before stated, of 12.3 miles, straight away from the power station. This work is made up as follows: from Berlin to New Britain, a distance of 3 miles, there is a complete double track electric road with two 100 pound third rails and four 74 pound service rails, all most carefully bonded as described above. From New Britain to Hartford, a distance of 9.3 miles, there is one complete electric track, with 100 pound third rail and 70 pound service rails, all carefully bonded, in addition to which we have connected to the service rails of the electric track the rails of the second track, paralleling this the entire distance, at various places, in order to get the benefit of whatever conducting power there might be in this track connected only by its fish-plates at the joints. As a result of this work, we are able to run two trains of 52 tons each on the New Britain and Hartford line with an average loss of but 261⁄2

FIG. 7.

per cent. The current output of the station at such a time averages about 300 amperes, with a maximum flow of about 700 amperes at a pressure of 600 volts. Of course, if the service were heavier, so that more cars would be required, it would, undoubtedly, be necessary to reinforce the third rail with feeders.

COST OF POWER.

In our Nantasket Beach station, we have installed two engine generator units of 800 h. p. and 550 k. w. capacity each. The steam is supplied by eight boilers of 200 h. p. rated capacity each. On heavy days, both these engines are required, but on ordinary days but one only, and this is not fully loaded; the average loads being perhaps onehalf the maximum.

In the Berlin station we have installed two engine generators of 1200 h. p. and 850 k. w. each. The steam is supplied by ten horizontal tubular boilers of 200 h. p. each. One unit only is required in the practical operation of all the cars on the Berlin and Hartford lines, and the average power output is hardly one-fourth of the maximum capacity.

In both stations, our aim has been not to follow out any engineering fads, but to provide apparatus proved by long experience to be of the most simple and durable character.

The details of piping and arrangement of steam apparatus have been so thoroughly described in the technical papers that it is unnecessary to refer to them here.

We are now running our Nantasket plant condensing and our Berlin plant non-condensing, the loads in the latter being too light to make condensing profitable.

In spite of the fact that these general conditions of operation do not point to a low cost of power, because of the fact that we are working neither station at anywhere near its full capacity, I suppose we are, as a matter of fact, producing power more cheaply than can be done in any power station in the country using coal as a fuel, the reason being that we are burning sparks. "Sparks," as we are accustomed to call them, are the half consumed coal dumped from the extension front of locomotives at the Company's various round-houses. Nevertheless, there is a great deal of steam generating value in these sparks, as we have found by experience, and they are being carried on the Company's cars to our stations at Berlin, Nantasket and Stamford, and charged to the electrical operation at the cost of freighting (including the usual profit to the Company for transportation), plus the cost of loading and unload ing, a total charge of seventy cents per ton delivered.

In order to burn these sparks, we are obliged, of course, to make some changes in the furnace arrangements, chief among which is provision for the introduction of live steam under the grates, forming a blower or forced draft as well as providing the water which, in decomposition, furnishes the oxygen and hydrogen gases which increase greatly and facilitate in combustion of half burned coal and add enormously to the furnace heat. We originally supposed that some form of shaking or self-cleaning grate would be necessary in burning sparks, but have found in practice that, with ordinary grates, together with the steam blower, there is no difficulty. In our experimental days, it was thought that it might be necessary to use a proportion of ordinary soft coal with the sparks, and did so for a while, but it was not long before our firemen were educated to burn sparks only with entire ease, and no other kind of fuel is now used by us. Of course, we have to use a greater weight of this half-consumed coal than would be the case with new coal, but still the economy is great, as a good quality of run-of-mine coal costs us, in Connecticut, about three dollars per ton delivered at the power station.

A few figures as to the cost of power at Stamford may be of interest. This station furnishes current for our street railway system at Stamford and for lighting our railroad stations with 350 incandescent lamps. We are operating one engine only, of 500 h. p. total capacity, direct connected to one 300 k. w. generator. In the boiler room are six 200 h. p. boilers. For the first six months of full operation with sparks only, the total cost of fuel for this station amounted to three mills per h. p. hour or four mills per k. w. hour. For so small a station, and one where the average amount of power developed is hardly more than one-third the rated capacity of the engine, I believe this to be a low figure. We have recently made, for our own information, for use in larger plants, special tests of the cost of power developed in this way, using for this purpose a water rheostat, in order to load the engine up to more nearly its full capacity. As a result of these tests, we find the cost of fuel for power, with the use of coal, to be 3.2 mills per h. p. hour or 4.2 mills per k. w. hour. With the use of sparks, the cost is reduced to 1.9 mills per h. p. hour or 2.5 mills per k. w. hour.

