Electrification of B. C. Railways. 



155 



Electrification of B. C. Railways. 



(A Letter by Mr. Cecil B. Smith. C.E., Toronto.) 



One of the members of the Canadian 

 Forestry Association residing in British 

 Columbia wrote, asking if in view of the 

 great destruction of timber by fires 

 started by locomotives it would not be 

 advisable to electrify the railways in 

 that province, considering the large 

 amount of waterpower now running to 

 waste. The question was submitted to 

 Mr. Cecil B. Smith, C.E., the well-known 

 engineer and authority on hydro-elec- 

 tricity, who some years ago prepared a 

 report on the electrification of the 

 Timiskaming and Northern Ontario 

 Railway for the Ontario Government. 

 Mr. Smith's reply is as follows:— 



"The electrification of any steam rail- 

 way system now operating over a wide 

 area, with its attendant standardizing 

 of equipment and operation, is a serious 

 step for a management to consider. 



"The difficulties of handling mixed 

 traffic, including freight, by electric 

 locomotives have been largely sur- 

 mounted, and we may consider that this 

 will be so perfected in the near future 

 that a railway company may select 

 direct current, three phase alternating, 

 or single phase alternating as the method 

 of propulsion with equal assurance of 

 satisfaction, it being assumed that, act- 

 ing on the advice of its engineers, the 

 company has selected the type best 

 suited for its special conditions. 



"It may be in general assumed that 

 there must be strong inducements to 

 cause a change to be made in the equip- 

 ment of a well-established system. 

 This inducement may be of the nature 

 of an expected growth of business with 

 which electric operation can best cope. 

 The question of smoke ordinances or 

 smoke in long tunnels may be a govern- 

 ing feature; or again, a dense suburban 

 traffic may demand a remedy. On the 

 other hand, a moderate traffic under 

 standard conditions will not justify 

 electrification unless coal is quite ex- 

 pensive, grades excessive, and water- 

 power electric energy available at a 

 low rate and from assured sources. 



"The success of electrification in 

 Europe has induced great activity there 

 in this direction. In Italy, Switzerland, 

 Bavaria, and Sweden the governments 



are expending large sums on the electri- 

 fication of old lines, construction of. 

 water-power generating stations, and 

 construction of new electric lines which 

 handle all kinds of traffic with great 

 satisfaction. Three phase and single 

 phase alternating currents are both 

 used. 



"In America the interurban electric 

 is extending its sphere and its com- 

 petitive influence, and in addition we 

 have the examples of the great systems 

 expending millions on the electrifica- 

 tion of the New York district; and in 

 the West the Cascade Tunnel (three-, 

 phase) and the Spokane and Inland 

 Railway (single phase) show the tend- 

 ency of the times. In Canada very 

 little has been done beyond the use of 

 direct current operation of city and 

 suburban lines — ^which are only de- 

 veloped to a modest degree. The Sarnia 

 tunnel (single phase) is a partial ex- 

 ception, and was forced on the Grand 

 Trunk by a serious accident and the 

 order of the Railway Commission. The 

 Ontario Government considered elec- 

 tifying the Timiskaming and Northern 

 Ontario Railway from North Baj^ to 

 Englehart at a time when conditions 

 were formative and the time opportune. 

 The traffic now handled would have 

 fully justified the step, and the only 

 reason apparent for abandonment was 

 timidity. The added steam equipment 

 now owned, and the turning over of its 

 best adjacent water power to private 

 parties make the question now more 

 difficult, but not impracticable. It is 

 to be hoped the Government will still 

 act in this matter and cease hauling coal 

 from Pennsylvania at a cost of $6 per 

 ton delivered at Englehart. 



"In British Columbia, it is true, there 

 is apparently a large arnount of water 

 power available, but aside from some 

 of the few large rivers, such as the 

 Kootenay and the Columbia, the water- 

 powers of the interior of British Co- 

 lumbia are not attractive as they are 

 chiefly glacier-fed and run very low in 

 the midwinter season. On the Koote- 

 nay, even with its enormous storage 

 areas, the low water flow is quite mod- 

 erate.' On the other hand coal is 



