Anyone who glances over the history of electric traction will be struck by the absence of outstanding names. There is no man who occupies the same position in the sphere of electric locomotion as Watt does in the world of steam, or Stephenson in the world of railways. As a pioneer, Dr. Wernher von Siemens perhaps deserves more honour than any other. But the leading ideas embodied in electric traction systems were contributed by engineers who worked in the general field of electrical engineering; and they have been applied and developed by a numerous band of men who have added one brick of experience and ingenuity to another until the imposing structure was made visible to the world. Nevertheless, I hope the story as told briefly in the following chapters will not be found devoid of human interest. It has the advantage, at any rate, of the attraction which anything pertaining to electricity holds for all sections of the public. This attraction deepens upon closer acquaintance with the mechanism and the history of electricity in action; and if any of the descriptions and forecasts are found to be prejudiced in favour of a single instrument of locomotion, the fault may be considered to rest with the spell which electricity throws upon everyone who is concerned in any way with its applications in the service of man. I have to acknowledge the kind assistance of Mr. Frank Broadbent, M.I.E.E., in looking over the proofs of this volume. A. G. W. _21 April 1911_ CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE vi CHAP. I. The Wheel and the Public 1 II. Early Tramroads and Railways 4 III. The Birth of Electric Traction 12 IV. The Essential Advantages of Electric Traction on Tramways 19 V. The Mechanism of an Electric Tramcar: the Overhead System 29 VI. Conduit and Surface-Contact Tramway Systems 37 VII. The Backwardness of Electric Traction in Great Britain 46 VIII. Electric Tramway Stagnation. The Trolley Omnibus 55 IX. Regenerative Control 67 X. Accumulator Electric Traction. The Electric Automobile 70 XI. Petrol-Electric Vehicles and main Marine Propulsion by Electricity 82 XII. The Pioneer Electric Railways 92 XIII. Electric Railways from the Engineering Point of View 107 XIV. Electric Traction on Main Line Railways 116 XV. Curiosities of Electric Traction 124