The Metropolitan Railway Company, Toronto, Ontario, and its double-current system.
A new power plant has been constructed by the Metropolitan Railway Company, Toronto, Ontario, and the length of the railroad has been more than doubled. The track previously extended from Yonge Street, North Toronto, to Richmond Hill, a distance of 14 miles, with the power station at Deer Park. The tracks have now been opened from Richmond Hill to Newmarket, 30 miles from Toronto. The old power station has been entirely abolished and a new one constructed at Bond Lake, 18 miles from North Toronto and 12 miles from Newmarket, the present terminus of the line. There is also a sub-station, with rotary converters and transformers, at York Mills, 4 1/2 miles from North Toronto.
Fig. 1.—Exterior of power house at Bond Lake.
The railroad connects at North Toronto with all the tramway lines of the City of Toronto, and takes a northerly course in a straight line through the villages of Lansing, Glen Grove, Newton's Brook, Thornhlll, Richmond Hill, and Elgin Mills to Newmarket. The track is laid In a very substantial manner with 70-pound "T" rail, bonded, having the regular railway gauge of 4 feet, 8 1/2 Inches, as It Is Intended to connect with the Canadian Pacific Railroad at North Toronto for the Interchange of traffic. A Baldwin-Westinghouse electric locomotive, which will be described later on, will haul freight cars from the Canadian Pacific Railroad to and from all stations on the Metropolitan Railway Company's system. At present the district through which this railway passes is served by the Grand Trunk Railway only. The railroad ascends gradually from North Toronto for a distance of 22 miles to the summit of the divide or water shed which is between Aurora and Bond Lake, reaching a height of 1,400 feet above the level of the lake. From this point there is a gradual descent to Newmarket. The line follows a comparatively straight course, but there are several long grades, the steepest of which is eight per cent.
The contract for the building of the new power plant and the additions to the line was granted to the Imperial Lumber Company, Limited, Toronto, who employed the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company to supply the electrical plant and railway equipment. This contract comprised a new generating station and sub-station equipment, also motors for freight and passenger rolling stock and an electric locomotive.
The new power house, an exterior view of which is shown in Fig. 1, is at Bond Lake, 18 miles from North Toronto. The power house has been erected by the side of the lake, from which water for the boilers and condensers is readily obtained. The building is of brick with steel truss roof. One end of the building serves for the boiler house, the smoke stack abutting upon the western wall. Adjoining the boiler house and extending 10 feet beyond it on either side, Is the engine and dynamo room, containing two cross-compound condensing steam engines, belted to two 275-kw. Westinghouse double-current 60-cycle, three-phase generators running at 600 r.p.m., wound for 400 volts alternating current, and for 670 volts direct current. An Interior view of the power station is shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.—Interior of power house at Bond Lake, showing belt-driven double-current generators, switchboard and transformers.
The direct current supplies the local feeders, the alternating current being carried to the transformers and transmitted to the rotary converters in the sub-station at York Mills. The generators are designed to deliver and utilize their full rated capacity at the direct-current end or at the alternating current end, or the loads may be divided in any proportion between the two ends, as may be called for by the varying loads passing over the railway. Whether the demand be from local points near the power house requiring ordinary direct current delivered to the trolley line, or an extra demand arises for the• high voltage alternating current to the sub-station line, the generators will deliver automatically what is demanded up to their full rated capacity.
The generators are guaranteed to have an overload capacity of 15 per cent. For twenty-four hours with a rise in temperature not, to exceed 50 degrees C. above the surrounding air, and to carry 40 per cent. overload for two hours, or 50 per cent. overload for one-half hour without injurious heating and sparking.
Two exciters of the standard Westinghouse type have been belted to the ends of the generator armature shafts; they are of the four-pole type, compound wound, 125 volts, operating at 1,600 r.p.m. The alternating current from the generators is carried to four 125-kw. Westinghouse transformers of the self-cooling oil-insulated type, which are placed near the end wall of the power house. They are wound for 400 volts primary and 15,000 volts secondary, two of them being connected with each generator. The high-tension current is conveyed by overhead lines to the sub-station at York Mills.
