Omaha daily bee., 1905-08-07
ELECTRIC CONTROL SOLVED
Multiple Unit Plan Makes Use Of Many
Motors Practicable.
ADAPTED TO THE. USE OF RAILROADS
System Now Universally In UFe on
the UnderRround, Elevated and
Suburban Lines of Elec-
trio Roads.

| one Of the problems the electric en-
| gineers had to solve was the application OF
| power IN such way as to secure its maxi
mum efficiency without unduly increasing
the weight OF the motor. This has been
solved and Frank ]. Sprague, the emf
nent electrician, tells how he did it in an
article on the Electric Railway" in the
August Century Mr.. Sprague says:
Pondering over the elevated railway train
problem one day, the thought suddenly
flashed upon me, why not apply the same
principle to train operation? That is, make
train unit by the combination OF num-
! Der of individual cars, each complete in
| all respects, and provide for operating
them all simultapeously from any master
| switch on any car. This idea, sketched on
| scrap of paper marked the complete
| birth of this new method, then named and
now nearly everywhere known as the
"multiple-unit system" Its great possi-
| blities instantly absorbed my interest. as
1 saw the opening OF a new epoch in cleo
| trio railway operation. Here was a way
| to give train of any length all the char
acteristcs of a single car, with every ia
cility Of operation which could be de-
manded by the most exacting conditions Of
service and capacity.
| Chance to Test Plan.
After two abortive attempts to get the
privilege to demonstrate the advantages of
the system at my own expense on the
Manhattan road in New York an unex-
pected opportunity suddenly arose in the
| spring of 1897, when 1 was requested to
act as the consulting engineer Of the South
Side Elevated railway Of Chicago. A brief
inspection of the layout showed a field
ripe for multiple-unit application which
I briefly explained to Sargent and Lundy,
| the engineers, and to Mr.. Clark, of the
General Electric company, fortunately all
| old friends. l hastily drew up a report.
| the main feature Of which was an argu-
| ment in favor of the abandonment of loco
| motive cars, and the adoption Of indi-
vidual equipment under common control
| in short the multiple unit system. As an
earnest of my confidence, l supplemented
| the report by an offer to undertake the
| equipment of the general plan outlined,
| which met with the endorsement Of the en-
| gineers. This was followed by visit to
| Chicago; but the contract was not con-
cluded until after I left for Europe, and
| then only after a very bitter fight with
various companies, and under most onerous
conditions, supplemented by 100000 bond
| for performance
| Among other things, I was Immediately
| to begin work on the entire equipment,
| and TO have six cars ready for operation
| in two months on a standard track sup
| piled by me, the manner of making the
! test to be prescribed by the officers and
engineers Of the road. and TO be to their
| satisfaction. Should the test be not con-
| cluded by the date set, or be unsatisfac-
| tory the contract could be Cancelled. Sat
isfactory further tests could be called for
| elsewhere, and the remaining equipments
were to be completed by specified dates.
AS soon as the power house and road were
ready there was to be another test OF not
less than twenty equipments under service
conditions for a period OF not less than ten
days. Should these equipments pNove un-
satisfactory. the right remained to cancel
the contract and to require waiver Of all
claims against the company.
PracticnbiIIty Demonstrated.
7 did not return to New York until about
the middle OF June so that most OF my
instructions for the trial equipments were
by cable, and the actual preparation was
made within thirty days, despite a whole
sale strike of the machinists employed in
the shops of the new Sprague Electric
company, which soon took over the con-
tract.
on July 16 1897, two cars were put into
operation on the tracks of the General
Electric company at Schenectady, and on
the 26th, the half century anniversary OF
Prof Farmers test Of a model electric
railway at Dover, n. H.. my 1O-year-old
son operated a six-car train in the pres
ence of the officers and engineers Of the
South Side Elevated road at Schenectady.
| In November q test train OF five cars
was put in operation in Chicago, and on
April 20 following twenty cars, seventeen
of which Zone in fiames) were taken of
during the day because OF defective
rheostats; but with the last three-car train
I had the satisfaction OF pushing steam
train around a curve. Three months later,
year after the Schenectady test, loco
motives had been entirely abandoned, and
the whole 12O cars were in operation, the
local work being largely supervised by my
assistant Frank II. Shepard
The syste n, with sundry changes in de-
tall has now been universally adopted for
electric train operation on underground,
elevated and suburban roads, and the
largest present enterprise i'm substitution
OF steam operation, the electrihcation Of
the New York terminals and a portion Of
It's main line, is likewise dependent upon
IT, There not only the suburban cars, but
the great locomotives supplied by the Cen
eral Electric company, Of 2,200 horsepower
capacity, and weighing 100 tons, are 10 be
controlled on the multple-unit plan, so
that two or even three locomotives, repre-
senting an aggregate OF several thousand
} horse power, under Simultaneous control,
can be put at the head Of any train which
may be made up.