758 REPORT— 1903. 



Railways. 



Turning now to railways, it may be noted that on some of the principal lines 

 in Great Britam the length of the runs without a stop is being increased in the 

 case of fast trains, the speed of which is in some cases from forty-eight to fifty- 

 nine miles an hour. 



E,ailway companies are turning their attention to the introduction of electric 

 traction wherever it can be beneficially used, as for instance on the Mersey Rail- 

 way, the North-Eastern Railway between Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Tynemouth, 

 and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway between Liverpool and Southport. 

 With the object of facilitating the introduction and use of electrical power on 

 railways, Parliament has passed an Act entitled the ' Railways (Electrical Power) 

 Act, 1903,' which will come into operation on January 1 next. 



The electrical service on the Mersey Railway has now been in regular and 

 uninterrupted operation since the beginning of May in the present year. Trains 

 are run at three-minute intervals, there being 750 trains in all between 5 a.m. 

 and 12 midnight : and as it is the first example of a British steam railway con- 

 verted to the use of electric traction, a short description of it cannot fail to be 

 of interest. 



The Mersey Railway was first opened for traffic on February 1, 1886, and was 

 afterwards extended at both ends, the last extension to the Liverpool Central 

 Station being opened for traffic in January 1892. With steam locomotives, largely 

 owing to the want of adequate ventilation, the railway was not a success. 

 Electrification was decided upon, and in the latter part of 1901 the British 

 Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, Limited, undertook the 

 entire contract. The length of the railway is about 3| miles, and there are 

 gradients in the tunnel below the river of 1 in 27 and 1 in 30. 



The power station is at Bir'kenhead, and contains plant aggregating over 

 6,000 horse-power, comprising three engines of the Westinghouse-Corliss vertical 

 cross-compound type. 



The generators are all three alike, mounted on the engine shaft between the 

 cylinders. They are standard Westinghouse multipolar machines, of the double- 

 current type, of 1,2-50 kilowatts capacity. Direct-current is collected from the 

 armature at 650 volts, no alternating current being used at present. 



Leads are carried below the floor from the machines to a switchboard, from 

 which are controlled the main generators, the auxiliary lighting sets, battery, 

 booster, and feeders. The battery consists of 320 chloride cells connected in 

 parallel with the generators through a differential booster, and charge or discharge 

 according as the line load is light or heavy. They have a capacity of 1,000 

 ampere-hours, and a momentary discharge capacity of 2,000 amperes. 



The auxiliary sets, two in number, are for lighting purposes, and yielding 

 direct current at 650 volts, are available in case of need to supply current to the 

 main traction circuits. 210 volt incandescent lamps are used for lighting, arranged 

 in groups of three in series. 



The feeders are carried from the switchboard down the ventilation shaft to 

 feed the insulated electrical collector rails, which are placed in the space between 

 the up and the down lines, and somewhat above the level of the rails, an insulated 

 return collector rail being placed between each pair of rails. A train consists of 

 two motor cars, one at each end, and from one to three trailers as required, 

 depending on the amount of traffic. The motor cars each carry an equipment of 

 four Westinghouse motors of 100 horse-power, making 400 horse-power per car, or 

 800 horse-power per train. These motors are all controlled in unison from the 

 motorman's compartment at either end of the train by means of the Westing- 

 house multiple controlled system, which has worked from the start without a 

 hitch. 



In conclusion, it may be noted that every precaution has been taken against 

 tire. The electrical equipment is all thoroughly fireproof, and the motorman's 



