Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-27
MACHINERY ORDERED
Brightwood Street Car Line
to Be Improved.
BETTER SCHEDULE, TOO
OFFICIAL DIsCLosEs SOME INTER
EsTING INFORMATION.
Bought New Equipment at st. Louis
Fair-Efforts to Give Salts
factory Service.
BETTER SCHEDULE, TOO


street railway corporation can exist or sue
coed in its business by leaving its cars
stand idly on the tracks There is not a
nickel i'm that kind of business. We are
here to make money for our stockholders
and only make money by carrying
passengers on our cars. Therefore 1t does
not strike me as consistent that we should
pa ssively allow our lines to become tied up
and business brought to standstil In the
way such things have been happening on
the Brightwood road during the past three
months. without taking some steps to find
the fault in the operative mechanism and
to correct it
Thus spoke an official of the Washington
Railway and Electric Company this morn
ing when asked by a Star reporter what
was being done to alleviate the present con-
dition of affairs on the Brightwood branch
of the syndcates lines. The officers of the
company admit there is fault, and declare
that they are bending every effort to cor
rect II.
The whole fault with the Brightwood
line lies in the power, the official quoted
continued. The machinery we Installed a
few years ago at the Brightwood power
station did not turn out to be what 1t ought
to have been. We certainly cannot be
blamed for that. We can all make mis-
takes of that kind. There is always a
chance that your machines will not come
up to the requirements or the specifications
which they are built This is not the
fault of the builder or of the buyer. know
of no better illustration of the case in ques
ton than is found in the ordinary cook
stove Stoves are turned out of the fac
tories In different sizes and different pat
terms. There are thousands of each pattern
made and constructed of exactly the same
materials and put the market. The
various parts of the same size stoves are all
alike. and all are interchangeable, yet you
can take two stoves. built exactly alike
and one will bake bread and the other will
not. Try all you please, you cannot get the
stoves to behave alike. We have exactly
the same trouble with our machines, only
or larger scale.
when we installed the machinery at the
Brightwood power station year or so ago
thought we were putting in the best
machines money could buy. we thought we
lad the most perfect machine the factories
and foundries could produce. They had not
been In position month before we found
Weaknesses We sent expert and an
expert we summoned from the factory to
watch and examine the work and suggest
a cure for the evils found They did watch.
They examined and overhauled every part
OF the rotaries; engines, etc. They found
what they believed to be the sources of the
weaknesses and recommended that certain
things be done. We did those things and
started the machines. They still sd weak
nesSes.
f~- One Weakness.
'One. weakness was this: A rotary is a
machine used to transform the current sent
from the main power station to the sub
station from 1900 volts to 600 volts. Our
cars require only 600 volts, and the power
comes 20oo strong. We are compelled to
have machines to reduce this voltage, or,
speaking properly, to divide up this voltage
that 600 will go here and 600 there or
200 another place. There are two machines
at the BrightwoOd station, and the current
would arc from one to the other-that is.
instead of passing through the brushes and
20 the wires In proper manner 1t would |
to the commutator of the other. The arc
ing OF the current on the machines would |
result in the stoppage of the flow into the |
trolley wires and the cars would be deprived |
of their motive power and stop. |
1T is necessary when such things occur |
to clean of the commutakors and to care
fully get the machines running together
again before the current is again turned |
into the trolley wires, 1t must be remem-
bered that these machines must be kept
in step-that is. running so that each ma
chine makes exactly the same number of
revolutions In the same time and In the
same manner. 1t requires probably ten
minutes to clean off the commutators and
get the machines in step again, and during
that time the cars are tied up Now. this
Is one of the troubles with the Brightwood
line. Our machines would arc once twice
week and would result in the teups about
which many complaints have been made.
las | said before, discovered these
weaknesses as soon as the machines began
work. and without waiting to see whether
the faults found could be corrected we or
dered new machinery. Now, you cannot
order new machinery for the operation of
electric street railway and get it by re-
turn mail For rOtarieS, such as We must
have. the manufacturer must have at least |
"A year to make. The engines generally re-
quire about eighteen months. Engines and |
electrical machines not kept in stock |
They have TO be made, and when orders |
come for such machines require they !
have to be made exactly according to the /
need there Is for them and must be built |
carefully
New Machinery Coming.
opp before anyona of +ha |
tieurs on the Brlghtwood line placed our |
orders for new machinery. We got the best |
machinery we could find. We searched the |
country ever for what we wanted and found |
It 1t is better than the old machines for |
the same reason that machine ordered |
today would be better than one ordered |
three months ago so fast Is the progress In |
the construction oil all things electrical. So. |
We placed our orders for machinery last |
!prlng, carly ih the spring, and We are
waiting Cor 1t to come IN. In the meantime
We sough. to make certain corrections that |
We thought would help We divided up |
the Brightwood hne so that from Soldiers
Home down 10 TIE 7th street loop the cur
rent should come from a different source |
than the Brightwood power station. We
then went into the market for second hand
machines. This is very bad thing to do
but We were determined to stop the trouble
with that line. We could not find second
hand machines ano have been forced to put
uii with what We have
ne new machinery ordered from the
factories Will not be here for almost a year.
Our needs are now. So we have made an
other effort to relieve the situation and
ave succeeded. An official OF the company
visited st. Louis last week and closed a |
deal with the Curtis turbine people for the |
big turbine engine and generator that has
been on exhibition at the exposition there
This machine is one of the highest develop
ments of electrical engineering art.
Cost Quarter of Million.
eve installed machine of the same kind
at our main power plant a short time ago |
That one cost us a quarter of a million
dollars. and has proved to us. even in the
short time IL has been in operation, that il |
was an economical purchase. The machine |
We have coming to US from ST. Louis has |
been attracting attention of electrical en- |
gineers from every section of the world, |
and Its operation at the exposition has |
brought to the Curtis company numerous |
orders for machines of the same type. The |
orders have come in so fast that the man.
ufacturers cannot promise purchasers when |
they can supply their orders and many !
people will be compelled to wait several |
years probably.
IT difficult for us to secure the |
specimen that has been on exhibition, be- |