The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-23
TT IS COMING.


 The Brooklyn Eagle. an eminent and well-informed railroad operator declar- ed that fin ten years time it will be dificult to find a steam locomotive on the trunk lines of the East. When found it will be on the scrap heap. 1t will have been displaced by the electric motor"
 This remark" continues The Eagle, discussing the question, twas received with incredulity. Even railroad opera tors who foresaw a revolution in mo- tive power thought the limit should be placed at twenty years, if not a quarter of century. The revolution meant so much. Not only in their view, be- fore this could be done. must a conn pfete change be made in methods, track construction and organization. but influences of power, which would naturally be exerted to continuance 1 of old ways and old methods, must be riod named by this farseeing man has expired. and the revolution Is in pro- gross. The work of eiectrifying the railroads centering at New York Is un- der way. Already portion of the Long Island Railroad Is being operated by electricity. while the labor of electrify- ing other parts is befng steadily push ed. Similar work is being done on the lines of the New York and New Haven. The operation of the New York Central so far up as Croton is only awaiting tho completion of the terminal im- proyements in Manhattan. Though no public announcement has been made of the fact. it Is well known that the Pennsylvania contemplates the moving of it's trains by electricity between Philadelphia and New York when the tunnels under the North river are completed. Now the Erie takes step in the same direction. while the Della ware and Hudson is experimenting with 8 new style of electric motor.
 We can we'll believe that the predic- tlon was received with incredulity. For the better part of & century steam had been looked on as the ideal power, and that psthing could supercede or displace 1t. Even when electric power came into use it was thought that 1t could not or would not be used for anything beyond street-cars and near by suburban traffic. Few imagined that any offort would be made to move great freight and passenger trains for scores and hundreds of miles, yet that is com ing so rapidly that we can almost say that 1t is here now. Less time will be required, possibly, than the railroad man gave. for steam engines to be con- signed to the junk pile. As The Eagle further remarks:
 If no other advantage were secured to the travelling public than that of in- creased comfort and cleanliness the revolution would be justified. Exemp- tion from coal dust and coal smoke would be the advantage gained by the company. This is not a fanciful con- sideration. Railroad operatives know that increase of comfort and conven- fence in their cars has been followed by such increase of receipts as to justify the expenditures entailed. But there are other advantages in the way of in- ton that commend the power to rail- road men. In the whole realm of di- rected energy there is not to be found such waste as is made in the applica- tiOh VI 04iEt BY DtONSu HI coal buL lU per cent. of that energy Is secured Ninety per cent. goes to waste. It Is true that as yet coal must be consumed to generate electricity. But the power thus obtained is in much larger pro- portion than when taken directly from the coal. Thus there is a reduction of expenses. Of course, the ideal condi- tion will be reached when electricity can be produced without the aid Of the steam power. It will not do, in view of the past, to conclude that the discov- cry of the means by which it can be done is not in the near future. As it is, however, the science of electricity has advanced as the most economical of efficients in power. The main thing is that the revolution in motive power Is in progress. The next five years will be memorable period in the his- tory of electrical propulsion"