File:Discovery (20935468596).jpg

Title: Discovery
Identifier: discovery0304londuoft (find matches)
Year: [1] (s)
Authors:
Subjects: Science
Publisher: London (etc. ) Professional and Industrial Pub. Co. (etc. )
Contributing Library: Gerstein - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
DISCOVERY 21 electric automatic signalling and train control are now- undisputed. For lines of longer distances and less dense traffic, this feature, although still present, does not dominate the situation in the same way. Centralisation in a power house enables fuel to be burnt with an economy unapproachable in the furnace of an isolated locomotive, and presents opportunities for utilisation of other sources of power not otherwise available for railway purposes. In countries where water-power is relatively abundant and fuel expensive, electric traction enables the natural energy of the waterfalls to be used for of electric traction on the London underground railwaj's. On the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul line, the power to negotiate steep gradients was the consideration which outweighed all others. Disadvantages Against the economy in power production must be placed not only the great capital cost of the plant, ))articularly great when the power is generated by water from an extensive area, the cost of the transmis- sion of the power where the distances are considerable, interest on capital cost of the line, and its maintenance.
Text Appearing After Image:
-A LARGE ELECTRIC PASSENGER LOCOMOTIVE USED ON THE CHICAGO, An example of the high-tension current sj'stem. MILWAUKEE, AND ST. PAUL RAILWAY. railway purposes, a point of enormous importance in view of the almost prohibitive rise in the cost of fuel in some coimtries since the war. This has been the predominating factor in Sweden, Bavaria, and Italy, and in certain parts of America. In other countries different features have formed the deciding reason for adopting electric traction. For example, the main lines outside New York, where heavy railway electrifica- tion began in the United States, were electrified after a tunnel accident attributed to an accumulation of noxious gases. Likewise, to avoid smoke in tunnels, the railways through the Baltimore tunnel in America and in the Simplon tunnel on the Continent were electrified. This was also a factor in the adoption Both the capital cost of plant and equipment and that of labour required for maintenance and operation have risen considerably since the war. On the other hand, both the vastly increased cost of fuel and the rise in the cost of labour handicap the steam railway more seriously than the electric, owing to the smaller operating and maintenance staffs required. In many cases, therefore, the comparison from the point of view of running expenses is more in favour of electricity than it was before the war. Economic Considerations The point that must be investigated in each indi- vidual scheme is whether the advantages to be expected

Note About Images