The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-12-04

instant. One of these will be sub
stttuted for the steam locomotive when
train reaches Croton, coming south
ward on the Hudson river division, or
White Plains. on the Harlem division.
With outbound trains. the first part of
the haul will be effected by electricity,
and an exchange to steam will be made
at the places mentioned.
The normal capacity of the engine
which has just undergone official trials
is 200 horsepower, which is 30 per
cent. more than that of the one which
draws the Empire State Express. In
emergencies is can develop 900 more.
II has demonstrated its ability to han
ole nine-car train at a speed
IN squirting to travel seventy. The de-
slgners of the machine, engineers of
the General Electric Company. say that
IN order to secure the most economical
consumption of current it is necessary
10 plan in advance for a given speed
In the construction of that part of the
machine known as the armature. BY
notifications of the winding of the wire
in It any desired velocity could be at
tanned easily. If faster engines than
NO 5000 are ever demanded, they
can be produced on short notice.
Again, If at any time one of the new
locomotives should have a heavier load
than usual to handle, two can be cou-
pied together and be operated by a
single engineer.
One important feature of this ma
chine is that its whole weight, eighty
five tons. rests on it's drivers. and is
thus made available in pulling. An
other is that the four axles are in
dependent of each other, and conse-
quently the driving wheels will do less
injury to the track and roadbed than
those of ordinary locomotives. A third
merit is the extreme simplicity of the
machinery In an electric motor there
is practically nothing that can get out
or order except the armature or rotat-
ing part. There is one armature on
each of the four axles of No. 5000, and
If one should give out it could be re-
moved and replaced in the ten minutes.
The work of repair, therefore, would
be reduced to a low minimum. Finally,
the arrangement of the Jewelers. in the
cab closely resembles that on a steam
locomotive, and a man who has had
experience in running the latter could
manage the new type of engine with
little training. That little will doubt
less be afforded when the time comes
on the experimental section of track
near Schenectady
This bit of road is now only four
miles long, but will soon have a length
of seven. Above the third rail with
which 1t is provided is fixed a wooden
shield, at distance of a few inches.
The board is fastened in such a man
ner that no interference occurs with
the siding shoe that takes off the cur
rent for the locomotive. Where the
track crosses a country highway at
grade gap is left in the third rail,
and the current is supplied by a over
mead conductor, suspended from poles
ana stoutly braced at hight of twelve
or nfteen feet from the ground The
conductor is metal box. not a wire
10 afford an entrance for the electrici-
ty to the engine the latter has two
Shoes, which are pressed upward with
powerful springs.
The trial last Saturday had more
than local Importance. Representa-
tive railroad men from the Eastern
part of the United States were pres
ent to witness the performance. II
mas long been known that the mana
gers Of the Pennsylvania, Erie, Lack
aWanna, New Haven and other sys-
TENS which are tributary to the me-
tropolls have had the adoption of cleo
tric traction under consideration. but
interest in the subject is not confined
70 the men who shape the policy of
these roads. A number of Western
roads have also been studying the
problem. The object lesson afforded
on saturday, therefore, must prove far
reaching in its influence. Neither the
New York Central, which is doing
| pioneer work for the country. nor the
builders of No. 5000 would have beer
| willing to give such publicity to the
test If they had not had every assur-
ance in advance that it would result
successfully. 1t is hardly possible to
overestimate the consequences of this
single demonstration.