ECONOMICAL ELECTRICITY.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 56, 18 June 1908, Page 1

ECONOMICAL ELECTRICITY.

AN INTERESTING COMPARISON. Remarkable evidence of the superiority of electric over steam traction is, says the San Francisco correspondent of the 'Age,' afforded by the New York Central and Hudson River railroad. The company has electrified all i.ta lines for a distance of about 20 miles out of New York, the change having been completed in July last jear. Th« working, side by side, of both kinds of motive power has given fcne company a splendid opportunity observing their comparative efficieno?, and the result has been wholly in favor of eieetncity. The vice-president of the tin* finds that steam locomotive* ncuira extensive engine houses, coal and watt* stations, and txtensive and campliwrttd repair shops, often built on my «* pensive land, while electric •qnipmeat requires the simplest form shed, and can be easily and fVieklg repaired. There waa in the tate of electric trains a net saving in repaint and fixed charges of 19 per cent., Aid in inspection and light rep tlrs a saving of four hours per day. The elecirie locomotive proved itself ciuoh mors nimble and efficient in its work, show* ing an increase in daily ton mileage of 25 per oent. The speed advantage of the electric over the steam locomotive on mountain grade operation ift strikingly apparent." In the tace of the steam locomotive, the increase in coal consumption every car ten mileage in high speed servioe was 165 per cent. Under exactly similar tonditiont the increased consumption of ourrent in the case of the electrio equipment vas but 18 per cent., a difference in favor of electrical operation of 147 per cent. Taking the services right through, electric traction on these lines showed a saving over steam of from 12 to 27 per cent., in the summer months, dependent upon the character of the service. These statements are particularly valuable in that the vice-president is a cautious and conservative man, who from the first refused to prophesy that there would be any saving by the new. system. He took up the position thai a railway system running into the heart of the city should be operated by eleo* tricity and not steam, whether the change would prove economical or not. Now he is able to show that economies have resulted in every item.