The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1902-10-23
AT ITO MILES AN HOUR.
Record for Speed on the hixhwasso OF
steeI-Rece Broken Near
Berlin, Germany.

One frequently reads about trains
going at the rate of 100 miles an hour,
but few persons have ever ridden at
the rate of over IS or so miles. On d
little railroad extending from the sub
urbs of Berlin to the town of Zossen,
says Harper's Weekly, an electric car
has been travelling as fast as no miles
an hour, breaking the record for speed
on the highways OF steel. 1t is what we
eah a trolley car, but the trolley sys-
tenn is installed on a very elaborate
scale, and the motive power which
operates the ear is simply enormous.
The railroad in question is only
about 10 miles in length, and was built
by the Prussian government for mill
itary purposes. Several months ago
il was turned over to an association OF
electrical engineers and other experts
for the purpose of ascertaining what
speed could be developed by the elvc-
trio current. At the works of the Sic
mems d. Halske company, of Berlin, a
car was constructed especially for the
purpose, and when completed with the
necessary machinery weighed nearly
100 tons. The body of the car is sim
liar to many of those in use on rail-
roads in this country, with yestibule
at each end, and the roof and sides
tapering in order to offer as little re-
sistance to the air, when going along
at a high rate of speed, as possible.
The car is divided into three COM
partments, with seats extending trans
versely, while the motorman is sep
arated from the passengers by glass
partition. What engineers call the
three phase system of electricity is
utilized for running the car and the
two trailers which i, has been hauling
during the experiments.
Instead of the current being con
veyed by one or two wire s to the motor,
it passes over series of four, three
of which are carried along the side
Of the railroad upon posts. These are
known as high tension. and are capa-
bic of supporting current of no less
than $4,000 volts, owing to the system
Of conduction and insulation. The cur
rent passes through the trolley bar,
which is a very elaborate affair, and
thence through transformers to the
motor.
Inc r otors are bolted upon the axles
of the trucks beneath the car, each mo-
tor being large enough to run an or
binary factory, as ii can generate fully
$50 horse power under ordinary con-
ditions. Although these pouderous
pieces of machinery weigh no less than
four and one-half tons each, they move
at the rate of 900 revolutions a minute
when a car is at full speed.
It would be impossible to start and
stop the car with the controller which
the motorman uses on the ordinary
trolley system, so special apparatus
had to be provided for this purpose.
The electric switches and transformers
are moved by compressed air, which
really does the duty of the motorman.
AS already stated, the railroad is
being operated as an experiment to
determine how rapidly an electric car
can be moved. When the tests began in
September last, the first run was made
at the rate of 81 miles an hour, but
with so little difficulty that the same
day the speed was increasedto 60 miles
Since then frequent records have been
made, ranging from IS to 100 miles
an hour, while on several occasions
the trip between the terminal stations
has been made in eight and one-hali