New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-31
MAKING QUICKER STARTS.
HOW To SAVE TINE ON ELEVATED AND
SUBURBAN ROADS

At SCHENECTADY.

III Il man holuS ms NdtCn III MS mana. as nd
rides up and down in an elevated railway train.
he Will discover that the tine expended in
running from station to thu mex; from
to two minutes is from six to twenty times ~
long the actual steps which ordinarily range
! from six to fifteen seconds each in length.
Then. if Ia" carries his investigation a step fur
Their he will find that from onc-eighth To
half Of the time actually consumed in running
Is required to attain full speed after each Start
The latter fact is which las received
great deal OF attention from the managers OF
such roads in this and other cities, and of steam
roads engaged in suburban service all over the
country. They care much less about higher
maximum speeds and shorter waits at stations
than they do for the more rapid requirement
Of full Roadway. or. as it IS called by railway
men "accclcration." They rely chiefly upon the
latter for the Improvement Of their time schrd-
ulcs
Some suggestions were mad. several months
ago regarding the best way 10 secure this highly
desirable object by Johr Lundie consulting en-
gincer Of the Illinois Central Railroad. This
company has for years entertained serious
thoughts of using electricity for some Of its su-
burban trains. and Is now more intent on that
policy than ever A practical test was finally ar
ranged therefore. and it occurred only few
SO were the general superintendent of his road
A. w. sullivan. and the Illinois Ccntral's super
intcndcnt OF machinery. w Renshaw The
Chicago and Northwestern also had repre-
sentative hand. and several other experts
We're present. too.
The used ON this occasion II the type
seen On the elevated roads in NewYork and
Brooklyn. and the East River Bridge. And
1t was operated on section of track three
thousand feet in length which had been con
structcd for experiments ~ this character some
years ago. The means employed To develop
speed wcrc exceedingly simpl" in principle; set
1t * claimed 10y tn" champions If electricity
that this agent alon" could De- So utilized. and
that steam could not be- employed IN the same
way economically II at ALL
In the first place there wcr. four motors.
one 10 each axle. instead ~ Two. as is the case
with tho inotor-cars of the Chicago elevated
roads S-.ondi, thu rnti, % IN" gearing
changed on a trolley car. for instance. the
motor has a very small pin.pn. ana The cog
wheel ou the axle. into which this piniDn ueshcs.
hears ny. times a. many j"rth. Consequently!
the AL. rrvoitrs only once to live revolution,
OF lire armaturr Of th" motor. Eui in tn" tests
at =, h,ncctaiy the other day IN" proportion vas
about three 20 five c:; 10 - 90 b" cxacD. This
would giyc three revolutions 81 ia" car axle to
hyc Of ~" motor piri"n
Finally IN. Controller" Vas constructed 50
as to ,d,ni, more current. The controller is the
familiar dc,io" that stands or th" front plat
form If an electric ear and which j. surmounted
hy a crank Thr motormar regulates %"
apou,,, " current that can 49, into the motor
by shifting this cr,nk. In common strertcar'
the maximum volume Of current that can now
10 IL.
terror mechanism is such that any quantity up
to this limit. can be- drawn from the overhead
wire. bat not NOR. Sow. the controller con
s,ruc,cd FOR the Schenectady tests would let
800 anpcrci into the motors If necessary
In other words. the car was $" equipped that
nv. times the power available for 4 trolley car
could b.. applied. and the gearing was altered
So as t. give three times the speed If wanted
OF course In actual practice the fan force vas
not applied at the first instant II was turned
ON gradually. so that NO shock was experienced
The passengers were not startled or incon-
venicnc.d in the least
In some previous runs this car had Developed
a speed Of twenty eight miles IN hour At the
end Of ten seconds. but on this occasion u
r, achcd thirty miles in the same period. IN
ordinary train ON a Il am r. al seldom moves
faster than ten miles an hour at the end of the
first ten seconds, Several trials gave thirty
cIpbi miles an hour as the speed AT the end Of
twenty seconds. and i'm one instance iorty-onr
,,iles was recorded The elevated railroad train
that attains a speed of fifteen miles an hour
I'm that time is very rare. at leas, III New-fork
city. The experts estimat' that tn" improved
acceleration here exhibited means saving pf
fifteen minutes in the running time of tram
making frequent stops. on "A line ten miles long
Mr. Iundic and the electricians who co-operat"d