ELECTRIC OPERATIONS OF STEAM RAILWAYS 215 



electric locomotive weighs 100 tons less than the steam locomotive, re- 

 sulting in the consequent saving in the ton mileage of dead weight. 



The operating conditions and the reliability of service are improved 

 in all classes of traffic by the substitution of electricity. The construc- 

 tion of the electric locomotive is far simpler. The steam locomotive 

 comprises fire box, boiler, steam engine and facilities for handling coal 

 and water. The electric locomotive, on the contrary, consists only of 

 the electric substitute for the engine and this substitute has no recipro- 

 cating parts. There is consequently less wear and tear and less likeli- 

 hood of derailment and broken rail. The fire box and boiler are absent 

 as sources of danger in a collision, as are also apparatus for steam or 

 fire heating and oil or gas lighting. Signals are clearer in the absence 

 of smoke and automatic signals are possible, though as yet they are 

 little used. The control of power to trains in sections or blocks is also 

 possible. The number of car miles per train-minute of delay has been 

 nearly doubled on the elevated lines of New York since the electrical 

 operation was inaugurated. Less time is required for clearing and 

 despatching trains, water and coal stops are obviated and less attention 

 is required for light and heat. The electric locomotive is always ready, 

 requiring no time for firing. 



As against these several advantages in operating conditions and re- 

 liability, there are several disadvantages. The supply of power to all 

 trains from one power house is objectionable from the standpoint that 

 an accident at the power house may stop all trains. Whatever may be 

 said of the steam locomotive in its comparison with the electric motor, 

 the locomotive is self-contained. This danger under electrical opera- 

 tion is minimized by a thorough subdivision of all the power house 

 apparatus. This method of subdivision, however, is not so readily pos- 

 sible in the transmission and conducting systems leading power to the 

 trains and accidents to this portion of the equiiDment constitute one of 

 the most serious menaces to the continuous operation of an electric 

 railroad. The presence of the third rail or trolley and the transmis- 

 sion line throughout the right of way is in itself a certain source of 

 danger. In a collision the danger of a fire from a third rail in some 

 measure offsets the similar danger from a locomotive fire box. The 

 danger from this source, however, has been overestimated, and the 

 danger of shock from a high voltage trolley is practically eliminated by 

 the modern methods of suspension. These methods consist in supple- 

 menting the actual trolley conductor with one or more steel cables for 

 increasing the tensile strength of the overhead construction. The 

 thorough grounding or connecting to the rail of all the supports of the 

 trolley wire ensures that even in the unlikely instance of the breaking 

 of the overhead construction the wire will have no voltage when it 

 reaches the ground. So reliable has this method of suspension come 



