Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-08-27
ELECTRIFICATioN ABROAD.
Progress by the Steam Railroads of
Europe.

Europe.
There is considerable activity at
present in planning the identification
! of portions of steam railways in
! Europe The chief advantages to be
i, secured are the greater capacity OBJ
! tained for. tunnels where the traffic is
1 now limited by problems of ventila-
tion. the utilization of cheaper grades
of fuel. the water-powers which may
be developed at low cost and the elm
nation of expensive steam pusher ser
| vice on mountain grades.
| For the present the identification
problem in England seems to be es-
| sentially one of heavy city suburban
| traffic Several of the large cities, no
| tably London, Manchester and Liver
| pool, are confronted with problems of
| this character. The operation of the
| present electrical suburban systems in
England has been successful in in
| creasing traffic receipts and the va
| riouS elements which go to make up
| the installation costs, operating costs
| etc. are beginning to be better under
| Stood The directing heads of a num-
| Der of the principal railways seem to
| be satisfied that identification is COM
| ing and are inclined to face the prob
| lem with considerable aggressiveness.
| Without question the most serious
| undertakings contemplated in France
| to- day are those connected with the
| identification of the steam roads at
Paris Both the state railways and
the Paris Orleans contemplate consid-
cradle exertion of their electric sub
| ,,,il. OLE a will
be carried out with direct current and
the third rail-
The Simplen tunnel is the only
heavy traction system in operation in
| Europe outside of Italy and is of
| special interest on account of the long
| period OF time it has been in operation.
This division of the state railways is
equipped with a three-phase system.
It's operation seems to be in every way
successful and satisfactory.
Judging from the appearance of the
| repair shops and the number of men
at Brigue, where the locomotives are
maintained, the round house costs for
/ these machines must be very low. In
| this tunnel great trouble was expert
enced from insulation breakdowns on
both motors and transformers due to
condensation when the cool locomo-
tives passed through the center of the
| tunnel, where there are a number of
hot springs and the tunnel tempera-
ture is about lis degrees Fahrenheit.
This condensation resulted in every
II portion of the electric locomotive be-
ing drenched with water. 1t is now
avoided by keeping the locomotives
warm by allowing them to stand over
pits at the terminals in which heat
ers have been installed.
!. The most important electrifieations
in Italy are the three-phase installa-
tions carried out by the government
:. at Valtelina, Mont Cents and the Glow
tunnel near Genoa The extensions
now contemplated involve the pur-
chase of several hundred locomotives
within the next few years.
The electric locomotives on the Ge-
I noa division will soon, if they do moi
:. already haul about $4,000 freight cars
n day This identification is com
mercia one in every sense and is II
fact by far the heaviest section OF
/ electric traction on the continent. The
results from regenerative breaking
! have been 5. more satisfactory thar
were anticipated.
An extraordinary and perhaps UNI
expected saving has been found from
: the saving on the wear of the tract
rails. When the Glow tunnel was op
. Grated entirely by steam the up-grad,
r rails lasted about II years and thu
rails on the grade tracks abou
, 3Is years. Apparently the restricted
axle movements with brakes on tn
I | IL, n .
securing action on the rail head. A
any time during the steam operation
s fresh deposits of metallic dust from
, the rails and brake shoes were to b
$ seen on the ballast
4 Since the inauguration of electri
: operation under the same traffic con
t ditions about / Y years ago. the lndica
K lions are that the down grade rail
will last as long as those on the up
d grade tracks, thus saving two sets Q
n rails in u years
: The italian engineers are enthusias
n tic over the three-phase system 10
# their conditions, and such results a
: have been obtained certainly warran
n their enthusiasm.
Q The most important contemplate
IS developments in Germany are in cor
d nection with the state owned proper
ties About six years ago the eng
neers decided upon the standardizatio
fe of single phase.
Of Up to the present time all of tf
in government work has been of an es
id detrimental character, but this Ia
at been combined with commercial opel
s. alton i'll the case of the HAMBURG
Is Blankenese-O hlsdorf line. where mu
IS, tirle unit motor cars are in use. I'll