Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-13
CAPITAL TRACTION RoAC
Work of Installing the New System to Be
Begun Monday.
Temporary Tracks Are to BE Laid a..
the End of the 18th
Street Line.

Monday the actual street work will be be-
gun In installing the underground electric
system on the Pennsylvania avenue and
18th street lines Of the Capital Traction
railway. Mr.. Saxton. the contractor of the
street work. will that day have a gang of
men at work at the end of the 14th street
line putting down a temporary track on
one side OF the present car tracks 1t is
proposed to lay about 10oo feet of this
temporary track, that the cars can be
shifted from the present track to the new
one.
1t Is expected by Mr.. Saxton that Tues
day next he will have men at work digging
a trench between the present tracks, where
Will be placed the feed wire ducts This
trench is to be built throughout the entire
system. and 1t is not expected that the
work will interfere with the regular travel
on one of the tracks 1t will be necessary
however, to use the space occupied by the
other track for place to deposit the earth
SO that it can be hauled away. When the
work of digging the trench is in full OPP
Grafton Mr. SaXton expects to employ three
or four hundred men.
Can Use the COnduits.
In one sense the laying of the feed-wre
ducts is preliminary to that of installing
the new system. Owing to the fact that
the amount of work necessary to be done
will he very much reduced. After the
feed-wire ducts are in place the contractor
expects to put conductor bars in the con-
duit along which the pows of the UNDER
ground trolley will run, and the insulators,
manholeS, etc.
The supplies needed for this part of the
work have not AS yet been received in suffi-
cient quantities to make it worth while to
undertake just now this branch of the con-
stuction. but in order that no time shall
be wasted 1t was decided to build the
feed-wire ducts. Nearly all of the cast
iron pipes which will be laid in the trench
nave been received and SO the work can
be pushed on rapidly.
Tie Feed Wire Ducts.
As has been stated, the ducts consist
of cast iron pipes from 2ls to 3 inches in
diameter and are lined with cement These
are to be laid side by side in the trench
and :. .mbedded in cement, and will carry
wires from the power house, which will be
tapped at intervals to renew the current
which is being transmitted along the con-
ductor bars. There will be six of these
pipes in the trench, beginning at 18th
street and New York avenue, bat four will
stop at L street and then two will be con-
tnued half way up the 14th street hill
In acct rdance with the policy of the com
p@ny, as already stated i'll The Star, pro-
vision will be made for furnishing power
MI Oh greater than the present extent of
the line of the road will require For in
st: Ice, in the trencn which will be con-
structed between the tracks starting from,
the power house at Georgetown, there will
be twenty-five ducts. Two of these will
&C ntinue as far 18th street and New
York avenue. and then. as stated. there
Will be six going up 14th street. Then
SIX Will SO as far as 1th street and there
viii be six more up to the Peace Monument
and two to 4th street east. In the event
that 1t will he necessary to supply power
1or extensions to the present route feed
wires can be placed in all these ducts