WHAT MAKJ^S THE TROLLEY CAR GO. 573 



liable to be injured by high winds or the accumulation of ice and 

 snow; and, furthermore, as the conductors are below the ground the 

 danger of burning out motors and generators by lightning would 

 be eliminated, and this is a serious matter with all trolley roads, 

 especially in cities. Country roads do not suffer so much from light- 

 ning, because when there is a heavy thunderstorm the generators 

 are stopped and the trolley poles are pulled away from the wire, 

 the cars remaining stalled on the track until the storm passes over. 

 This course can not be pursued by city roads, for the passengers 

 feel that, lightning or no lightning, they must reach their destina- 

 tion, therefore the cars must continue to run and take their chances. 



Fig. 30. — View of a Section of the New York. New Haven and Hartford Railroad, 



EQUIPPED WITH THE ThIRD-RAIL SySTEM. 



Lightning, however, does not strike trolley lines as often in cities 

 as in the open country, owing to the fact that there are so many 

 iron buildings and roofs to attract it in other directions. 



Fig. 28 shows the appearance of the street surface when an 

 underground system such as is illustrated in Fig. 27 is used. This 

 figure is a photograph of the Capital Traction Company's lines in 

 Washington. After looking at this picture one can not deny that 

 the appearance of the streets of a city is greatly improved when 

 the overhead wires are removed, but underground systems which 

 require a plow to run in a groove are not without objection, for the 

 groove forms a dangerous trap into which the narrow-tired wheels 

 of light wagons can readily drop, and the toes and heels of horse- 



