The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-11-04
New York Roads to Abandon
Locomotives i'm Two Years.
Electricity Will Be Used En-.
tirely for Terminals.
TO SPEND MILLIONS.
New York Central and PennsyI-
vania Already at Work.
Other Items Of Interest to
Railway People.

New York, Nov. 4.-Within the next
| Two years every railway train which
enters the city of New York will be
moved by electricity. The New York
central company is spending $40, 900, 900
to accomplish this. The Pennsylvania.
company is spending an equal amount
to bring its patrons into the very heart
OF the city Its new station at Seventh
avenue. and Thirty-first street which is
reached by tunnels from Jersey City
ana Long Island railway, which does a
very large suburban business is now
being electrified. Immense power sta
IONS are being erected at, Long Island
lily Tor that service and at Jersey C.ity
LOT the pennsylvania service, and the
ERIE, LackaWanna and other roads
which come in at Hoboken ana Iarsa,,
City VIII also have access to New York
Dy eIecrtlc power through tunnels under
Ihe HUDSON And all of these improve
menus are quite as extensive and i'm
porfant and are much more difficu1t
than any similar problem that EXISTS in
Chicago '''' oAi''S AZ
The physical difficulties that have TO
De overcome in New York do not an
peal IN chicago New York is an island
with river on either side. 1t cannot
pc approached without a bridge or a
tunnel except from the north, and even
there the railroad has been cononeI1ed
10 run underground and to adopt cleo
C1f1ZQnQ
the smoke and noise nuisance which is
even greater in Chicago than If has
ever been in New York ONLY the adj
vent OF electricity could have enabled
the new York roads to make these inn
pfoVernentS, or even to handle their suh
urban traffic at all. and the in, rro1,a-
ments are not for economical reasons
eHIlfely. @fThey are responding to theI
same demands that are made upon the
raiiWays or Chicago and other large
the New York roads to carry moro
people IN less time with greater comfort
than ever before, and the disaster in
the New York Central tunnel which
was caused by smoke from steam loco
motives obScuring the danger signals
helped the improvements along
In the interviews already published
with the men who have had charge of
these great undertakings, there is still
question as to the success of electrici
ty as motive power under such condi-
t1ons. Mr.. Wflgus Of the New York
Central company, who is an actual
charge of the electric service upon it's
lines, proclaims complete triumph for
the system he has introduced Vice
President McHenry of the New Haven
road, who has had charge of the eIectri-
fcation of that line, with a different
system, Is not so positive, but is still
confident that he has. got the best sys-
tenn and exactly the one that is needed
for their service. John F. Wallace who
is president of the most comprehensive
electrical company in the United States,
if not in the world, regards both tho
New York Central and the New Haven
systems as still in the experimental
stage. The Pennsylvania engineers are
going ahead and are expanding millions |
of money to introduce what they be-
lieve to be the~n2ost certain and salts |
factory system. Altogether it will cost |
more than $780, 900, 900 to complete the |
facilities that have been already plan
ned to handle the passengers that ar |
rive and leave New York City by rail- |
way, and the connections are so ar |
ranged that any person may be trans
ferred from one railraod to another |
without crossing a street Or even going |
into the open air.