The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-11-21
BIG ELECTRICAL LOCOMOTIVES


week in patches to the Chicago. Mil.
waukee & ST. Paul railway system.
They form the advance guard OF If
ty huge electric engines to be used
by the road in operating 440 miles OF
its uanscontinental line between Har-
lowton, Montana, 4,163 feet above sea
level, and Avery, Idaho, elevation p
4s4 feet They will also climb the
Rocky mountain summit, $500 feet
and the Belt mountain summit, b.700
feet
When these giant machines go into
operation as they will do some time
in November, hauling heavy freight
and passenger trains through the
precipitous ranges Of Montana and
Idaho, the most ambitious electrihca-
ton project ever conceived Will nave
safely passed its most difficult stages.
These locomotives are designed to
do the work being done at present
and rather too extensively by huge
Mallet steam engines, two OF which
are used to pull heavy freight trains
up the grades OF the Belt and Bitter
Root ranges. They are expected TO
effect an enormous economy In op-
Grafton.
In fact the purpose Of the company
In electrihcation has not been to In
crease the speed of Its trains, but 10
increase efficiency and promote econ
omy in operation.
The new locomotives are OF great
interest because they are the first TO
be constructed for railroad service
with direct current motors designed
to carry as high potential as S,ooo
volts. They weigh $50 tons each and
have a continuous capacity greater
than that of any steam or electric TO-
connective hitherto ever built.
One of these big machines can
SNAKE q train weighing $500 tons
up a one per cent grade with It's o.
44O horse power and make light WORK
of the job. Two OF them can 10 Inc
same on two per cent grade.
These monsters are 112 feet
inches long. There Is nothing about
them to suggest the steam locomo'
tive which they will ultimately dis
place in both freight and passenger
service II the faith OF the designers
is sustained. Looking at first glance
more like a big mail car than any
thing else, the st. Pauls new type
engine operates as mysteriouslJ 10
the average observer as did the nrst
automobiles in the eyes of those useu
to horse-drawn vehicles.
The design Is such as to save track
wear and tear by minimizing the
vertical and horizontal blows dr1Ve
, wheels through use OF a separate mo
\ tor, twin-geared to each OF eight
pairs of drivers. The drivers are
\ spaced at ten foot intervals. me
i drive wheels are fifty-two inches in
diameter.
They are equalized in pairs on each
side so that each of the four driving
wheel trucks on each side is fnde'
pendent. The cab extends for nearly
\ the full length of the locomotive. Two
men constitute the crew, though only
one is required to operate the mech'
anism. The other is there for emery
ency and to learn his trade.
Here are some of the most striking
ADVANTAGES of the electric locomotive:
/ II operates with the highest EN-
cheney in the coolest weather when
steam locomotives often freeze up.
It returns by Regeneration" a large
part of the power used in running up
hill during the corresponding run
down hill.
It REQUIRES inspection only once IN
every 1000 miles Of travei, whereas
the steam locomotive must be over
ihauled at the end of each division.
l 1t uses no COdl, lSduAA SS 80
and has no ashes to dump
| II carries no tender and has no
IboiIer and will run indefinitely at a
uniform rate Of speed.
It reduces roundhouse .tinkering 10
tho minimum and handles UNIFORM
tonnage irrespective of weather.
II does away with fuel trains ana
clears the tracks for traffic that pays
dividends.
The best steam locomotive has to
he oyerhauled after running 100 or
i1e5 miles, whereas the immunity Of
the electric engine from this neces
sfty-a heavy advantage in operating
efficiency.
A steam locomotive waiting at q
division point consumes eighty per
cent of the fuel it uses in actual serV'
ice. whereas the electric locomotive
when idle consumes no power. Inc
freeing of the track from fuel trains
Is an element Of the highest 1Hpor.
tanoe, especially in mountainous
country where doubie TRACKING 10 W
ten impossible.
The direct current electric locomo
tive. in fact. bids fair to revolutionlze
railway TRANSFORMATION methods, De
cause. while the Juice" to be used IN
the opening stretch of electrifcation
on the ST Paul road is to be furnished
by Montana water power companies
the road owns enormous coal re-
sources on its own lands and 1t ap'
pears even now demonstrable fact
that coal can be converted into cleo.
trio power and fed to locomotives OF
the new type more economically than
It can be used direct In the production
of steam power.
The plan Of operation includes the
general use of locomotive at each
end of the train on up grades approxf-
rnately thirty-ive miles long over the
electrified section of the road. On
down grades only the head engine
will do the regenerative braking-
that IS regeneratir2 power on Its re,
verse and returning 1t to the wires to
be used in pulling the following train
These locomotives are geared for