The Most Powerful Locomotive in the World 



It weighs 260 tons; it is 76 feet long, and it takes cur- 

 rent from a trolley wire no bigger than a lead pencil 



By William H. Easton 



-.. - 



^LET 



The power of this loco- 

 motive is equal to that 

 of one hundred trolley- 

 cars, or 14,000 horses, 

 or 56,000 of the strong- 

 est men. It consumes 

 enough current to light 

 over 200,000 25-watt 

 electric lamps; and 

 many a town of 25,000 

 inhabitants has an elec- 

 tric plant of smaller 

 capacity. This is be- 

 cause high voltage is 

 used in distributing the 

 strong electric current 



A glance at the illustra- 

 tion shows apparently 

 eight driving wheels on 

 each side, but there are 

 actually only six. The 

 wheels on each end are 

 gears which are driven 

 by the motors and 

 which in turn drive the 

 driving wheels through 

 the connecting rods. 

 By this arrangement, 

 the motors can be lo- 

 cated up in the cab and 

 not down on the axles 

 as in a trolley car 



THOUGH hardly 

 more impressive 

 in appearance 

 than an ordinary bag- 

 gage car, the electric 

 locomotive illustrated 

 has the distinction of 

 being by far the most powerful thing on 

 wheels. Exerting its maximum effort, it 

 can develop 7,000 horsepower, which is 

 fifty per cent more than its closest rival, 

 also an electric, can do. 



It is not necessary for the entire main 

 line of railroad to become congested be- 

 fore trouble is experienced, for, since a 

 passage is no wider than its narrowest 

 point, one congested section sets the limit 

 to the capacity of the whole. 



Such a section exists between Altoona 

 and Johnstown, Pa., where the freight 

 traffic is unusually heavy, amounting to 

 300,000 tons a day. Trains over this di- 

 vision must push up steep grades, pass 

 around the famous Horseshoe Curve, and 

 run through a long tunnel. Though the 

 railroad is not particularly embarrassed 

 at present, it is taking no chances, and 

 some time in the future its new huge elec- 

 tric locomotive, with many more like it, 



It Rides Easier Than a Steam Locomotive 



Each gear wheel carries a set of coiled springs. The 

 reason for these springs is as follows: When a steam 

 engine starts, the piston does not move with a sud- 

 den blow, because there is a cushion of steam behind 

 it which is compressed and eases the shock. But a 

 motor, in endeavoring to start a heavy train through a 

 solid gear train, strikes its gears sharply and thus sets 

 up heavy stresses. By the use of these springs, a cush- 

 ion is introduced between motor and driving wheels 



will be handling the 

 traffic through this 

 "neck of the bottle," 

 as such a section is 

 graphically called. 



Trains so long that 

 three of the largest 

 steam locomotives can barely move them 

 will be rushed up the grades by two electric 

 locomotives at twenty miles an hour. In 

 this way the capacity of the division will 

 be more than doubled and all danger of 

 congestion here will be removed for many 

 years to come. 



One peculiarity of the electric locomo- 

 tive is that its speed of twenty miles an 

 hour cannot be exceeded whether running 

 on electric power or coasting down hill. In 

 the latter case the motors act as generators 

 and return current to the line, and since 

 power is required to generate current, a 

 most effective braking action results which 

 prevents runaways. At the same time the 

 coasting speed can be regulated by the 

 controllers, just as is the speed under 

 power. Air brakes are therefore not need- 

 ed while coasting and are simply held for 

 emergency use and for bringing the train 

 to a full stop. 