At our Nantasket power station this season, the cost of fuel, with the use of coal, has averaged 4.2 mills per h. p. hour or 5.6 mills per k. w. hour, while, with the use of sparks, the cost has been 2.1 mills per h. p. hour or 2.8 per k. w. hour.

As before stated, our Berlin plant has not been run as economically thus far as it will be when a greater load is put on the engines and it will seem to be in the interest of economy to run compound condensing. At this station, the cost of fuel, with the use of coal, has been nine mills per h. p. hour or twelve mills per k. w. hour. Using sparks as fuel has reduced this cost to three mills per h. p. hour or four mills per k. w. hour.

It is very difficult, of course, if not impossible, to make any direct comparisons between the cost of motive power for electric railroading and that for steam railroading, on account of the different way in which the trains are made up. The best criterion would be the cost of motive power per ton mile hauled, but even here the results would be of little value on account of the wide difference in conditions, and, as a matter of fact, we have never attempted to make such comparisons.

I have tried to give you, as briefly as possible, some of the results of the pioneer work which the New Haven Company has been doing in heavy electric railroading. They are roughly stated, and we cannot pretend that they are in any way conclusive as affecting general railroad practice. For ourselves, however, we have formed some definite ideas as to what is possible for us to accomplish, and our plans for the future are being made with great care by President Clark and the Board of Directors, with the intention of dealing with the new transportation conditions which confront us in a broad-minded and progressive way. It is felt that a great transportation agency of this character owes it to the public from which it has obtained its franchises, to furnish the best possible

service and to make the most of the natural advantages which it pos

sesses.

There will always be room, doubtless, for railroads of two characters, the one operating on a purchased right of way, where trespassers can be kept away and high speed obtained, and the other operating on streets and highways, where passengers can be taken up and let off at their own doors. It is possible that, in some thickly settled districts, such as are found in New England and the Middle States, where population groups almost touch each other, these two classes of service may occasionally be performed by the same agency, but there is no reason ordinarily, why there should not be the most amicable and friendly relations, and not infrequently of a business character, existing between steam railroad and street railway companies.

Respectfully submitted,

N. H. HEFT.

DISCUSSION ON REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON "APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY TO RAILROADS NOW OPERATED

BY STEAM POWER."

THE PRESIDENT-Gentlemen, you have heard the paper presented by Mr. Heft. What will you do with it?

MR. BEAN-I move that the paper just read be received and placed on the record, and a vote of thanks extended to Mr. Heft for the paper. Carried.

THE PRESIDENT-Mr. Heft has a great deal of information, undoubtedly, which is not contained in the paper, and he will be glad to answer any questions that you may ask him.

MR. PALMER, Fall River-I ask Mr. Heft what the cost he has given us represents the total cost of power, or cost of fuel only?

MR. HEFT-I stated plainly it was the cost of fuel only. MR. PALMER-Can you give us any figures which will show us the total cost of power per kilowatt hour or car mile ?

MR. HEFT- That cost would depend entirely on the conditions of your station. No two stations would have the same conditions. At Stamford you can notice that our power costs us a great deal less, because we are running nearer to the normal capacity of our engines. At Nantasket the economy is not so great; and at Berlin, where we are only running the high-pressure side of the engine, it costs a great

deal more.

This is true also of the labor. The labor where the large engines are costs more than it does with the small engines, as we are running away below our normal load. If we were running our Berlin station up to its normal capacity, we would show a greater economy in fuel and labor than in the other power stations, because there is a certain fixed. charge which we are subjected to at all stations, and the amount of that depends on the size of the station and the number of units.

MR. PALMER-I appreciate that what you say must necessarily obtain, but what I wanted to find out was, whether you had at hand or could give the cost for any one particular station?

MR. HEFT-We have that information in our office. I did not put it in this paper.

MR. PALMER-It seems to me that it would be very interesting for some of us who are operating street railway power stations to be able to compare our cost of production of power with the cost of production of power in those plants which have so recently been fitted up with everything of the latest type, and I should like to be able to compare some of the figures which we have made with some of those which the New York, New Haven and Hartford has been making in its stations. For instance, the total cost per kilowatt hour delivered at the switchboard, including all expenses which should properly come in-taxes, insurance, interest, labor, supplies and everything else chargeable to it.

MR. HEFT-I will say through you, Mr. President, to the members of the Association, that we will very gladly furnish any of this data that you ask for upon application at our office. We will supply any of our plans, maps or data sheets. We have nothing that there is any mystery or secrecy about, and we will be glad to place it at the disposal of any member of the Association. [Applause.]

THE PRESIDENT- I take it that your reply means that you have not these figures in your memory?

MR. HEFT-No, sir, I could not possibly carry the data in my mind.