•‘.^j“^;:.^-^ji;-;:-';-’/«i. >rx ■- 
 
 
 (SjLmC'jfM.HC’ iyAMi.^ 
 
 It 
 
 M. 
 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/trainelectricligOOelec 
 
I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 
 ik 
 
 
 if-n 
 
 I 
 
FRAiN i:LF:crRic LKiirnxc; 
 
 AM) CAR rf:fri(;i:rati()x 
 
 FROM fi!f: axlf: 
 
 RLRCTRK' AXLH LKORF AND FOW’HR COMFAX\ 
 
 100 JIROADWAW XFAV \0RK CriA'. N. Y.. V. S. A. 
 
 1 N(;iNKKUiN(; ni:i-.\KiMK.\ i 
 
 22 'FIIAMI’.S ST., XiAV \()KK CI'FW X. 
 
 1A( roKli s 
 
 XFAV ^'^)KK CVVW N. V.. AND I'OVV.K \. KAX. 
 
AVERY LlSRi^RY 
 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 Copyright, 1900, by 
 
 Electric Axle Light and Power Company 
 
 Ilarilett \ Company 
 Tlie Orr PrcSb 
 New Vork 
 
 ^572 
 
 ELI'S 
 
 1^00 
 
rUAIN LKillTlNG I- ROM THE CAR AXLE 
 
 HIS iximphlet ex])lains (pages 5 to 29) the '"A.r/f method of 
 
 lighting trains electrically, and it is presupposed that the reader is 
 interested. The subject cannot be explained in a word and a picture, 
 and if serious attention is not forthcoming, the following will not proxe 
 of interest. 
 
 riie lu'oblem of properly lighting trains is one which every 
 energetic railway manager has been anxious to solve. I'he tra\'eling public are 
 luxurious in their tastes. They appreciate easy riding, smooth, well balanced roadbeds, 
 freedom from dust, soft chairs, and more than anything else do they appreciate good 
 light. Train lighting is the first point of attack chosen by an adverse press, and the 
 first point of criticism by the public. It is the first luxury to be appreciated if it is good, 
 and the first discomfort to be complained of if it is bad. If you are a railwav mauager 
 
this is sinipl}' a reminder of well-known facts, 
 
 KI.I'.CTKIC I.KililS \M) IANS IN I'KINAIK CAR I.IIIRARV 
 
 6 
 
 and if you are not, you can hardly fail 
 to see that the foregoing is ob\'ious. 
 
 Electricity is universally admitted 
 to be the best means for lighting, pro- 
 x'ided a suitable source of supply can 
 be had. Its freedom from dirt, heat, 
 smoke, tjrease, odor, attention and dans^er 
 of fire have caused it to win its way 
 ao;ainst other luminants, thousfh hereto- 
 fore at higher cost. It is scarcely nec- 
 essary to more than mention its supe- 
 riority. The interest centers in the 
 means of producing and supplying the 
 current. Now that it can be installed 
 for train liCThtintj with as little trouble 
 as it can be introduced into a build- 
 ing from a central station supply, it 
 is being rapidly adopted, and an electric 
 
system, offered at a cost less than that of oil or gas, is certainly worth having. I'he 
 system which this j^amphlet describes is of that character. 
 
 Illf SOlMvfCH OF FOW’FR. The source of power in our system of train 
 
 A lighting by electricity is the axle of the car. It has long been recognized that it was 
 theoretically possible to take power from the car axle and thereby drive a dynamo with 
 which to light the cars ; but, though the principle was perfect, its ajjplication was not 
 easv. The car axle is a spasmodic source of power; it runs rapidly, slowly, and it stoi:)S 
 entirely. It may repeat the j^erformance in a reverse direction. Klectric energ)- taken 
 from a dvnamo so drix-en will wary in pressure or voltage from zero to a maximum, causing 
 the lights to flicker up and down, varying with the speed of the train, and going out 
 when it stops. It is the elimination of these practical difficulties which constitutes 
 our system. Means are provided for causing the lights to burn steadily at all times. 
 
