THE 



POPULAR SCIENCE 



MONTHLY. 



MARCH, 1909 



THE ELECTEIC OPEEATION OF STEAM RAILWAYS 



Bt Professor J. B. WHITEHEAD 



THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY 



THE possibility of operating all classes of steam railway service by 

 electricity has been demonstrated beyond question. Heavier 

 trains may be hauled at higher speeds and with greater comfort to pas- 

 sengers, and electric locomotives may be built which surpass in power 

 any steam locomotive which may be constructed. Two of the most im- 

 portant railway systems entering New York city are now operated 

 entirely by electricity for distances between twenty and thirty miles 

 from Grand Central Station. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company 

 has recently closed contracts to the extent of $5,000,000 for the electric 

 operation of its tracks between Newark, N. J., through the Hudson and 

 East River tunnels, to Jamaica, L. I., where it will join the tracks of 

 the Long Island Railroad, which for some time has been operated elec- 

 trically. 



The total steam railway mileage in this country aggregates about 

 220,000 miles of line but notwithstanding the important projects men- 

 tioned above, and others of less note, it remains a fact that only about 

 1,000 miles of railroad, formerly operated by steam, have been trans- 

 formed to the use of electricity as motive power. The question then 

 arises as to what conditions have started the present development and 

 as to whether this beginning will extend itself in general degree to 

 the large trunk line systems of the country. It is not sufficient for the 

 engineer of to-day to demonstrate the physical possibilities of a project, 

 but he must go further, and justify it on the grounds of business ad- 

 visability and economy. If, then, it be asked why have steam railroads 

 begun to substitute electricity as motive power, the answer is to be 

 found in two broad reasons. The first of these is, that in some in- 



VOL. LXXIV. — 15 