Fig. 3.—Rotary substation at York Mills, Metropolitan Railway Co., Toronto.
The marble switchboard consists of eight panels, and occupies the end of the power house. The switchboard is arranged for the paralleling of the alternating current ends of the two generators, and also for the paralleling of the direct current ends of the two double-current generators, together with the two generators formerly used In the discarded power house of the company, which are to be rewound for present service.The equipment of the sub-station at York Mills, an exterior view of which is shown In Fig. 3, consists of four 100-kw. transformers similar to those in the power house, wound for 15,000 volts primary and 400 volts secondary, two for use with each rotary. The current is carried from the transformers to two 200-kw. rotary converters seen in Fig. 4, which transform the 60-cycle, three-phase, alternating current Into a 570-volt direct current for local distribution. The rotary converters and the transformers are designed to carry an overload of 25 per cent for twenty-four hours without a rise of more than 60°C., and to carry a 50 per cent overload for two hours, without injurious heating or sparking.
Fig. 4.—Sub-station at York Mills, showing rotaries.
It is proposed to make further extensions to the Metropolitan Railway Company's lines; one 13 miles in length is already under construction, extending from Aurora westward. The plans of the company anticipate a time when a large central power station will be necessary, and the present generators will then serve for rotary converters. This can be effected by removing the pulley and placing in its stead a starting motor, or bringing them up to speed by any other extraneous means, or as direct-current motors. The generators are equally serviceable for the supply of energy for Incandescent or arc lighting, and for power for polyphase induction or synchronous motors. The rotary converters at present are started by induction motors, placed on the shafts of the rotaries and supported on brackets. Upon the proper speed being reached as indicated by the synchronizer on the switchboard, the rotary's switch is thrown in and the machine maintains its own speed, the starting motor being then out of circuit.The generators at the central station and the rotary converters at the sub-station operate in parallel at both ends, and the generators are arranged to operate in multiple with the older direct-current machines previously used on the railway company's line when the latter shall be compound wound.
Ample protection against electrical storms has been provided by equipping the station with three Wurts lightning arrester outfits for 15,000 volts for the alternating current line and a Wurts railway tank lightning arrester outfit for the direct-current side. A good ground for the lightning arresters has been provided by a plate of No. 16 tinned copper, placed in a pond, which is connected by an almost straight wire with the arresters. One individual arrester has been connected with each direct-current panel of the switchboard.
The Metropolitan Railway Company has added to its rolling stock some freight cars, some of them of a heavier kind, equipped with four 38-B Westinghouse motors, also smaller ones with a double 49 Westinghouse equipment. They have also added single-truck passenger cars, and some 45-foot double-truck passenger cars with four-motor equipments.
The Metropolitan Railway Company is building up a considerable freight and express business, which it intends to increase in the near future and for that purpose has provided the electrically propelled freight cars mentioned above, which are engaged in carrying milk and farm produce to the City of Toronto, and general merchandise to the villages upon the road: The coal used at the central generating station has hitherto been trans-shipped at North Toronto into smaller cars, and hauled to the generating station by the trolley cars. The Metropolitan Railway Company has now added to its rolling stock a Baldwin-Westinghouse electric locomotive, which in the future will haul railway cars direct from the lines of the Canadian Pacific to all stations upon the system. By this means the cost of trans-shipment will be avoided, and farmers will be able to load their produce upon railway cars and have it conveyed without trans-shipment to any point in the United States. The Baldwin-Westinghouse electric locomotive shown in Fig. 7, has driving wheels 33 inches in diameter, and weighs 57,000 pounds. It Is equipped with four 38-B motors similar to those already mentioned. A complete air brake equipment has been provided for the locomotive, including a combined pump and motor, with capacity for five cars; and in addition an efficient hand brake to all wheels. The locomotive is designed to run at a speed upon the level of 35 miles an hour, hauling cars with an aggregate weight of 60 tons.
Fig. 7.—Baldwin-Westinghouse electric locomotive, weighing 57,000 lbs.