ELECTRIFIED RAILWAYS.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XLVI, Issue 23, 7 November 1924, Page 2 (Supplement)

ELECTRIFIED RAILWAYS.

POSSIBILITIES OF THE FUTURE. “Electricity now performs every railroad service previously rendered exclusively by steam locomotives and in every case does it better than it was done before/’ stated Mr Calvert Townley, Assistant to President, Westingliouse Electric Company, recently. “The reason electrification has proceeded so slowly,” Mr Town--1 ley said, 11 was because in order to use electricity a larg;e investment in equipment and installation must he made and railroad executives were not convinced that the advantages to be gained are always worth the cost. “The progress of electrification has also been impeded, first, before the war, by difficulty in financing due to conditions other than the merits of electrification, and second, since the war began, because everyone has been too busy to consider any work that could be deferred and because the Government’s taking over the railroads has created an unsettled situation not conducive to the investment of new capital for future returns. Now, however, there seems to be ground for hoping that these bars to progress will be removed in the not distant future so that electrification can be again studied on its merits, therefore our consideration of the subject is timely. “The electrification of a railroad is not simply the substitution of one kind of locomotive for another. It is far more than that. It is the adoption of a fundamentally different method of train propulsion. It is conservative to say that, within the bounds of ordinary practice, electricity can furnish every train with all the pulling power that can be used. The limitations of the steam locomotive in this respect disappear and ruling grades rule no longer. A strictly motive power is replaced by one that is practically unlimited. “There are a number of so-called ‘systems’ of electric traction, and heavy emphasis has been laid by the advocates of each upon its points of difference from every other. So much has been said about these differences and so little about the points of similarity as to create an entirely misleading impression. It is a fact that there are more kinds and types of steam locomotives in use many times over than there are electric systems. It is a fact that except for the storage battery locomotive, which has but a limited field of application, all

electric systems have many more common features than differences. It is a fact that they agree on fundamentals and differ in detail only. Their cost may not be the same, their efficiency may vary, but they all do their work and do it successfully and well. The possibility of unlimited electric power is a characteristic not of any one system but of all. “A steam locomotive is a complete independent unit which not only generates but also utilises its power. The electric locomotive generates no power at all. It is only a translating device receiving energy from an outside and a remote source. The electric power-house, always having much greater capacity than any one locomotive, can supply ample power for the heaviest train on the steepest grade. The steam. locomotive, which carries its own power-house with it, is limited to the capacity of its own boiler. By the multiple-unit principle, as many electric locomotives as may be needed can be coupled together and operated in synchronism by one crew, from any cab. Any required tractive effort can thus he exerted without slipping the wheels, and without increasing- the number of engine crews.

“The business of a railroad is to transport freight and passengers. I put freight first, because, on the average, it produces 73 per cent, of the revenue. Unlimited motive power permits longer trains and higher schedule speeds. On the Elkhorn grade of the Norfolk and Western Railway in the United States the schedule speed was doubled. It euts the operating cost by hauling- more cars with the same or a smaller crew. The Norfolk and Western uses two electrics to do the work of three Mallets. These new opportunities at one fell swoop banish many of the railroad ’s time-honored traditions.

“The traffic possibilities must be studied fronr a new angle apd advantage taken of every facility. It is a new thought to realise that train length is limited not by motive power, but by the tracks and length of sidings, or that all the trailing tonnage that the drawbars will stand can be hauled. Nor are these new limits fundamental. Sidings can be extended, drawbars can be made stronger, if it pays to do it. In a word electrification opens up tremendous possibilities of increasing, the freight capacity of a road without the necessity of building additonal tracks.

“While not as important as freight, passenger traffic likewise comes in for its share in the widened horizon and the vanishing tradition. Unlimited power, of course, is available, Imt the absence of combust ion is another basic advantage. Smoke and cinders disappear. Tunnel operation loses its terrors. Unobscured signals permit normal speeds with undiininished safety. Projects like the Pennsylvania Railway terminal in New York City, depending entirely on submarine tunnel operation and previously impracticable, become immediately possible. Railroads owning valuable realty in cities can erect buldings thereon, where before smoky locomotives made any structure above the ground level impracticable. The aerial rights are now valuable.

as in freight traffic, the ability to do something that could not he done before, rather than to do the same thing at . a lower cost, is the most valuable attribute of electrification; and again we find a greatly augmented capacity without the need of additional tracks.

“It is not my purpose to make an exhaustive comparison of the relative advantages of steam and electric operation. That has been done often and well by others. What I have said about the expending opportunities for electrified service is by way of illustration to emphasise my plea that the question should always, be viewed iu its broader aspect and not hampered and restricted within any narrower limitations than properly belong to it. “I am going to assume, then, the broadest possible treatment and to suppose that every electrification project is to have its pros and cons most fully examined. The real and vital question is, ‘How far will this lead us?’ ‘To what extent may we expect complete electrification of all our roads?’ Parts of a number of them have already been equipped. Many of these are numbered among our prominent roads, successful corporations which have had the advice of the most highly skilled executives and engineers, and which are progressive. The service performed on the electrified sections comprised practically every kind of railroad, transportation. The Blnefield division of the Norfolk and Western R.R., in West Virginia, U.S.A., is an example of an important coal road operating through the mountains. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul 400-inile main line, through Idaho and Montana, U.S.A., demonstrates what can be done by a trans-continental carrier on a large scale with through traffic, both freight and passenger. The New York, New Haven and Hartford R.R., in the U.S.A., a 73-mile stretch between New York and New Haven, Connecticut, shows how through freight and heavy passenger traffic can he taken care of on the most congested four-track section of ail. important eastern carrier

and what is possible for complicated freight yard operation; while the New York Central and the Pennsylvania out of New York City are splendid examples of our greatest modern passenger terminal electrifications. There arc. of course, many other electrifications. but even if there were not, those names are of a character to command the respect and attention of the railroad world.

“ Now, every one of these projects has been successful. Every one has justified itself. Nearly every one in its present scope represents an extension of the zone initially electrified, the .most convincing evidence possible as to what views the operating companies hold regarding these several projects. Railroad officials are generally glad to give others the benefit of their experience, so it is reasonably safe to say that operating statistics are available covering long enougli periods so that the results can be expected from any proposed undertakings may be predicted on established facts and not upon theories. In the light of present day knowledge, therefore, what answer can we make to the question, ‘Should all railroads he electrified?’ ”