HIGH-SPEED ELECTRIC INTEEURBAN RAILWAYS. 319 



electrically operated railways are, in the whole world outside of the 

 United States, 4.6i per million people; in Germany, the highest of 

 continental countries, 41.8 miles; and in the United States, 276.2 

 miles. It is said that the new plant of the Manhattan Elevated Rail- 

 way Company, of New Tork City, which will have a total power of 

 40, 000 kilowatts, equals in capacity the total electric power available 

 for traction purposes in France. The United States has 70 per cent 

 of all the electricit}" availalde in the world for traction, 7<>^ per cent 

 of the electric-railwa}^ mileage, and 88^ per cent of all the trolley cars. 



A German steam road upon which electric traction has been tried 

 is the Wannsee line, between Berlin and Zehlendorf. Since August, 

 1900, an electric train has lieen interspersed in the regular service, a 

 speed of about 25 miles per hour 1>eing maintained. Tlie train weighs 

 193 tons empty and 220 tons loaded, and is composed of ten coaches, 

 the first and last having tlu-ee motors each, of an aggregate capacity 

 of 975 horsepower. It runs 225 miles per day, the maximum speed 

 being 31 miles per hour. Direct current is used at 750 volts. The 

 efficiency of the power transmission between switchboard and axle 

 was found to l)e from 70 per cent to 85 per cent. The Government 

 railroad authorities have decided to discontinue the electric service, 

 but the failure of the road has been due more to half-hearted meas- 

 ures than to any defect in the system. 



The first installation of a high-speed electric road in Europe was 

 between Diisseldorf and Krefeld, a total distance of 13. «> miles, the 

 longest stretch between stopping places being 10.4 miles. Since the 

 road parallels the steam railway for the greater part of its length, it 

 is considered necessary to maintain a speed of 25 miles per hour on 

 the open stretches. A speed of 37.2 miles per hour has 1)een reached 

 on trial trips. (Pi. iv.) The road does not pass through the inter- 

 vening towns, but only touches the outskirts. It it double-tracked 

 from Diisseldorf to Oberkassel, the terminus of the Diisseldorf local 

 traffic. Direct current is used at 000 volts pressure, and the cais are 

 mounted upon doul)le trucks, each truck carrj'ing a 40-liorsepower 

 motor. The passengers are divided into three classes, the total seating 

 capacity of a car being 84. Three kinds of brakes are used — viz. , hand 

 brakes, electric short-circuit brakes, and Standard air-brakes — and each 

 motor car is also equipped with two trolley poles. Trains leave each 

 terminal station every half hour. The road has developed a quite 

 considerable freight and farm service. 



A road which has attracted considerable attention by its novel and 

 unique features is the suspended railway at Elberfeld-Barmen, where 

 the cars are hung from a single rail without any side guards or sup- 

 ports, so that in going around curves the cars may assume an inclined 

 position. (PI. V, tig. 1.) Of the 8 miles originally plann<'d, only 4i 