 T IIF FRINXIPLE. The lU'incijDle of our system may be briefly stated as follows: 
 
 An electric pressure of thirty volts has been chosen as the most suitable and 
 economical for the lamps, and a storage battery of sufficient capacity to take care of the 
 lights for a maximum of twenty hours is installed in boxes under the cars. 
 
 7 
 
I'KUATK lilMNC CVR 
 
 A dynamo placed in the car truck charges 
 these storage batteries and runs the lamps, when- 
 ever it is driven at sufficient speed ; when the 
 train is moving slowlv, or is at rest, the storage 
 battery alone supplies current to the lamps. An 
 automatic switch-board is provided which switches 
 the dynamo in circuit when its voltage is of the 
 proper amount ; switches it out when its voltage 
 is too low, and rex'erses its armature terminals 
 when it is drix’en in a reverse direction. The 
 principle is simple, but, to obtain practical and 
 reliable results, called for the e.xpenditure of 
 much time and money. 
 
 D riving mechanism, xhe 
 
 method by which the dynamo is driven 
 is the result of practical experience. The system 
 which we have ultimately adopted is that of 
 
 <s 
 
friction pulle\'s, whicli has many advantages over any other device. Its great simplicity 
 renders it of long life: it is absolutely noiseless, \'ery easy of repaii', and an injurious 
 overload in the batteries is impossible. 
 
 The dynamo is pivoted on the lower part of its frame to a suspension cradle, 
 and the spring-impelled tension rod draws it towards the split pulley on the car a.xle, 
 and keeps the friction drive in contact. The illustration given on page 25 shows the 
 arrangement of the generator on the car truck, and also shows the details of the 
 friction pullev. 
 
 An important feature of the friction drive obtains in the fact that it does not 
 make a bearing out of the car axle. The most readily suggested device is to drive 
 the dynamo with gears from the car axle, and maintain the pitch distance between centers bv 
 means of clasping split bearings, cast on the dynamo frame, about the axle itself, d'his 
 practice is not at all desired by railway managers, and rightly so. Aside from the trouble 
 of installation, the liability to an overheated bearing in the center of the prime factor of 
 the train’s safety, the car axle, is a very serious objection. Railway men already have 
 sufficient trouble with bearings that are essential, to })reclude enthusiasm in the incor- 
 poration of those which may be a\’oided. 
 
 9 
 
T ill: I)\XAM(). A picture of the dynamo is shown on page 24. It is built on 
 the enclosed lines of a railway motor. Its immunity from mechanical damage is 
 illustrated from the fact that these dynamos have been recovered from railway wrecks 
 in perfect working condition. They are as e.xempt from mechanical injury from 
 without as a block of cast iron, and have withstood the test of time and wear by being 
 subjected to e.xtreme conditions which no electric machines, not even excluding railway 
 motors, have ever been called upon to endure. On trains making transcontinental trijis 
 the dynamos have within a few hours passed through deep snow, regions of severe frost, 
 been subjected to the sharp, penetrating alkali dust and grit of the plains, been ex- 
 j){jsed to dampness and moisture, and under these trying conditions have for three 
 years stood the test. 
 
 Electrically the dynamo is different from any machine that has ever been con- 
 structed. It is so designed as to maintain a pressure of from thirty-two to forty volts, 
 ]u-o{wrtioned to the sj^eed. This enables the dynamo to be switched in circuit after the 
 train has attained a speed of, say, ten miles an hour, and to give a uniform pressure 
 to the lamjis for any speed exceeding that amount, no matter how much that speed 
 may vary. It is to the ingenious and careful development of this feature that the system 
 owes much of its success. 
 
 10 
 
The dynamo is self-exciting, means being 
 magnetism so that it invariably builds up promptly 
 de\'ices of any kind are placed beneath the car in 
 connection with the dynamo. Devices of this 
 character must of necessity be placed in a more 
 protected position. The dynamo is installed once 
 and for all under the car, requires no further 
 attention than the oiling of its bearings from time 
 to time, and, for the sake of precaution, periodical 
 inspection. The dynamo is self-oiling, and a single 
 supplv of oil will suffice for a run of from five 
 hundred to seven hundred miles. 
 
