HIGH-SPEED ELECTRIC INTERURBAN RAILWAYS/' 



By George H. Gibson. 



The electric railway is to perform a service for mankind as notable 

 and perhaps ultimatel}^ as great as that rendered by its steam-operated 

 precursor. Already it handles the bulk of suburban and short-distance 

 interurban passenger traffic; it carries freight, mail, express, and bag- 

 gage; it operates at speeds reaching 60 miles per hour; its cars are 

 operated on time schedules and dispatched by telephone; its roadbed 

 is often as expensive and heavy of construction as that of the best steam 

 lines; and, what is more interesting to the investor, it pays large -divi- 

 dends. At the present time $1,600,000,000 are nominally invested in 

 electric roads in the United States and upon this sum $7,000,000 are 

 paid in yearly dividends; 300,000 employees receive yearly in wages 

 $250,000,000, and there are 20,000 miles of track on which 60,000 cars 

 are run. In 1890, 10 miles of electric road were built for evevy mile 

 of steam road constructed. 



The greatest development of interurban roads has taken place in the 

 great agricultural districts of the Middle Western States, where they 

 have grown to a truly surprising extent. It is often said that electric 

 railways have checked the concentration of population in great cities 

 by creating suburban districts, but in the farming regions they have 

 had a still greater effect in building up many small centers of popula- 

 tion. The Union Traction Company, of Indiana, operates 109 miles of 

 interurban track and 51: miles of city track in the gas belt of that State 

 and serves a population of 350,000. It connects the cities of Ander- 

 son, Marion, Muncie, Indianapolis, and about 20 smaller towns, and 

 traverses 6 of the most prosperous counties of the State. The interur- 

 ban lines are located almost entirel}^ cu private right of way, protected 

 by fences and cattle guards. Tests have shown that a maximum speed 

 of 58 miles an hour may be reached and an average speed of 45 miles 

 an hour maintained. Cars are run in each direction every hour, and 

 special cars are furnished for theater parties, excursions, and picnics. 

 The rates of fare are approximately 1 cent a mile. The dailv receipts 

 of the interurban lines are said to be $3,000 on an average, but this is 

 frequently increased to $8,000, and on one occasion was $11,000 in a 



a Reprinted, by permission of the publishers, from The Engineering Magazine, 

 New York and London, Vol. XXIII, No. 6, September, 1902. Some of the illus- 

 trations and jiarts of the original article are here omitted, 



SM 1903 21 311 



