Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1906-07-13

must be ready for an instantaneous
shift. Train crews will receive thu
most minute Instructions, and the
great army of engine drivers will
stand ready to make the change
the instant the word is given.
The shifting to a steam locomo-
tive the boundary of the zone of
electrification, will not interfere
with the time schedule in the least.
The engineering corps has proyid-
ed for that by an ingenious syst, N
Of switching.
+ MODERN MOTOR CARS,
1870 motor cars will be ready to
run over the electrified road bv
September. and electric locomotives
will take the place Of every steam
locomotive now running between
And street and Highbridge on the
one road and Wakefield on the 9TH
err. The electric locomotives weigh
05 tons and carries four motors Of
novel construction, operated by a
current collected by four third rail
shoes. 1t is provided with auto
matte air brakes, whistle and bell
ringer. A pneumatic device sands
the rails to prevent slipping The
maximum power is 5000 horsepow-
err. and with 500-ton train on a
level it can easily attain "a speed OF
60 miles all hour without the slight
jar or lateral rolling.
AFTER SEVEN YEARS STUDY
The several radical departures
from existing railway methods are
the resultants of seven years pa
tient study and unAagging effort.
The elimination of the work will
signallize an innovation that n"
other steam railroad in the world
has more than considered. un'lI
the subject was taken up in 1899
and crystaliaed, the diametric
change had not been even consider
ed. Hauling 800 ton trains laden
with passengers, mail and express
matter, and at IA speed of 90 miles
an hour or more, was problem OF
extraordinary magnitude. The
Park avenue disaster accentuated
the demand for the change. and in
1902 the New York Central man
agement started its plans.
The company was then hauling
900 and 700 trains in "A hours, and
the decision to substitute electricity
for steam carried with it the con
fronting of a mountain of dlthcni.
ties, not The least important of
which Was obtaining change In
the law which made mandatory the
use of steam on the N Y Central
and Hudson River Railroad. The
popular demand was for electricity,
and in 1903 the legislature enacted
new law which made the electrl-
fcation of the road from the Har-
lem River to the Grand Central
Station compulsory,
Immediately after the passage OF
the bull the management began
preparation not Only to obey the
mandate. but to 30 several steps
further by completing the work IN
three years instead of FIVE, and IN
extending the electric zone far be-
yond the boundary laid down. bv
the legislature. This meant a task
of stupendous proportion, chief o.
which was the enlargement VI eue
Grand Central station, increasing
the size Of the railroad yard and
the depression Of the grade in such
a manner as to permit the passage
overhead of cross streets from 4oth
street northi the purchase of 2ot
properties and the destruction OF
the building to make the excava'
walton for the Suburban station
The four tracking of both the Har
lem and Hudson divisions within
the electric zone, aud the ellmlna
ton of all grade crossing within
the same territory,