 I CITBOX. d'he outj)ut of the dynamo 
 is brought up to a switch-box which controls 
 and distributes it. This switch-box, illustrated 
 herewith, is a small locked box placed within the 
 car, and is intended to be opened only by the 
 
 r I 
 
 pro\'ided for ju'eserving the residual 
 and surely. No switches or automatic 
 
 CAR SWrrCH-KOX 
 
propL'r inspector at the termini (jf the road. As far as the car attendants are concerned, 
 it is entire!}' automatic, they having only to turn on and off the lights and clean the 
 globes and shades. From the illustration of the switch-box it will be noted that an 
 
 ammeter is ])rovided, which shows at a glance the amount of current coming from the 
 generator. 
 
 d'he action of the switch-box can be best understood by following the train 
 
 through a cycle of changes of speed. The car is at rest, and the switch-box has switched 
 
 the dynamo out of circuit and the lights are being supplied at thirty volts by the storage 
 batteries. I'he car starts, and as it gains speed the dynamo voltage builds up, and 
 
 when it has reached a potential above that of the lamps it is switched in multiple with the 
 storage battery and the lamj^s. The lamps, however, are prevented from recei\’ing more 
 than thirty volts by means of resisfance which is switched in their circuit at the same 
 instant. Thus the load jDasses smoothly from the storage battery to the dynamo without 
 a flicker, and the dynamo suj^plies the lamps and charges the batteries. This condition 
 will obtain as long as the car is going at a speed exceeding ten miles an hour. If the 
 car slow down below this speed the dynamo is cut out. At this time it is delivering 
 no current whatever, and, consequently, there are no arcs at the switch jaws. In fact, 
 all the automatic switches are so arranged that it is impossible for them to open while 
 
are carrying current. I'liis entirel\’ eliminates arcing, and is one reason why these 
 automatic switches require no attention from \ear's end to \'ear'> end. Arcing i^ a 
 
 fatal defect. 
 
 Q !'( )RA(;if hATVURY. The 
 storage battery used in this system 
 is the best that the market affords, and 
 its location beneath the car may be 
 noted in the illustration on page 26. It 
 is interesting to note that the conditions 
 under which batteries are operated bN’ 
 this Company are conducive to an ex- 
 ceedingly long life. In the first place, 
 the battery is being continually charged 
 and discharged, and it is a primary rule 
 with the storage battery that to keejj it 
 healthy it must be used. Current is 
 taken from the battery under the most 
 
 S.MUKl NO COM HARTiM KXT 
 
fa\-c)rable conditions, that is to say, the battery is never fully discharged before the 
 dynamo takes hold and charges it again. More often before a tenth of the charge has 
 been used the dynamo starts up, relieves the storage battery of its load, and recharges 
 it. Thus the battery is worked at such times as it is able to deli\'er its charge at a 
 hio;h efficiencv, and it is in this condition that it is best able to stand either use or abuse. 
 
 The three great evils which beset a storage battery are : 
 
 1. Too rapid discharge; that is to say, a call for more current than the battery 
 can safely supply, a condition which can never occur with this system, because the 
 number of lamps is never greater than the battery can safely carry. 
 
 2. Too rapid charge. This contingency is also provided against by means of the 
 design of the dynamo, the j)ressure of which can never rise above fort\' volts, no matter 
 how fast it may be driven, and at forty volts the battery can never receive charge at 
 to(j raj)id a rate. 
 
 3. Neglect; that is to say, allowing the battery to stand for a long period of time 
 without charge or attention. As the battery is charged almost every time the car is moved 
 it may safely be said that neglect is impossible. 
 
 If the storage battery is thus continually charged and discharged it will last an almost 
 indehnite period. In central station work there are cases where batteries have lasted ten 
 
years and are apparently in as good condition 
 as when first installed, this performance being 
 largely due to the treatment of continually 
 charging and discharging. In our system of 
 train li^htino- the battery is automatically 
 treated in this way to a greater degree than in 
 any other application of the storage battery 
 of which we are aware. In the three years of 
 our coniuicrcial existence ^\e have not been 
 asked to replace batteries because of deteriora- 
 tion through use. 
 
