated which ar already running regular
..,irs made I'D q a motor car and trai!ors. And
Z, q rc. !..ss 70 say that there are hundreds Ok
s.,en,os an foot, only part o, which VA over
hear substantial fruit, which conternpai" parallel
Ing other steam lines FOR distances varying rom
,en 20 ono hundred mes. or csc reaching oli iH'o
orr!.or. no. now provided With bct,er transDorta-
IN facilities than a horsr and carriage r b.
..io. and many OF these programmes include first
c.ass roadbels. heavy rails and trains Instead q
Individual cars.
Among the corporations whose passenger trafac
has hc,a thus iaiurel or threatened the Ncw-
York Ncw-IIaven and Hartford and the Pennsyl-
varia companies have been the most active n
oa,p,.ng Or Duncan's advice. Such scep, havs
h.sn tak,n thus FAR naturally have been 70 great
extent experimental. Last summer the New-Naven
cornnnu- substituted electricity FOR steam on a
branch road seven miles long. starting from Oh
Gloomy House station AMI r'1chl0g or; 20 Nan
.,.ket Beach Curren, was taken from over
head wre by A trolley poe and wheel: and trains
OF tw0. three or four open irlieTs were n'u,ld
is a :.otor-car composed essentially Of a bag
gage or express car win ore CT more motors on
IFS aNl.s The Pennsylvania company. AT about me
san,o limo plceI on 80 Burlington and Mount
uJly branch closed coaches. one OF which was
,qui,psd WIKI motors 40 that It could haul the
others These cars OF about the SEE OF an
elevated railway car. an: somewha. lighter than
IN. standard day coach OF tho steam roads
The New Haven people ran their rosi all summer
without an accident. In spite q greatly Increased
pe,ronase The immense success OF that venture
has encouraged the company 80 further. Al the
present time. II s said. definite plans have been
made for replacing with electricity other
shor, sections OF road. altogether amounting TO
alou: one hundred miles. Moreover. experiments
are being made on on extension OF tho Nantasket
branch olp toward Boston, with third rail IN place
% an overhead wire rs ar clec,rc conductor. A
plan havrg some novel features is being tried. and
n IT yields the hopei-for results the equipmen; OF
tho other portions Of the road Just referred with
facilities for electric traction will doubtless be
pushed rapidly. The Pennsylvania company seems
I'D less pleased with the outcome OF ts investga-
tion, Rufus iii. master mechanic OF this extern
sive sysfcin IS quoted prelictug that within Ave
years nearly all OF the feeders branches OF HIS
road VIII be operated by electricity. What more
impressive signs u tho times could one look for
than these?
ELECTRICITY FOR STEAM ROADS.
Meantime. 10y careful scrutiny Of the reports OF
these contained In the technical periodicals.
by personal visits and by correspondence the mar
ayers OF other steam roads have been inforluiny
themselves to the possibilities OF electricity
traction purposes. besides. there have been
good many anxious Interviews with those electrical
engineers AMI mauufacturcrs OF electrical apparatus
who could b,s' point ont The way or salvation. The
last year he's been period OF attentive observation
aad profound thought among progressive railroad
people all over the country.
4 significant illustration OF what Is coming In the
near future Is afforded AZ Louisville Ky. Between
that city and New-Albany. Ind. there Is a bridge
2.l3j feet long. which railway trains have run
for years over about four miles OF track. reach
Ink from the heart OF city that Of the other
electric trains each composed Of a motor-car and
one TWO trsllers. now running. The single
track the bridge is traversei daily by
100 steam trains freight and through passenser)
AMI ~ electric trains In like manner the heavy
.nnhl.s u In n nrfn ndria Mount