Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1922-01-24

way back yonder in the fall Of 1897,
Charles l. Henry, an Indiana Congress
man, built eleven miles Of electric rail
way track between Anderson and Alex
andria, and commenced the operation Of
it with q city car on the first day
of January, 1898. He dubbed it an in
terurban line" and thus started the mod
ern interurban industry Of the United
States. tOtaling today some $4,000 miles
Partly in honor of Mr. Henry, the
annual Mid-Year Meeting Of the Ameri-
can Electric Railway Association, EN-
bracing some eight hundred electric rail
ways viii be held in Indianapolis, his
home city. on Feb. % The future Of
the interurban will be one Of the main
subjects discussed at the meeting.
Another reason for holding the meet
| ing in Indianapolis is that this city
now is one of the greatest interurban
centers IN the United States, and also
the home Of leaders in the industry.
Robert I. Todd, president Of the Ameri-
can Electric Railway Association, re-
/ sides in indianapolis and Is the head Of
; the local lines Other widely known
electric railway men In indianapolis and
vicinity include Harry Reid, president.
Interstate Public Service Company, ana
/ Arthur W. Brady, president, Union Trac-
/ ton Company OF Indiana. A feature Of
| the meeting will be the running Of
! half a dozen special interurban trains
from adjoining States to Indianapolis.
Mr. Henry is known as the father Of
the iuterurban," because he coined the
name of ''interurban" and pioneered its
( development. At the time he built the
line from Anderson to Alexandria there
was already 4 line operating out of
/ Cleveland, but it had attracted LITTLE
attention
q got the idea for the name Inter
urban" Mr.. Henry recently said, "at
the Chicago Worlds Fair There was
a small electric line running within the
fair grounds there, known as intramu-
raj, meaning within walls Therefore,
when the thought OF running an elec
trio line between cities occurred to me,
I simply switched the name to the
Latin interurban, meaning between
| cities"
When Mr. Henry started his line he
already foresaw that the interurbaD
would be a distinct development Of its
own and would require much heavier
roadway and equipment then ordinary
city lines and that it would develop the
handling of freight, but he was not
able to foresee its rapid and very extraor-
binary development. He laid sixty
pound rails on the track, and while
the first car operated was an ordinary
city car. it was replaced as soon as
they could be built, by heavier, special
" built interurban cars, some Of which
are still in use on the lines Of the Union
Traction Company of Indiana. With
view to the necessities of the future,
he secured private right-of way for
the line in preference to building it
along the highway.
One of the most difficult problems
which Mr.. Henry faced in building his
line was that of dis; ;buting electric
power over the full eleven miles so that
it would run cars. In those days no
electric railway plants had been built
except for the use of direct current
from power houses. Alternating cur
rent for distribution on electric railway
systems had not come into use The
result was that when the ordinary 600
volt direct current was turned into the
line at Anderson, it would produce only
200 volts at Alexandria This weak
ness was finally overcome by putting in
4 second generator, which he called a
booster" in the power house at Ander-
son, producing 1900 volts there and max.
ing available 800 volts at Alexandria.
In some respects the operating of cars
over the line was very crude. but ID
others the innovations started by MT
Henry were so progressive that they stin
continue III use. The signal question
was taken care Of from switch to switch,
but all orders were given by the dis
patcher to the motorman direct in his