 T iik lamps. An incandescent lamp 
 is a simple and familiar object, but a 
 word or two in connection with the lamps 
 which are used in this system may serve to 
 show a feature of merit, d'hey are operated 
 and have a short, stumpy filament which is 
 
 15 
 
 at thirty volts, are of sixteen candle-power, 
 not affected by the vibration that obtains 
 
on railway cai>. I'hc loner, delicate, hierh-\oltaere filaments used in street railway work are 
 
 >000 •' 
 
 frec[uently broken b\ the x’ibration, and it has been a great problem with lamp manufacturers 
 
 to produce a suitable lamp for this purpose. On the 
 low-N’oltage system this difficulty disappears. The 
 lamps are of surprisingly long life. In a trans- 
 mission or distribution systeni where the wire con- 
 struction is extended, or in a street railway car 
 where the yoltage is necessarily high, high-yoltage 
 lamps must be used; but in this system of train 
 lighting we are enabled to use a low x'oltage, be- 
 cause the length of wiring is so short that the 
 loss is insignificant. 
 
 I.AVATOKV 
 
 T ut: li(;htin(; distribution. 
 
 It is not necessary to dwell extensiyely on 
 this point, d'he necessaiw bunching together t)f 
 gas jets or oil lamps in the center of the car pre- 
 sents disadxantages easily ox'ercome by electric 
 
wliich may be so distributed that ever\' part of tlie car i^ ampl)' and e\’en!y lighted, 
 as may be seen in illustrations on pag'es 27, aS and 29. With the other methods it i^ 
 well known that some seats are dark, while those adjacent to and in front of the chan- 
 deliers are fairly well lighted. It is recognized that dining, boudoir and ])rivatc cars 
 can onh' be lighted in every part by means of electricit\'. 
 
 To reall)- appreciate the distribution of electric lights in a railway car one must 
 make a practical e.xamination by traveling in the car, and especialh’ b\' reading in it, 
 but a partial idea may perhaps be obtained b}’ illustrations on pages 27 and 2S, which 
 show the interior of cars ec|uipped with our s)’stem. 
 
 It may be mentioned that with this s^’stem electric fans may be used, which 
 much assist in the ventilation of the car and are so great a comfort to passengers in 
 the heated season. 
 
 Wdth the electric system as supplied by this Company, the cars are each pi'oxided 
 with from se\'enteen to eighty lights of sixteen candle-power each, and with from two to 
 eight electric fans, according to the character of the car, thus in all cases j)ro\’iding more 
 light than any oil or gas system, with an air circulation not otherwise provided, and at 
 a minimum cost of maintenance. 
 
I XDIiPIiNDENT OPERATION. A feature of value in this electric system 
 is the independence of each car. A complete equipment is provided on every car, 
 thereby rendering it as independent of its adjoining car as if the lighting were performed 
 with oil or gas, but in addition to this advantage the equipments are so designed that 
 in case of teiuporary interruption to the lighting equipment of one car a connection may 
 be made with the next car, which will supply the lights for both. Failure of supply 
 in an oil or gas system usually means darkness for the car affected. 
 
 C ( )S I ()P ()PERAIIN(j I HIS S\SdEM. Since installing our first com- 
 mercial orders, some three years ago, we have endeavored to collect data as to 
 the cost of operating our system, every facility having been kindly afforded by the 
 railroad companies to collect actual practical figures. The items of interest and depre- 
 ciation are clearly ascertainable. Renewals are confined to broken shades and exhausted 
 lam})s, and still more occasionally, a new set of brushes for the dynamo. Oil for lubri- 
 cating the generator bearings, and the item of inspection, can also be exactly defined. 
 .\s to the cost of power, which might be compared to the item of oil in lamps or gas 
 in gas systems, we have had great difficulty in obtaining data other than theoretical. 
 It is possible to assume a coal economy per horse-power hour and to calculate the 
 
 i8 
 
horse-power hours from the indications 
 
 KOUDOIK 
 
 of the electrical instruments and thus obtain 
 a theoretical figure, but when attempts ha\e 
 been made to discover an additional amount 
 of coal burned, on account of the electric 
 lights, it has been found impossible of com- 
 putation. All roads have re}3orted that, as 
 far as they are able to determine, there has 
 been no additional expense for coal on account 
 of the electric lights. This apparent absurdity 
 is readily explained when it is remembered 
 that an average high-speed passenger locomo- 
 tive has a capacity of about one thousand 
 horse-power, and as each car uses for electric 
 lights something less than two horse-]X)wer, 
 and the total power consumed for lights is 
 therefore but two-tenths of one per cent, of 
 the power generated in the locomotix'e furnace, 
 the difficultv of obtaining data can be readiK' 
 
