| January 1900, No. 23 | The Railway and Shipping World (Toronto) | Page 27, col. 2 |
Ontario electric railways.
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Metropolitan Electric Ry.—The motion sought by the Attorney-General of Ontario to secure an injunction to restrain the junction of the C.P.R. & Metropolitan tracks at North Toronto came up in the High Court, Dec. 21. The injunction is asked for on the ground that its completion would make Yonge st., a public highway, a part of the general system of the C.P.R. Counsel for the M.E.R.Co. objected to the hearing proceeding & asked for an enlargement. He had not read the papers filed. He intimated that the action was instigated by the Toronto Ry. Co. Counsel for the Attorney-General denied that latter corporation had anything to do with the action.
Notice is given that application will be made to the Ontario Legislature for an act enabling the M.R.Co., to run its cars over the tracks of the Toronto Ry. Co. for the purpose of conveying passengers & other traffic to the Union Station, the water front, the city markets & the post office, & such other points in the City, & upon such terms as to traffic arrangements & the making of any necessary changes in the tracks of the Toronto Ry. Co. as may be necessary to accommodate the traffic of the M.R.Co., & as may be agreed upon between the companies, or, in the case the companies differ, as may be determined by the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Council.
The illustration on this page shows an electric locomotive built for the Co. by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. The general dimensions are:—gauge, 4' 8 1/2"; motors, 4 no. 38b., voltage 600; full load speed, 10 m.p.h.; drawbar pull, running 7,000 lbs., starting, 11,000 lbs.; diameter of drivers, 33 ins., wheel base, 6' truck, 18' total; journals 4 1/4"×8"; width, 7' 8"; length 21' 6"; height, 11' 9"; weight, 54,700 lbs. This is the 2nd electric locomotive is use on the line, & it is said to be capable of drawing a 30 ton car up a grade of 9 in 100. The M.R.Co. is said to have decided on further extensions northward from Newmarket, for which contracts are likely to be let soon.
The system of electrical distribution adopted by the M.R.Co. represents a new practice in the operation of street railways in Canada. This road is, we believe, the first in this country to employ both direct & alternating currents for the propulsion of cars, but the system will undoubtedly gradually grow in favor in connection with the operation of long distance lines. It has only recently come into use in the United States, the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Ry. being one of the first to be so operated. This road is divided into sections, each section, except the one contiguous to the power house, being operated from a sub-station containing an equipment of transformers & rotary converters, This is the method adopted by the M.R.Co., but a further step in advance has been taken, inasmuch as both direct & alternating current is generated by the same machine. The direct current passes direct from the generator to the line, & is employed to operate that portion of the road adjacent to the power-house. The alternating current, generated at low pressure, is stepped-up by means of transformers to a high voltage & transmitted to a sub-station 16 miles distant, where it passes through transformers & convertors & goes to the line at low pressure direct current for operating that portion of the road remote from the power-house. It is admitted that this system of electrical generation & distribution has many advantages, as, for instance, making at once available direct current for use in the 3-wire system without passing through auxiliary machines. The alternating current, however, in order to be suitable for service at a distance, must be raised in pressure by means of transformers. This system is, therefore, open to the objection—perhaps over-balanced by its advantages—that is necessitates an expensive station equipment because of the rotary converters & transformers required for changing the pressure & kind of current. There is reason to expect that this object will eventually be overcome in some way, probably by the introduction of machines capable of generating both direct & alternating current at the desired pressure, or, in other words, by high voltage alternating & low voltage direct current generators. This would obviate the necessity for auxiliary apparatus in the generating station. The certainty of the rapid extension of inter-urban electric railways in this country makes of paramount importance the question of the most practicable & economical system of operation.—Canadian Electrical News.