Applied Science 809 



It is interesting to note here that the power needed to pull 

 trains up the slopes of mountains in some places is now so largely 

 supplied by the weight of water falling down in other places. 

 What may be called a balanced lift effect is produced through 

 the medium of the water turbine and the power-house. Swiss 

 waterfalls, in this roundabout fashion, move trains through sum- 

 mit tunnels, and carry them up high peaks even to within a few 

 hundred feet of the Jungfrau's crest. By a lavish snow- or rain- 

 fall at high elevations, nature atones in many countries for the 

 absence of fuel. Now that man knows how to use it, "white coal" 

 is able to replace black. 



People whose experience of electrified lines is limited to 

 suburban tracks may regard electric haulage as slower than steam. 

 It may, therefore, be pointed out that the highest speed ever 

 attained on a railway 131 miles per hour was made by an 

 electric locomotive as long ago as 1903. The conditions certainly 

 were abnormal, as a special track had been prepared; so to set 

 any doubts at rest it should be added that, where main lines are 

 operated electrically, express speeds are around 60 miles an 

 hour, or as high as are permissible on an ordinary track worked 

 under economical conditions. 



Where coal has to be used as the source of power there is 

 no question about the economy in fuel given by electrification. 

 The amount saved in a year by the Transcontinental railway 

 referred to on its electrified sections would, according to an 

 authoritative statement, suffice to move 270 ocean liners, each 

 of 13,000 tons displacement, from the United States to France 

 and back again. 



6 



Electricity from Waterfalls 



The utilisation of water-power on a large scale in the pro- 

 duction of electrical power is made possible by the dynamo and 

 electric motor. We have only to go to the fiamous Niagara Falls 