 '9 
 
appreciated, especially as the carelessness in firing, the \'ariation in the different grades 
 of coal used, the setting of the \'al\'es, and even the stiffness of engine or train bear- 
 ings, cause variation in the power used. Practical experience, therefore, so far as the 
 books of the companies using our system are concerned, shows the items of expense 
 to be limited to interest, depreciation, renewals and inspection, and in every case the 
 total cost to the railroads has been less than that of any oil or gas system supplying 
 one-half of the candle-power afforded by our equipment. 
 
 D ANf'xHR FRO.M FIRE. An eminent authorit^’ answers the question as to 
 whether the electric light is safe and reliable as follows : 
 
 “ The electromotive force of the current employed is so low that a child could 
 suffer no harm from it. 'I'here is no reason why the same safety which characterizes 
 its use in stationary practice should not attend its use in lighting trains. The experience 
 in train electric lighting, too, has now been extensix'e enough to make the fact that no 
 casualties ha\'e thus far occurred from it one of some importance." 
 
 P ATI^N'I'S. Th e system is thoroughly protected by United .States and foreign 
 patents owned or controlled by this Company, and all contracts fully prox’ide for the 
 protection of clients. 
 
P RAC riCAL RESlA;rs, 
 
 The application of this sys- 
 tem in trunk line railways has 
 l)een pro(iucti\e of much interest- 
 ing and valuable data. Since ful- 
 filling our first order, the ojicra- 
 tion of the e(|uipments has been 
 watched thi'ough almost every con- 
 ceivable practical condition, from 
 a twelve-mile surburban run to a 
 railway wreck. As a to pical case, 
 the cars were thrown down an em- 
 bankment, and those cars e(|uip])ed 
 with electric lights, instead of being 
 in darkness, as were the others, 
 remained lighted, being sujijilied 
 by the storage batterv ; and their 
 light greatb' aided in the recox'ery 
 
 niSTKI I'.U'IION Oh l.|i;ni' IN I Ik AWI N( ; KdilM ()l I'KINAl'l CAK 
 
of the injured and in the clearing away of the wreckage. The dynamos and batteries 
 were found to be uninjured. 
 
 W'e have recently learned of some complaints of so unique a character that we 
 x'cnture to relate one. On a certain prominent road our equipments are installed and 
 run in connection with cars otherwise equipped; the conductors complain that they 
 want all electric light or none, for the reason that the electricallv lighted cars are 
 always o\'ercrowded, the passengers standing in the aisles rather than taking seats in 
 those lighted by oil or gas, thus interfering with rapid ticket-punching. 
 
CAR PLATFORM LIGHTING 
 
I i.i';( 'i'Rii AXi.i', I ic.irr and rowi-.k comi-aw (;KM;KAr()K 
 
 SIDi; AN’I) F.XI) VIKW 
 
 2 A 
 
CI'.XKKATOR Al>I>Lli;i) To A CAR AND TRICK 
 
rill', i!.\ri'i:KN- lujx is i.ocatkd to the left of the truck at kkhit of the picture 
 
I IISTRIBUTIOX OK LKIHT I ,\ I’ASSENGKR OOA( 'I1KS 
 DELAWARE, I.AC K A W A N X A AXD WESTERN R. K. 
 
I )ISIKI IH'IION ol- I, Kill 1 l\ CHAM-; CAKS 
 A'l ( 'll ISON, Tol'KKA AND SAN'l'A KK K. K 
 
1 ilS'l'kl Hl'TK iX <i|- IK. Ill' IN I'Sl'. IN I'. S. r(.)S'l'Al, ( ARS 
 
I'HH ELECTRIC REERIGERATION OE CARS 
 
 HE art of refrigeration from a commercial standj^oint, where it has 
 approximately attained perfection, is illustrated in the stationary artificial 
 ice plants which produce a dry, desiccated cold air. Ice, however, only 
 partially solves the problem of refrigeration. The humidity thrown ofl 
 by it often hastens the decay of the articles instead of preserving 
 them, and thus defeats the purpose which it was intended to ijerform. 
 Ifxperience has shown that perhaps the most destructive element in a tightly closed room 
 to both wood and metal is a wet, foggy atmosphere, such as is produced in a chamber 
 where ice is employed as a refrigerant. 
 
