have taken it without harm. We pay our motor men and conductors two dollars a day, and our shop men two dollars to two dollars and a half a day. Last Winter we did not have much snow; but in place of it something that is much worse for railroad companies, and that is sleet. We had a great deal of foggy weather, and the ice froze on the wire. It is far more difficult to operate the overhead wire with sleet on it than it is with snow on the surface. We never lost a train, and kept our schedule time. We applied scrapers in front of the trolley to scrape the sleet off. A man would sometimes ride on the top of the car with a stick and strike the wire now and then and break the sleet. We run eighteen hours; the motor car makes one hundred and twenty miles a day. We count twelve hours a day's work. Mr. Eppley You state that you run one hundred and twenty miles a day, and that four cents a mile per car covered all expenses? Mr. Evans: Yes, sir; we run two cars to a train. We have never burnt out a motor on the line. We have had short circuits, defective wiring and other difficulties to contend with; but we have never had to send a machine away to be repaired. I recently completed a road in Ottawa, Illinois. The road has been in operation six weeks. On that road I run single motor That line costs me a cent and a quarter per cars with one man. mile per car. I have only eight motor cars. When I increase them to twelve or fifteen, I can do it for less than a cent a mile. I made a test about a week ago, where I took the eight motor cars, connected them together, and drawing four trail cars, making twelve cars in almost one line, and moved them four and onehalf miles from an eighty horse power generator, loaded with 830 people, mostly adults, and it attained a speed of not less than seven and a half to eight miles an hour at any time, and at one speed of about fifteen miles an hour. At no time did my train cover a space of less than a thousand feet from the front time a to the rear car. Mr. Monks: You speak of operating cars in train, and that Did he have any appliance by which he How do you handle you use only one man. could handle the brake of the rear car? the rear car on a grade? Mr. Evans: When we run two or more cars in a train we always have two men, one a conductor, and his place is on the rear car, and on grades assists in stopping the train. We have never had any trouble in stopping. Our brakes work well. We use a Pullman car, brakes perfect, with Bemis trucks. We have no difficulty in stopping cars. Mr. Monks: You depend on the brake of the forward car for stopping the train? Mr. Evans: Yes, sir; but not altogether. When the signal is given to stop, it is given by the conductor. Mr. Monks And he winds up the brake on the rear platform? Mr. Evans: Yes, sir; it is frequently the case that the motor man stops without the conductor's knowledge, and he does it with one brake, stopping both cars, without any difficulty. We have a conductor on the rear car, who acts as brakeman; but when the motor man takes up a passenger of his own knowledge, without the conductor's aid, he does it alone. Mr. Petit: You say you run a car at four cents per car mile. I suppose that includes everything except interest? Mr. Evans: Yes, sir; everything except interest and the wear and tear of the machine. Mr. Petit: Does it include insurance? Mr. Evans: No, sir. Mr. Petit Do you include taxes? Mr. Evans: No, sir. I wish to make an explanation. The seven mile road that I said we operated at a cent and a quarter per mile-that was purely for steam, the power or propulsion. The Council Bluffs and Omaha road is operated for power and propulsion at a little less than one cent. Mr. Harris, of Cincinnati: What is the price of coal? Mr. Evans At Council Bluffs, one dollar and fifteen cents; at Ottawa, seventy cents. Mr. Barr: I understand that Mr. Breed is present, who operates an electric road, with rather extensive grades. I should like to hear from him. REMARKS OF MR. AMOS F. BREED, ON THE LYNN AND BOSTON ELECTRIC ROAD. Mr. Amos F. Breed, of Boston: I do not think I can say much that will add to the information you have already got from the previous speakers. I think we were one of the first in our vicinity to adopt an electric road, which we commenced about a year ago last July, running about one mile. We operated that road during the Summer, and it proved very successful. In the Fall we commenced to build a road, just two miles long, in a circle, going around, so to speak, the outside of a shell, and encircling a large population through the central part of the city. We go up a nine per cent. grade and down a thirteen per cent. grade. We go over eleven sharp curves and switches in traveling over the circuit of just two miles, so that I think we get as good a test as is possible. We commenced operating that road about one year ago, and it has proven very satisfactory in all respects. We run by the overhead system. I think we give electric railways as severe a test on our roads as is possible anywhere. Mr. Eppley: How long is the thirteen per