To summarize then, electric working of a trunk line results in
increased economy over steam locomotives by concentration of the
power and especially by the use of water power where possible.
Thus economy is secured to the greatest extent by a complete
electrical service and not by a mixed service of electric and
steam locomotives. Electrification gives an increase in capacity
both in the haulage by a locomotive, an electric locomotive being
capable of more work than a steam locomotive, and in schedule and
rate of speed, as motor car trains and electric terminal
facilities make possible augmented traffic, and an increased use
of dead parts of the system such as track and roadbed. There is a
great gain in time of acceleration and for stopping, and for the
Boston terminal it was estimated that with electricity 50 per
cent, more traffic could be handled, as the headway could be
reduced from three to two minutes. The modern tendency of
electrification deals either with special conditions or where the
traffic is comparatively dense. From such a beginning it is
inevitable that electric working should be extended and that is
the tendency in all modern installations, as for example, at the
New York terminal of the New York Central and Hudson River
Railroad where the electric zone, first installed within little
more than station limits, is gradually being extended. As examples
of density of traffic suitable for electrification, yet at the
same time possessing problems of their own, are the great
terminals such as the Grand Central Station of the New York
Central and Hudson River Railroad in New York City, the new
Pennsylvania Station in the same city, and that of the Illinois
Central Station in the city of Chicago. Not only is there density
here but the varied character of the service rendered, such as
express, local, suburban, and freight, involves the prompt and
efficient handling of trains and cars. Now, with suburban trains
made up of motor cars, a certain number of locomotives otherwise
employed are released; for these cars can be operated or shifted
by their own power. Such terminal stations are often combined with
tunnel sections, as in the case of the great Pennsylvania
terminal, where the tunnel begins at Bergen, New Jersey, and
extends under the Hudson River, beneath Manhattan Island and under
the East River to Long Island City. It is here that electric
working is essential for the comfort of passengers as well as for
efficient operation. But there are tunnel sections not connected
with such vast terminals, as in the case of the St. Clair tunnel
under the Detroit River.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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