256 



KNOWLEDGE 



[March 27, 1885. 



strange and impressive would it be were wc to sec 

 the carriages going along without the engine, like so 

 many inanimate boxes, suddenly and mysteriously en- 

 dowed with life. And yet this is not altogether a wild 

 drcim, as will be conceded by any one who studies the cir- 

 cumstanoea pertaining to the Brighton Electric Railway. 

 Recently I adverted to an electrically-pro|ielled car, in 

 which the source of motive power lay in a few secondary 

 cells or accumulators stowed under the seats ; but when one 

 sees these accumulators, the air (.f mystery surrounding a 

 moving but horseless and engine less car is to a great extent 

 dispelled. One requires, however, a keener perception of 

 the laws of nature, a freer power of imagination to conceive 

 the po-sibility and practicability of a car or coach to travel 

 along a pair of rails, and pick up its power as it goes along, 

 and yet this is what is actually being done, not only at 

 Brighton, but also at Portru-h and a number of other 

 places. The principles upon which an electric railway 

 may be constructed and worked being satisfactorily, and, 

 albeit, modestly, applied at Brighton, and the subject being 

 fraught at the present moment with importance and 

 interest greater than have ever attached to it hitherto, a 

 brief description of that typical work may here be given. 



It was on July, 1, 1883, that the iirst application was 

 made to the Brighton Corporation for pfrmission to con- 

 struct and work upon a portion of the Brighton beach the 

 first electric railway opened in Gre^t Britain. The neces- 

 sary sanction was granted on July 20, and, accordingly, 

 Mr. Volk set to work. He threw the greatest possible 

 enthusiasm into the task, and progressed so satisfactorily as 

 to be able to open his short railway for public use on the 

 autumn Bunk Holiday (Aug. 2) of 1883. The line started 

 opposite the well-known Aquarium, and ended at the Chain 

 Pier, a distance of about a quarter of a mile, the gauge being 

 2 ft., and the flanged rails weighing 20 lb. to the mile. The 

 rails were fastened by means of spikes to longitudinal 

 sleepers in. by 3 in., cross pieces being employed at 

 intervals of 4 ft. to keep the lino in position. The 

 sleepers were coated with Stockholm tar, as a preservative 

 against moisture, the presence of which would liave had the 

 double disadvantage of rotting the wood and afibrding an 

 ea.sy channel for the escape of the electricity, which, as will 

 presently be seen, is transmitted through the rails attached 

 to the sleepers. Very little was done in the matter of a 

 permanent way, the shingle being simply levelled up and 

 the sleepers laid upon it. 



A small ornamental wooden car was built for the line, 

 and was fitted with seats on either side, as in an ordinary 

 tramcir, acconmio 'ation being provided for abuut a dozen 

 passengers. The weight of the car was 7 cwt. 



Now for the motive power. An Otto gis-engine of two 

 horsepower nominal, and giving about three horse-power on 

 the brake, was fixed iu a shed at one end of the line, and 

 was used to drive a Siemens dynamo-electric machine of 

 the size known as D^. The dynamo yielded a current of 

 2-5 amperes, with an electro-motive force of 50 volts. An 

 electric motor was built by Mr. Volk, weighing about 

 2 J cwt, and fixed on the underside of the car, its terminals 

 being indirectly connected, respectively, to a wheel on cither 

 side of the car. The terminals of the generating dynamo 

 were connected to the rails, so that the electrical circuit 

 was completed through the motor when the car stood on 

 the rails. Ttie current, passing through the motor, caused 

 its armature to revolve at 700 revolutions per minute. The 

 pulley of the armature, 5 in. in diameter, was connected, 

 by means of a belt, with a pulley on a countershaft, 10 in. 

 in diameter, and this again by another belt to another 

 pulley, 12 in. in diameter, fixed on to one of the axles. 

 The speed of the car upon an incline of I in 100 was 



about five miles an hour; while on the return journey it 

 was twice as rapid. At nighttime a twenty-candle power 

 Swan incandescent lamp, fitted on the roof of the car, 

 was supplied with current from the rails, and afforded 

 ample light for the purpose. The electrical resistance of 

 the rails was '05 ohm, and of the motor about '55 ohm. 



The passage of the current, and consequently the progress 

 of the car, was controlled by means of a switch fixed at 

 each end of the car, under the command of the driver. 

 The same switch acted as a commutator, that is to say, the 

 driver was able, by its means, to control the direction taken 

 by the current in traversing the coils of the motor armature. 

 Manifestly, a reversal of the current in the armature pro- 

 duced a reversal in the direction of revolution made by the 

 armature, implying in consequence a reversal in the direction 

 pursued by the car along the rails. 



One very remarkable t'aot is worthy of notice : it has sur- 

 prised every one in the world of practical electricity, and 

 that is, that although the line is on the beach, and no other 

 insulation is afforded than that abuve indicated, the loss of 

 current by leakage is extremely small — that is, in com- 

 parison with what might have been expected. It is asserted 

 that even on a wet day this loss did not exceed 5 per 

 cent, while on a dry day it was, of course, much less 

 than this. One reason for this is, doubtless, to be 

 found in the fact that tar affords but liitle hold for 

 films of moisture (which rather collects as isolated drops of 

 wafer), while, the beach being composed of coarse pebbles, 

 there was little harborage for water, which ran away before 

 it had time to accumulate. 



On the opening day the car ran backwards and forwards 

 for eleven hours without a hitch, making 100 journeys, 

 and carrying a total of 1,200 pas.sengers. The interest 

 excited was, as might be imagined, very great, and 

 frequently the car was called upon to carry sixteen in- 

 .stead of twelve passengers. 



The railway thus constructed and equipped continued in 

 use until Jan. 4, 1881, when the road was taken up pre- 

 paratory to extending the line to Paston-place, and making 

 alterations in the gradient t-o as to run under the Chain 

 Pier. 



Last Easter the reconstructed and re-equipped line, a 

 mile in length, was Ofiened for traffic, and continues with- 

 out any material change. An elegant little " Station " 

 was erected at the starting-point opposite the Aquarium. 

 The longitudinal tarred sleepers were exchanged for trans- 

 verse creosoted ones, -1 ft. 6 in. long, and laid three feet 

 apart. The new gauge is 2 ft 9 in. Where the line passes 

 under the Chain Pier, a very severe dip has to be made, 

 the incline being 1 in 16. Otherwise the road is tolerably 

 level. The generating apparatus is provided with a com- 

 fortable and commodious home in a vault in the sea-wall 

 opposite Paston-place. The engine— a Crossley Shorse 

 power gas-engine (consuming about 1,600 cubic feet of gas 

 par day of eleven hours) — drives the generator, which is a 

 Siemens D^ dynamo electric machine. A Siemens dynamo 

 is used as a motor, and is fixed to the under side of an 

 admirably-upholstered car. The weight of the motor, 

 switch, itc, is 7 cwt., which, considering the great 

 power possessed, is very low, or at about the rate of one- 

 twentieth of that which would be necessary were a steam 

 motor used for the purpose. This is a feature of great 

 importance, as the electric propulsion permits of a compa- 

 ratively lightly-constructed permanent way. The new car 

 is constructed to carry eighteen passengers inside and six 

 on each footboard, or a total of thirty. Three twenty- 

 candle power Swan lamps are provided, one being sus- 

 pended from the roof of the car, and one placed on the 

 tailboard at each end. The generator is capable of pro- 