cent. grade? Mr. Eppley: Whose system do you use? Mr. Breed The Thomson-Houston. Mr. Eppley : Do you go down on the brakes, or do you use the electricity? Mr. Breed: We go down on the brakes. Mr. Eppley: Do you ever ascend the entire thirteen per cent. grade? Mr. Breed: The other day, when there must have been thirtyfive passengers on the car, as a little experiment, I told the driver to stop the car on the steepest part of the grade and reverse his current and go back, which he did. He stopped the car on the steepest part of the grade, and moved the car back perhaps a hun dred feet. Mr. Eppley What speed do you think you could make going up hill? Mr. Breed: I could not say positively; I think that on the nine per cent. grade, we could make perhaps six or seven miles an hour. Mr. Petit: What does it cost per car per mile? Mr. Breed I think that is a question no one can answer at present. I do not believe you can tell exactly what it will cost. I know we get more riders, and I think we can run the cars cheaper than by horses. Mr. Eppley Can you tell what is the permanent increase in your business; what is the percentage? Mr. Breed: In the case of that particular line the people did not like to run by horses, on account of the steep grades; and the business was very light. I think the increase is large on that part of our system; I should say it was from fifteen to twentyfive per cent. REMARKS OF MR. S. H. SHORT ON THE SHORT ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM. Mr. S. H. Short, of Cleveland: I want to call the attention of delegates to one or two points in connection with our system of electric railway. We have devised a motor, after long experience and a very conservative business policy, from which we think we have eliminated most of the difficulties in street car propulsion that have been experienced by electrical engineers. We do not claim to have made a perfect system; we will not have that for some years to come, but we have met and overcome most of the difficulties that have been experienced thus far. an armature which is large in diameter, and which gives us, with a slow shaft speed, a high speed of the bobbin. This enables us to run our gears at a very low speed. The pinions on the shaft are large, and we have cars that have been in regular service a year without these gears showing much wear. We believe it is the slowness of speed that saves them. We find, then, that by slow motion we gain an advantage in wear. The bobbins on the armature are all separated, so that no excessive heat can be developed in them. We guarantee that our armatures will not burn out. We have in some cases offered a hundred dollars to anyone who would burn out an armature in legitimate use. With objections such as these removed, excessive repairs done away with and electrical difficulties overcome, the motor becomes a very economical means of moving street cars. Our expenses for operating a series road in Huntington, West Virginia, are about two and a half cents per car mile, including everything but wages. In that city the cost a day of drivers and We make an conductors is low, about one dollar and a half. average of about one hundred and thirty miles a day, and run our cars at a very high rate of speed in the suburbs. We use two systems of overhead construction. We have one system with two wires overhead, which we consider the most reliable and safest; a constant current is used. We use also the single overhead wire construction with rail return. We use carbon brushes on the motors, and removable segments also on the commutators, so that the latter are not destroyed when segments wear down. We simply take off the segments and replace them with new ones. These are only a few of the main features of our system. Mr. Wm. Richardson: Did your Company put a road in operation in St. Louis? Mr. Short: Yes, sir; we put in one mile and a half for the St. Louis Railway Company. We are now extending the system three miles, and adding eight more cars. It is the intention to start the new cars in a few days. Mr. Wm. Richardson: Did you take out the first equipment? Mr. Short We removed the poles and put up heavier steel poles. Mr. Wm. Richardson: The first equipment was not successful? Mr. Short: Yes, sir, it was successful, but the construction was insufficient for the road. It was on the main portion of the Broadway line, which has a very heavy traffic. Mr. Browning Is this system your own system? Mr. Short: Yes, sir, and our system is manufactured, owned and controlled by the Brush Electric Company, of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. G. Genge Browning, of Camden: you use? How many volts do Mr. Short: We use five hundred volts on the single overhead wire system. Mr. Browning: How many on the double wire? Mr. Short: From one hundred and fifty to three hundred at the motor terminals. Mr. Littell: I understand Mr. Sprague is here. I heard a rumor that his company had sold out to the Thomson-Houston Company. I would like to ask him to confirm or deny the report for the benefit of the Convention. |