The San Francisco call., 1905-05-28
Washington Railroad Official
Says System Could Be Ap-
piled to the Lines Here
CHEAPER TO OPERATE
Surprised That Any Other
Sort of Road Is Used
Except in the Suburbs
BY JAMES S. TYLER,
tstan Correspondent of the Call.)

WASHINGTON, d. c., May 27.-After
careful inquiry of the officials of the
Capital Traction Company, the street
! corporation that controls and operates
! all of the principal street railroads OF
| this city not only will one come to the
conclusion that the building of the SUIT
ter-street railroad or Geary-street rail-
road on the conduit plan is desirable
! but they will wonder how corporation
would care to operate any other sort OF
road except In suburban districts. Inc
| appIfcation of the conduit to the Mar
ket-street system of San Francisco
would be feasible. 1t is said. except In
sections where the grade is too steep
for other than cable service.
There are no trolley railroads in the
city of Washington proper, but there
| are miles OF welI-buflt street lines that
move swiftly and comfortably over
level ground and grades alike and
which are entirely free from break
downs.
| The officers of the Washington cor
poration say that the conduit gives lit
tie or no trouble. 1t is as cheap a
means of operation as the trolley and
practically eliminates all danger Of
| falling wires, carrying with them
| death-dealing currents of electricity
/ This means a minimum OF lawsuits
The roads, however, are said to be con-
siderably more expensive to construct,
| as they include not only the ordinary
work required in the laying OF such
| trackage as street lines require but the
conduit itself involves an expenditure
that greatly adds to the capital in
vested.
officials of the street roads of Wash
4 ington. Chicago and New York are
naturally averse to discussing the mer-
! it's or dement's of roads in other cities,
a feeling of professional courtesy, so to
/ speak, prevailing among them. But
they admit that the conduit road when
once built is IL anything little cheaper
to operate than the trolley
I'm suburban sections" said Wash
! ington street railroad man, I'VE have
/ found that it would require great
many years of patronage receipts to
pay interest on the large investments
required to build very long conduit
lines.
WOULD REQUIRE BIG OUTLAY.
Il understand that in San Francisco
your street lines run full city
length in most cases; that is, the roads
start from a given point and traverse
! the town in certain direction for its
entire length or breadth. general
system OF the conduit order would re-
quire in such a city as San Francisco,
/ should imagine, tremendous outlay
of money, as the lines would have TO
be rebuilt But If a cable road exists
where the conduit is desired, then that
is another question.
Il think that a cable line-that is,
/ the roadbed and rails-could be con-
verted much cheaper to the conduit
system than to the trolley system. But
then one must take into consideration
the expense of changing the cars from
grip cars to motors.
"You say that your road on Sutter
street is a cable road for part of its
length. The car proposition would be
a serious one for the company If the
road were converted, but If new cars
have to be provided for the cable as it
now is 1t would not cost any more for
a conduit car than for a trolley or
cable car The question of decision
would be involved in the reconstruction
and whether this would pay or not
would not be able to judge unless
were in a position to know the per-
! centage of business carried by the cars
! and the proportions of its fluctuations.
Here in Washington we operate
systems radiating from the center of
/ the city in all directions. All of these
/ lines are conduit lines and they are
highly satisfactory. However, our city
! is much smaller than San Francisco
/ and, as visitors here know, we switch
| from the CONDUIT 10 the IFOlIey IN
suburban extensions, or transfer to
! trolleys that traverse the less thickly
I settled parts of the city.
''I don't see how water could inter
fere with the operation of a conduit
road unless the drainage of the street
and the sewerage maintained at citys
| expense were bad We have no trouble
to speak of during snow storms and
our grades here are not heavy. Per-
sonally. / believe that a conduit car
could go anywhere a trolley can climb
A sudden rush Of water in conduit on
q steep grade might cause a loss of
power by induction and If rains were
apt to continue In a downpour it might
! interfere with traffic Concerning this
1 am not posted sufficiently to offer an
opinion"
! SAN FRANCISCO is PATIENT.
/ San Francisco is not the only city of
/ Importance that has had to wait years
! for its new postoff1ce. Chicago has wait
1 ed twenty years for its promised home
| for mails, and the citizens of that mu-
nicipality have come to the conclusion
that Government ownership should apply
| in the case of Government buildings as
well as railroads. Inc contractors, ''in-
| espectors'' and the ealaried "superintend-
ents" of the Chicago postofice building