Scientific American Supplement, No. 711, August 17, 1889Various
History
Scientific American Supplement, No. 711, August 17, 1889
Various
Science -- Periodicals
The measurements of speed were made by dividing the track into
19 sections of 500 ft., each section being provided with a
circuit-closing plate connected with a chronograph which was
carefully tested. The indicator cards were taken at the central
station by Mr. Idell and his assistants, and the dynamometer
used was of the liquid type made by Mr. Shaw, of Philadelphia.
The diagrams prepared from the data obtained were then explained
by the speaker, who stated that there was not a marked
difference between the 10 ton motor and the 18 ton locomotive in
the initial effort on the level, as will be seen by comparing a
run observed by a railroad officer on March 9 with a steam motor
and a load of about 571/2 tons. The steam motor required 1 min.
and 29 sec. to make the distance from 14th to 23d streets, while
the electric motor with a train of 70 tons made the same trip in
1 min. and 50 sec.; the absence of power brakes compelled the
current to be taken off at 19th street, while it was probable
that the throttle of the steam locomotive was not closed until
it reached 23d street, this being the usual practice. The data
obtained in these experiments shows that 29,940 h.p. is required
to operate the Ninth avenue railroad for the 16 hours' service,
or an average of 1,871 h.p. per hour, or 2,181 h.p., adding
station friction. The varying requirements of the traffic during
the day shows that the service could be advantageously divided
up between four stationary engines of 800 h.p. each, there being
but five hours of the day when all of them would be required.
The fuel consumption per day, allowing 22 lb. of coal per h.p.
per hour at $2.25 per ton, would make a total of $92.25 per diem
for fuel, the coal being a mixture deliverable at the dock for
about $1.80 per ton. The weight of coal used for the present
locomotives is about the same, viz., 40 tons per day, but
practice has shown it to be most economical to use coal of the
best quality, costing $5 per ton, making the cost of fuel about
double that required for the electric system. Without entering
into other economies which the speaker claimed were in favor of
electricity, and ignoring the plan suggested by Sir William
Siemens of braking the train by converting the motor into a
dynamo and thus utilizing the energy of momentum, he believed
that the economy in fuel alone was sufficient to prove that the
application of power by electricity was preferable to direct
steam propulsion for the elevated railroad service.
* * * * *
MAGNETISM IN ITS RELATION TO INDUCED ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE AND
CURRENT.[1]
[Footnote 1: A paper read before the American Institute of
Electrical Engineers, New York, May 22, 1889.]
By ELIHU THOMSON.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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