page_title: Charles Joseph Van Depoele
section_title: Electric railways
hierarchical_section_title: Charles Joseph Van Depoele / Biography / Electric railways
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: electrictraction00burc (find matches) Title: Electric traction for railway trains; a book for students, electrical and mechanical engineers, superintendents of motive power and others .. Year: 1911 (1910s) Authors: Burch, Edward P. (Edward Parris), 1870-1945 Subjects: Railroads Publisher: New York (etc.) McGraw-Hill Book Company Contributing Library: The Library of Congress Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: ng from a water-fall the power for operating a250-volt, direct-current dynamo. In 1884, E. M. Bentley and Walter H. Knight operated in Cleveland,Ohio, a road having two miles of underground conduit, placed betweenthe rails. This installation was perhaps the first in which the cars were HISTORY OF ELECTRIC TRACTION 5 driven by a series motor, placed under the car floor. Wire-rope andsprocket-chain drive, and later, bevel gearing, were tried. The road wasoperated about one year. See Martin and Wetzlers The Electric Motor,1887; St. Ry. Journ., Feb., 1889; Bentley, Elec. World, March 5, 1904. In 1884, Daft operated a pioneer line, 2 miles long, for the UnionPassenger Railway Co., between Baltimore and Hampden. Two 3-tonmotor cars were used to haul trailers. The over-running trolley and athird-rail contact were both installed. The motors were a series, 130-volt, direct-current, single-geared type. Elec. World, March 5, 1904. In 1885, John C. Henry built an electric railroad in Kansas City. Text Appearing After Image: fiG. 3.—Electric Locomotive Car and Train. Van Depoele, Minneapolis, 1883. There were two cars, each equipped with a 7-h.p., 250-volt, direct-current motor. The overhead trolley wires were 10 inches apart, andtwo pairs of over-running trolley wheels were held by springs in lateralcontact with each wire, the trolley w^heels being mounted on a singlecarriage, and connected with the motors by means of flexible cables.The creditors received 8 cents on a dollar. Elec. World, Oct. 20, 1910,p. 934. In 188G, Van Depoele, working at Minneapolis for the Minneapolis,Lyndale and Minnetonka Railv/ay, which had been obliged to discontinuethe use of steam locomotives in the business portions of the city, equippedan electric locomotive car for hauling trains. 6 ELECTRIC TRACTION FOR RAILWAY TRAINS Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: Charles Joseph Van Depoele was an electrical engineer, inventor, and pioneer in electric railway technology, including the first trolley pole.
context_section_description: As early as 1874, Van Depoele began investigations into the field of electric locomotion. Van Depoele's first electric railway was laid in Chicago early in 1883, and he exhibited another at an exposition in that city later in the same year. In 1885, he invented and demonstrated the first trolley pole, a device used by electric streetcars (trams) to collect current from overhead wires, introducing it publicly on a line installed temporarily at the Toronto Industrial Exhibition in autumn 1885, reportedly reaching 65 mph. Fellow inventor Frank J. Sprague was studying similar ideas at the same time. Sprague improved the design and is sometimes credited as the trolley pole's inventor.
  Near the end of 1887, thirteen North American cities had electric railways in operation; nine of these systems were designed by Van Depoele, and used overhead lines to transmit electric current from an electrical generator to the electric locomotives on the rails.
caption: Electric locomotive car and train. Van Depoele, Minneapolis, 1883
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