New-York tribune., 1903-01-23
THE LONG SOUGHT MOTOR
NAY DISPL4CE STEAM.
Ne7o InUention Strengthens Plans
of WkitneY SYNDICATE.


The transformation of the steam railways of
this country into electrical roads is a task for
the future which William c. Whitney and sew
eral capitalists associated with him have made
, plans for and which they hope to under
way in short time. They have been engaged
for several years in the work of converting horse
railroads and cable roads in the large cities
into electrical roads. The changes they have
made have vastly increased the traffic facilities
of the roads. while the cost of the traffic has
been decreased Increased facilities have added
enor1 ously to the travel the lines, and the
resulting profits to the railroad companies have
justified the expenditure of many millions of
dollars.
Having accomplished such improvements in
city travel. Mr.. Whitney and his associates are
locking to the larger field of transportation, en-
braclng the railways that connect all the cities
OF the country. They in that field great
opportunity for Improvement and profit if The
displacement of the steam locomotive by the
electrical motor is made a necessity. They can
not buy up the steam railways Of the country
and convert them into electrical roads as they
have been converting city street car lines.
What they have planned to do is to develop an
electrical system which the trunk lines will
wart TO control that system and to supply it to
the railway companies. That they about
ready 10 offer the right system to the railroads
is shown by the announcement which is made
to-day in The Street Railway Journal to this
effect;
The Stanley Electric and Manufacturing Com
market high potential railway system employing
electric locomotives, which will use the current
to be e9pIoved 5aVe not vet been annoanced but
f. is stated t7s+ tbt poger stations viii not have
to he located than fifty or seventyfive miles
CAM comPany but is the result Of the work done by
on which rights have been secured from engineers
IN this country and abroad. It is stated that they
erator, With new % 20 orm Of motor which permits
the Of high voltage directly the car and
absorbs no energy in resistances on starting.
The purchase of control Of the Stanley Elec-
trio and Manufacturing Company by the Whit
ney syndicate was told exclusively in the col
umns of The Tribune months ago and later it
was announced in these columns that the syn
dicate had entered into negotiations with the
CAM company, of Budapest of the largest
electrical manufacturing concerns of Europe,
for the establishment OF a branch Of the COM
pany's works al Pittsfield. The CAM company
had been successful in converting some steam
railways in Europe into electrical roads, and
held some patents for the use of high potential
electrical currents, by which the power could
be applied direct to railway motors at long dis
tances Last week it was announced that the
Stanley company's capital had been increased
from S50O0O0O to S1oGO0,0OO, and that the com
pany was developing system of electrical oper-
alton for long distance railways.
AS is generally known. the present practice
for interurbar railroads is to install one more
central stations generating high voltage alter
mating current which is transmitted to sub
stations placed ten to sixteen miles apart. TO he
there converted to direct current Of low voltage
and thence distributed to the cars. Such sub
stations are extremely costly to equip and main
tain and this expense has tended to make rail
road operation by electricity commercially un-
proftgDle. for the sub-stations add nothing to
the electrical energy supplied to the system, but
on the other hand convert the current into a
desira bic form with considerable loss of energy
Engineers have been working for years to get
a motor for railway service which would work
on alternating currents.
The ingenuity of DR., Perrine, the manager of
the Stanley company. is said to have solved the
Dr. PerTine, is a son-in-law of Mr.
PoebIing and the Stanley company was con-
trolled by the Roebngs before the Whitney
syndicate took it over AS an electrical engineer
DR.. Perrine some years ago attracted favorable
notice by the construction Of i railway line IL
California. in which the electrical current was
carried long distances with relatively small de-
craaea of energy before being transformed. He
T.; nov, said to have perfected a motor TO run /
an q high voltage alternating current, some
thing which would make a universal electric |
locomotive possible.
The capitalists interested in plans for the dis /
nlacen1ent of steam by electricity on the great /
railroads believe that the railway companies
will be quick to see the advantage OF such a
change if il can be demonstrated that trains
- e bau]ed bv the electric motor better and
cI3aaner than by steam locomotives
There would be no smoke or clnders 10 make
7;scn7fort in travel and the locomotives would
,n+ have to make stops to take on supplies OF
nj no nd water The same energy that drove
Codi , .ine - swiftly over the roads would light
inc , 80 tho cars In the great cities where
IN IS congested the railroads are being
obijged to change their steam locomouves 10
,dsrfc motors particularly where the terminal
!tn arc reached by tunnels and an exten-
, f the electric system TO the entire lines
SION VI ,,aturaI What has stopped such an
WouId Wou,a,,+ = in railway traffic, engineers have :
mp mp m The want of a suitable electric locomo-