THE HUTT RAILWAY

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 16, 21 July 1921, Page 8

THE HUTT RAILWAY

ELECTRIFICATION DISCUSSED

- In his paper on the development oi locomotive design, read before the Philosophical Society last night, Mr. S. H. J.enkinson discussed ' the question of electrifying fhe railway between Wellington and Lower Hutt. He stated no positive conclusion, .but- expressed, the general. conclusion .that there.was no > advantage to t be ■ gained -from .electrifying the line. A tabulated statement of costs was shown, allowing for* a 1 considerable increase: in the traffic. ■■ It indicated the cost of" electric locomotives as considerably higher. than that of steam ■engines, apart from' the cost of electrifying the line itself: The running charges were estimated at £14,070 a year > for- steam, and £16,570 for electricity with current at jd per unit, £20,080 with current at Id, £23y650 with current at l£d. These figures indicated that that line was not ready for electrification, though the cleanliness of electricity was a valuable advantage. Mr. Jenkinson strongly criticised many of tho claims made as to tho superiority of electricity for railway working, and especially declared that it was a fallacy that it was suitable for mountain sections or heavy grades. It .was claimed, among other advantages, that electric locomotives gave a greater tractive forcu than steam engines.' It was not' tractive force that- limited the operation oi the New . Zealand trains? The engines were'capable of'exerting a much greatel piill than either the draw-gear of tne trains, or r the passengers, would stand. If the engines on the Hutt line, for instance, were started off at full powe>, it would bo " dangerous to life and limb." They had designed an, engine to give a draw-bar pull of' 41001b; but A was no use building it; it would "pull the insides out of the trains." Electrlu trains were credited with higher speeds than steam; but in New Zealand the speeds were limited not by the power of the locomotives, but by the restrictions imposed by the nature of the permanent way and the rolling stock. Mr.' Jenkinson referred to the new suburban service of Melbourne, which- is: run with electric locomotives. . It would have been impossible to put any new plant on the lines without an improvement, he said, because ' the steam engines previously in uss were of a . design that dated from .1850. The electric locomotives now in use gave very rapid acceleration ; but in that respect, he repeated, the steam'erigines on the Hutt line would give all the acceleration the passengers or the trains would stand.