 C RUDENESS OE REERKdERATION CARS. The necessity of pro\ iding 
 refrigeration cars upon railroads for transporting perishable articles has been 
 the cause of creating a railway car service for this purpose which has grown to immense 
 
proportions. This service, notwithstanding its recognized im]3ortance, has ne\'er progressed 
 l)eyond its first crude inception and remains to-dav in an incompleted condition, e.xpensive 
 to install, co.stl)' to maintain and impractical)le in a climate where the temperature never 
 reaches the freezing point, precluding the harxesting of ice in the winter to be used for 
 refrigeration during the summer months. 
 
 An e.xamination of railroad car refrigeration as it exists to-day in its highest 
 efficiencv will disclose its crudeness. 
 
 iit: rhi'ri(;t:ratk)X car of the past. The most efficient 
 
 A refrigeration car, as it is used to-dax', is provided xvith ice chambers located in the 
 interior and at both ends of the car, taking uj) most valuable space — about one-sixth of 
 the entire interior of the car. Measuring the limited space offered in a car at its 
 cost, every cubic foot taken up by ice chambers is so much loss of valuable room. The 
 ice chambers are coated xvith expensive metal linings and conductors, which arc continually 
 reciuiring re])airs and are therefore expensive to maintain. In the roof of the car, ox-er 
 the ice chambers, hatches are constructed through xvhich these chambers are replenished 
 with ice xxhile the car is in transit; and xvhenever thev are opened, hot air passes into 
 the interior of the car and refrigeration is defeated. 
 
I'o counteract the effect of this injection of hot air, xalual^lc time and much 
 additit)nal ice is consumed. In tlie meantime the perishal^le articles within the car 
 have been subjected to a temporary flood of hot, damp air, and a risiny; temperature, 
 all of which is most injurious. At no time can a uniform temperature be maintained 
 within a car, for the reason that as the ice continues to melt, the quantity of the refrigerant 
 is lessened and the temperature rises until more ice is added, when the temperature 
 droj)s back to a lower ])oint. Upon the arrival of the car at its destination, some ice 
 still remains within the bo.x, which is generally allowed to remain there until it melts, 
 leaving in the box a residue of slime which has to be removed at considerable expense 
 before the car can be used again. The injury to this class of car, by reason of the 
 necessity of continual icing, makes it perhaps the most expensixe to maintain of an_\' 
 car in the serxice of a railroad company. 
 
 The next })oint of objection to the icing system is the necessity of erecting ice 
 houses along the route where the ice, during the winter, has to be stored. 1 he cost 
 of taking it from the houses during the summer months and jdacing it in the cars 
 is very heax’y. A svstem where natural ice is employed cannot be maintained in the 
 Southern States and Mexico, where ice is a luxury and onh' artificially produced at 
 great expense. 
 
In the icing system there is also the disacK’antage of delay, because of icing the 
 cars while in transit; and one of the most objectionable features is the dead weight placed 
 upon these cars by the ice itself, which averages from Sooo to 12,000 pounds per 
 car, for which the railroad companies receive no compensation and which necessitates 
 additional expense in the construction of the cars. Moreover, the drippings from the 
 cars, being largely charged with salt, are destructive to the steel of the railroad tracks 
 and in the bridges. 
 
 O BJIlCIIONS I() IIIK ICIN(t SYS! IiM. The objectionable features 
 of refrieferation cars now in use mav be summarized as follows: 
 
 1 . 
 
 2 
 
 o- 
 
 4 - 
 
 5 - 
 6 . 
 
 7 - 
 
 <s. 
 
 \biluable space taken up by the ice chambers. 
 
 Crude method of refrigeration. 
 
 Instability of refrigeration. 
 
