Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1915-02-07
BIG LOCOMOTIVES USE ELECTRICITY Tests of Giant Engines Show Their Capacity Exceeds
 Any Ever Built.
ELECTRIFY COAL ROAD
Norfolk lG Western Installs Electric. Propelled Locomotives to Haul Heavy Trains Over
 Mountains.

Bluefield, w. Va, Feb. 6.-What was a day dream of great inventor has just been realized by a test made here on the most powerful electric loco- motive ever built Fourteen thousand horsepower was used to start a single full tonnage train, while nearly eight thousand was used to propel it, on the Elkhorn division of the Norfolk X Western railroad which has just been electrified.
 These giant locomotives were built especially to haul the heavy freight trains over the steep mountain grade of this division.
 Two locomotives are used on each train, one at each end, because other wise the enormous strain on the car coupling from concentrating at one point the enormous amount of ener- gy required to operate the train would be dangerous. Ea2h locomotive weighs 270 tons, or over 1,000,Oo0 pounds per train. Their capacity exceeds that ol any steam or electric locomotive ever built, or enough to move a 250-car train, or oLe two miles long, on a level track.
 The train moved by! .these1.sloeo- motives weighed nearly 4,ogO tons and consisted ofa ca1,s eachs caHTrying 100 tons of coal It was started and handled witiiiabeffeetss Case onithe. ? per cent grade of, what. it.; ;,Kno as iQne of the most difficult. pieces 'of con struction in America.a 'efF Y. s',i A test was also made on the electric braking of thes train down thefmoun7 tain grade, ' resulting in the electric s3ss {as sss's at .s, sssaa1 trsig brakes. This is accomplished by the mechanical energy of tne train cn down grade being transformed into electric energy by the motors acting as generators. This energy is then returned to the system for use by other trains. This is the first time that this system of regaining energy has been put into use in this country, and is destined to be far reaching in it's effects.
 The enormous energy utilized in op- erating these trains is fed to the loco- motives from single-phase alternat- |ing-current system over one wire no larger than lead pencil at 13,00O Ivo!ts, a pressure 20 times greater than Ithat used in the New York subway. The energy is generated by steam tur- pines in a special power house built by the railroad company tU operate this division. It is located by the rail- road tracks near the mines at Blue stone, from which coal can be eco- nomically secured.
 The electrified zone of the Norfolk & Western, one of the heaviest coal carriers in the world, consists of nearly 100 miles of track, and is not only the heaviest and most extensive identification of freight line rail road in the world but is the most noteworthy identification under way today. Up this heavy grade are car Tried 5O,000 to 100000 tons of coal a day It is also the first electrifica- tion in the world that will replace the heaviest steam locomotive service, which on this division is regarded as the heaviest in the world. An inter- esting fact in connection with this in- stallation is that the Mallet locomo- Itives replaced embody all the latest improvements in steam locomotives, including superheaters and mechani- cal s,okers, the latter of which was absolutely necessary since the locomo- tives were so big that one man was unable to keep them supplied w!lh coal. and even with three of these monsters, speed of only to 8 miles lper hour is obtained, while with two of the electric locomotives a speed of IA miles per hour is steadily main-
 tained over the entire grade. thus practically doubling the capacity of tho line.
 The importance of this install allation can hatdly be over-estimated in mark ing an advance in the identification of steam railroads. It is interesting to note that this identification is the practical realization of the ideas which the late George Westinghouse invent or of the air brake. had nourished for many years, and its successful con- clusion is due in no small measure to his activity along these lines.
 It is confidently expected that the excellent results obtained on this in
 stallation will lead number of other
 roads to adopt electricity as 9 means
 of increasing theis eena.itzr.