El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-11-23
ELECTRICITY FROM CAR AxLES
A New Method of Generation Now In
Voque on a Railroad.

n The intrOd nc tion of the axle electric
light system in the service OF the At
Gibson, Topeka & Santa Fe railway
running be tween Chicago and Los An
geles marks a radical departure from
previous practice, which necessitSted
q large electro light plant In the bag
gage car.
The power under the new system is
taken from the car axle. The leading
features of the apparatus consist OF u
dynamo operated from the axle aud a
storage battery which supplements the
direct work of the dynamo in operation,
rs, for example, when the car 10 at rest
or moving at a slow speed.
The belt which connects the driving
pulley with the commensurate and dyua-
mo pullcys is made of camel hair. 1t Is
eight feet eleven inches long aud three
and ous-half inches wide, and it Is the
only kind OF belt that will stand the
varying effects of rain, show aud ice,
and which will adapt itself to all coudi-
tions Though not an endless belt, it
Is made practically so by an upturned
joint clsmped between steel washers in
such fashion that no metal whatever
comes ia contact with the pulleys.
The dynamo Is of q high grade of
construction, and the brushes are good
for 10000 miles. Conductors and
brakemen can operate the switchboard,
90 that no skilled labor or electricians
are required on the train.
The low operating expenses are the
main features claimed for this system.
While the cars are running the light
il taken direct from the dynamo and
when standing still or going at less
than eight miles an hour, the light lie
automatic ally taken from the storage
batteries. At all times the lamps are
steady and brilliant.
There are four trains in the Santa
Fe limited which run from Chicago &c
Los Angeles. Each OF these trains IL
equippet with an observation car,
three sleeping cars and dining and
library car.
The equipment includes lights in 81
the berths, making this the first trair
in the world carrying such large
supply of light service exclusively
from the car axles. When the inten
tion of 9hting the locomotive head,
light from the same service Is carried
into effect the four trains will be solid
axle-light trains throughout.
The system mostly in vogue. Of
lighting a train from one large plant
In the baggage car, has May objec
tionable features. If the car carrying
the plant meets with an accident or
the plant itself gets out of order,
the entire light output oil
the train becomes deranged. In the
axle-light system each car has Its owl
, little plant, compact ard com
plete, with its dyna mo and storage bat
: terry. Actual measurements demon
strate that after the round trip to Los
Angeles of over 4 500 miles, and after
supplying the cars during six nights
with brilliant light the storage Is as
full as il WAS at the start. III one car
becomes crippled in any manner it car
be lighted from an adjoining car until
a terminal j. reached, where the nee
essary repairs can be made.
The National Electric company o.
New York, which has introduced the
light, has been perfecting its system
for ten years The first contract in the
ives, was made with the Santa Fl
COMPANY, aod the unqualified success
OF the experiment Induced the Pullman
company 10 introduce the light in al
of its cars on this route.-Ssn Fran
cisco Examiner.