Evening star., 1925-11-15
0|L-ELECTR|C CAR
TEST ASTONISHING
Expert Predicts Revolution
ary Effect on Travel. After
Striking Results.
Special Dispatch. to The Star.


MONTREAL. Quebec, November IA.
When d. Crambie, chief Of transpor-
tation Of the Canadian National Rail-
ways. reached Montreal at noon a
week ago Saturday he completed a
round overland trip between Montreal
and Kamloops, British Columbia, In
faster time than 1t had ever been done
before. Not only Is 1t the fastest
journey on record between these two
points, but it Is also the fastest over
land journey Of $500 miles ever made.
Mr.. Crambie was a member of the
party which left Montreal at 2 o'clock
two weeks ago Sunday afternoon for
Vancouver on board the oil-electric car
Of the Canadian National Railways.
which made the record-making non.
stop trip to the Pacific coast in 72
hours overall time and 67 hours actual
running time. AT Kamloops. which Is
about $50 miles east of Vancouver, Mr..
Cramble left the oil-electric car and
boarded an eastbound Canadian Ma
tional silk train, which brought him
into Toronto, Ontario, distance OF
1853 miles. at 11:12 pm. Friday night,
just II minutes too late to make con-
nections with the Toronto-Montreal
flyer, which would have landed him at
Boonventure station here at 1880
O'Clock Saturday morning.
Instead he caught the Toronto-Ot.
tawa train and made the last stage Of
his journey by that route. arriving in
Montreal at noon Saturday. or just
days, % hours and 80 minutes from
the time he commenced the journey
west. From Montreal to Kamloops to
Toronto the trip was made at an
average speed of Al miles an hour,
counting stops.
RevolutiOnizes Travel.
When interviewed Mr.. Crambie had
less to say about his personal expert.
ence than about the performance Of
the oil-electrtc car, which he charac-
terized as amazing. With other things
which the test of this car had proved,
he says, is that 1t Is no longer a
dream Of the future. but an actual fact
that it is quite possible for a man to
leave Montreal at noon any day and
be in Winnipeg, 1856 miles distant. at
o'clock the next night, trip
which now requires 4S hours.
The trip Of the oil-electric car
proved that. 1t left Montreal 16 hours
after the Continental Limited, the
crack Montreal-V Vancouver train Of the
Canadian National Railways. passed
it at Winnipeg and arrived in Van
couver % hours ahead of 1t. From
the time 1t left Montreal until 1t reach.
ed Vancouver the engine never stop
ped running, and such minor adjust.
ments to the engine as were found
necessary were made by those on
board the car without the assistance
of any outside help.
s. j. Hungerford. operating vice
president Of the National Railways,
toswhom Mr.. Crambie made his report
on his return to Montreal, said the
trip of the oil-electric car marked a
step forward in the development of
railway motive power which can be
described by no other word than revo-
lutionary.
Spells End of Water Train.
when, after much thought and
study. we undertook to develop these
oil-electric cars, we were convinced
we were working along the right lines
in the creation of a type of motive
power which would result in the So
luton of the vexing problems of this
branch line traffic and highway bus
competition with which the first st-class
roads of North America are faced to-
day." said Mr.. Hungerford. We did
not, however. allow our hopes to rise
too high, and above all we did not
make any extravagant claims for our
invention.
Severe tests on comparatively
short runs in Eastern Canada proved
to our complete satisfaction that we
had not been incorrect in our deduc-
tions, as these more or less minor
tests proved beyond doubt that we
had evolved n motive power unit of
such low fuel and maintenance cost
as to be incomparably superior to any
other, type of motive power in use on
railroads. 1t was not, however, with
out some trepidation that we under
took to authorize the severe trans.
continental test which the small oil.
electric car has SO successfully com.
pleted.
Value of Oil-Electric Car Cited.
The report of that test makes it
evident that by working along present
lines we, can solve, through the oil
electric car. not only interurban and
branch-line traffic difficulties, but rev.
olutionize transcontinental traffic as
We'll. The results of this test trip
make it evident that a single locomo-
tive of this type could handle passen-
ger trains clear across the continent
without being relieved. Conceivably
it could start with a sufficient supply
OF fuel to make the entire trip. 1t
would result in fewer locomotives be.
ing required for a given train service
and it would eliminate delays In
changing engines at terminals, the
taking on of coal and water en- route
thereby making it possible to have
shorter overall schedules than is pos
sible with steam locomotives.