 Continuous labor attached thereto. 
 
 Expensi\'e construction of the cars. 
 
 Excessive cost of maintenance. 
 
 Enormous dead weight carried by the railroads. 
 
 Destruction of steel in tracks and bridges caused by salt drippings. 
 
 34 
 
T I I II R\ AN S\SIIlM. The system of refrigeration owned by tlie Electric 
 Axle Light and Power Company is known as the “ Ryan System.” This system, 
 after being fully and thoroughly tested by the best experts, has pro\en a practical 
 success beyond all c|uestion. 
 
 In this system the cars have no ice boxes, and every foot of space in the 
 cars is utilized for the carryino; of freight. Illustrations of one of these cars with 
 which a complete test was made during the past summer are shown on p^iges 30 
 and 41. d'he refrigerant generated by this system is cold, dry, desiccated air, wh.ich 
 is the highest preservative of [perishable articles. This refrigerant is produced by 
 electricity taken from the axle of the car while in motion, the axle generating about two 
 horse-power, of which about sixty per cent, is employed by the process, the remaining 
 forty [Per cent, being stored in storage batteries within the car, to be used while the 
 car reupains idle. Pv thus storing the surplus [power, a car starting, say, from Chicago, 
 destined to New York, will, upon its arrival, hax’C stored sufficient [power within itself 
 to maintain the refrigerant for at least three days. 
 
 In addition to the storing of this sur[plus electricity, to be used when the cal- 
 ls not in motion, there is also an apparatus, as shown in the accom[panying illustra- 
 tion, marked Cdgures i and 2, whereby the excessive cold is lodged in tanks of brine 
 
compound, whicli surround the 
 pipes marked 7> and D in tlie 
 illustration, reducing- the brine to 
 a temjierature of i<S° and 20° 
 Fahrenheit, which throws off this 
 stored cold graduall}- when the car 
 is stationary and not producing 
 acti\'el\’ its own refrigerant. 
 
 E LIiCd'RIC CAR COX- 
 SI 1\L Cl I( )X. The con- 
 struction of the car is such that 
 the motive power which produces 
 the refrigerant is taken from the 
 car axle, when in motion, and from 
 the storage batteries when sta- 
 tionary. -Should the car remain 
 idle, say, for one month, and all 
 
 Fig.I. 
 
 Inventor 
 Thomas J. Ryan 
 
the electricit}' stored in the batteries become exhausted, the batteries can be (|uickl)' and 
 cheajily recharged from a stationary plant until the car again goes into serx'ice and 
 uenerates its own electricity. 
 
 Ifach car is independent of the other; each has its own motix'c and refrigerant 
 making power, being dependent upon no other means foi‘ either generation or motion 
 except that which it maintains b\' and through itself, thereby rendering each car read\’ 
 for use when it is sidetracked as well as when it is in motion. The mechanism is 
 simple, o})erates automatically, and produces an intensely cold atmos])here within the 
 car e\en in the hottest weather of the warmest climate. 
 
 d'he refrigerant generated can be maintained continuously within one oi' two 
 degrees of any desired point. In the icing process, under the best conditions, the 
 lowest teniperature that can be produced and maintained is about 42° h'ahrenlieit. 
 Under this system a temperature as low as 20° b'ahrcnhcit can, if desired, be produced 
 and maintained in any climate. 
 
 Referring to the details of construction under this system, the cars ha\e no 
 hatches in the roof, thus eliminating one of the most objectionable features in all 
 other refrigeration cars. In the operation of this system there is no delay in transit; 
 there is no ex])ense for maintaining the car aboye the ordinary; there are no gaKanized 
 
iron ice boxes which invariably require expensive maintainance. There is no slime to 
 be remoxecl from the car, at heavy expense, before being again used. The cars equipped 
 with this system can be utilized at all times and are ready for service irrespectix'e of 
 time and place of loading. This system entirely eliminates the necessity of the harx-esting 
 and storing of ice for car refrigerating purposes, and the vast labor and expense attached 
 thereto. The xveight of the mechanism employed by this system is about three thousand 
 pounds as compared xvith an average of from eight thousand to txvelve thousand pounds 
 required xvhere ice is used. 
 
 d'he cost of the icing system is very high, not only from its maintenance point of 
 viexv, but also from the refrigerant used, averaging from fifteen to txventy dollars per 
 car per one thousand miles, xvhereas the cost of the refrigerant under this system 
 will not ax’erage over txventy-five cents per car per one thousand miles, and the cost of 
 maintenance nominal. 
 
