Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1906-01-01
BY THE ELECTRIC LIMITED.

HOW TRAVELLERS WILL BE HAU LIE
OVER ROADS WHERE STEAM NOV
DOES THE wORK-ELECTRIC LOCC
MOTIVES OF THE NEW HAVEN SYs
TIM CAPABLE OF FAST TIME Ol
LONG DISTANCE RUNS
When the work of rebuilding tn
Grand Central Station in New York !
completed. long step will have beel
taken towards substituting electricit,
for steam as the motive power o
American railroads One OF the mos
characteristic featuresiof the new ter
minal will be the train shed with two
tiers of tracks. one for suburban ano
one for through traffic, and as such al
| arrangement is impossible with steam
locomotives, the two roads which use
the station-the New York Contra
aud the New York, New Haven and
Hartf0rd-are planning to bring their
trains into the city byielectricity.
That the New Haven road has al
ready ordered 25 electric locomotives
as beginning of new order Of thinge
Indicates to what extent railroad men
are preparing for the change. OfabeW
type. which is equally valuable for
lOng-distance traffic and for short hauls
these locomotives will mark new
stage In the employment Of electricity.
Hitherto, though electric locomotives
have successfully passed the expert
mental stage their use has been con-
fined. in the main, to places where the
problem of ventilation makes steam
engines impractlcable. The Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad has them for it's
tunnel through Baltimore, for example,
and they will be used in the tunnels
which the Pennsylvania Railroad is
building under the Hudson and East
Rivers here. These locomotives, how
ever, and those now building for the
New Y Ork Central, are not designed to
b. run any great distance from the
central powerhOuse, and In railroadiDg
they will play much the same role as
is taken in water transportation by
the tug which brings the ocean grey
hound to her pier.
On the other hand, the revolution in
city and suburban traffic brought by
the increasing Use of electricity has
been accomplished by an extension OF
the principle of the trolley car. On the
elevated railroad and in the subway in
this city, for instance, each car in a
train has its own motor and no sepa-
rate locomotive is REQ uired. The Long
Island Railroad is rapidly installing
system of this kind IN the western half
of its territory. and similar trains are
operated in other parts of the country,
as between Stamford and New Canaan,
and between Bristol and Hartford, in
Connecticut.
However convenient a method which
transforms d railroad into a glorified
trolley line may be tor short hauls,
where there is an enormous amount OF
traffic to be handled-and all railroad
men agree that it saves both time and
money-it is not feasible on big sys-
TENS already equipped with full COM
piement of cars and locomotives of the
old type. The change to it would in
volve an expenditure beyond the reach
OF our wealthlest corporations and.
moreover, 1t is by no means certain
that the results would prove satisfac
tory either to the railroad OF it's pa
irons
In the type of electric locomotive
adopted by the New Haven none Of
these objections in the general one Of
electricity in railroading is said to exist
Although the announcement has been
made of the companY's intention TO
make any change in Its motive power
except. on the stretch between Wood
lawn and the Grand Central station.
where the Improvements now under
way necessitate it, the railroad world
is not blind to the posi- bilities OF the
new engines. Mechanical enginee rs
have been met by the difficulty OF
transforming the alternating current
generated in the power house into a
direct current powerful enough to ope
rate trains at long distances from the
central station. Theoretically, this
difficulty can be overcome by dOttiDg
the line with gu ubstations where rotary
couyerters transform the alternating
current into a direct one; but practi
cAlly this means such increased ex
pense for maintenance, labor, fuel and
other items that the old steam motive
power is preferable.
BY q device perfected within the las1
three years the new locomotive of The
New Haven road Will transform tue al
teruaLing current themselves, and IL
thus doing away with the necessity o
| expensive substations will remove ont
|
of through trains by electricity. With
equal ease they Can be operated De
tween the Grand Central station an
Woodlawn, where the New Haven
territory really begins. by direct Cur
rent, or run through the open conntr
towards Boston, receiving the curren
in it's alternating form. Just how Ion
it will be before electricity drives steat
entirely out of the field, is still ma
ter of mere,guess work, but the change
lin New York terminal aud the lmpr0y
ed type of engine are bringing the tim
appreciabiy near.
That the newer machine is pTactIo
, bic is now settled beyond doubt. The
are at least six powerhouses in Ne
York City alone which are furnishiI
more power than would be necessal
to operate line like that between NJ
York and New Haven. One locom
tive built for the New York Centr