 XTIiRI RRPORl ()N I HIl R\ AN S\SIKi\I. The folloxving report 
 
 ^ ^ made by a competent expert of a test of one of the cars of this system xvill be 
 read xvith interest: 
 
liuFKAi.o, X. X^oveniber 15. 1899. 
 
 Mr. 'I'nos. I. Rvax, 
 
 40 Wall Street, New York City. 
 
 J)carSir : — I have had a great deal of e.vperience in handling and starting ditlerent mechanical 
 enterprises, but never, in my recollection, has any one of them started out so satisfactorily as the refrigerating 
 system shown in your car. 'I'he general behavior of the installation was perfect in every detail and recjuired 
 no adjustment whatever during the entire trip. I would have no hesitancy in loading the car and starting 
 it across the continent, without an attendant. We made a light test at the brewery the night before 
 we left Chicago. Everything seemed to be working perfectly. \\'e took the passenger train, as you suggested, 
 to Rellaire, Ohio; the car arrived about 7 A. M. 'Ehe temperature in the car registered 38 h ahrenheit. 
 The pressure on the machine was equalized and registered sixty pounds. We again started on our trip 
 about 8 A. M. I kept a record of the entire trip and will make it out in detail when 1 reach XTw ^ ork. 
 The outside temperature during the day was from 68° to 70° Fahrenheit ; the temperature of the car 
 was gradually reduced, and after a ten-hour run registered 30° Fahrenheit or two degrees below freezing. 
 I am satisfied that had the car been filled with beef or any similar freight, the results would have been 
 even better ; I am also satisfied that a continuous further run of ten or twelve hours would, had the regu- 
 lator been so set, have reduced the temperature to about 20° Fahrenheit. 'I'he entire results were far better 
 
 than I had hoped for, and instead of coming within 20 degrees of perfection, which you said would be 
 satisfactory, we have touched the one hundred mark, and I assure you that I am more than jrleased with the 
 results, and hope that you will be equally pleased on receipt of this. I am ver)’ truly yours, 
 
 (.Signed) (1. F. 1!kix. 
 
 P. S. All the machinery was subjected to several severe tests during the trip. W e made stops 
 as long as an hour at a time, during which we drew from the batteries. W'e were also subjected to a number 
 of severe bumps : one in particular where the train broke in two ; as the two separated portions came together 
 
 we all experienced a terrible shock, but it made no difference whatever with the running of the machiner\' 
 
 in the car, nor did it strain one joint in the entire plant. (Signed) (F h. 11 . 
 
 30 
 
Iniiun'ieraljle attempts ha\’e been made in the past to accomplish wliat this 
 system lias demonstrated to be entirely practicable. Past failures have resulted from 
 the fact that no car has ever heretofore been desioned which was automaticallv refrige- 
 rated or which did not ha\'e to depend, for its generative power, upon an impracticable 
 source, and without provision for power when the car was at rest; therefore, when the 
 car was sidetracked, idle, or in case of a railway wreck, its freight was subjected to 
 too great a risk of destruction to make the system acceptable. All the objectionable 
 features of the icing system of car refrigeration, which have ne\’er heretofore been ob- 
 x’iated, hax'e been entirely and successfully overcome by the system owned by this Com- 
 pany, which is now offered to the patrons of refrigeration cars. 
 
 Comjmny offers to intending purchasers, upon application, all essential 
 details reirardino- its electric li^htinc: and refri«:eration svstems not afforded bv this 
 pam])h]et, and places at the disposal of railway officials complete equipments, as 
 erected in the testing rooms of its Engineering Department. 
 
 ELECTRIC AXLE LIGHT AND POWER CO. 
 lanuarv 15, 1900 No. 100 Proadwav, New York City. 
 
 40 
 
r 
 
 ■i ;■ 
 
 
 
 i- 
 
 
 *