Oil electric cars, Canadian National Railways.

Another 60 ft. oil electric car, no. 15,882, has been turned out of the Canadian National Rys. Point St. Charles shops, Montréal, and placed in service Ottawa and Pembroke, Ont., on the Hurdman and Beachburg Subdivision, Ottawa and Capreol Divisions, Northern Ontario District, Central Region, 86.8 miles. Information as to where the two articulated cars and the first three 60 ft. cars turned out are operating has been given in preceding issues.

C. E. Brooks, Chief of Motive Power, Canadian National Rys., and A. E. L. Chorlton, of Wm. Beardmore and Co., who perfected the design of the engine used in these cars, addressed the Engineering Institute of Canada's Ottawa branch, on Nov. 25, 1925, concerning the cars and engines. Mr. Brooks explained the necessity of railways looking for light and cheaply operated equipment with which to meet the new forms of competition for traffic, and traced the development of the oil electric cars, telling why this design had been chosen in preference to gas electric and other types. He is said to have stated that the run of one of the 60 ft. cars from Montréal to Vancouver would have the effect of establishing in the minds of those who would operate the cars that they were foolproof and easy to operate and maintain; also that the fuel costs for the 60 ft. car were about 2¢ a car mile, compared with 23 or 24¢ a locomotive mile, and 13 or 14 lb. of coal a car mile. While not expressing undue optimism, he is reported to have said that he felt oil electric equipment will replace much present equipment of other types as it becomes obsolete, and that it will meet other requirements of the transportation world. He asked his hearers to realize that with these cars new fields of endeavor are being entered, and he invited constructive criticism.

Mr. Chorlton paid a tribute to Mr. Brooks' ability and energy and said the country is fortunate to possess men of his calibre. Concerning the engines in the cars, he is reported to have stated that they are patterned more closely after one developed by Ackroyd Stewart, which was patented two years before the Diesel, but which did not come into its own until the latter part of the war, and are therefore more English than the Diesel. The problem, he said, had been to get a light engine which would burn heavy oil at high speeds, it being necessary to burn a drop of oil in 1/144 second in each cylinder. Cylinder pressure range from 6,000 to 10,000 lbs. He did not ascribe his success with the engine, it is stated, to any God-given greatness of mind, but rather to the opportunities which came to him as a result of working along these lines, and to being on a committee concerned with submarine and aircraft engine development during the war. Describing the development of the engine, he said he and his associates had started out with studies of marine engines weighing from 200 to 300 lb. per h.p. developed, of how improved ones had been built to develop one h.p. for each 50 lb. of weight, and of how finally they had designed the present engine, weighing from 10 to 12 lb. per h.p. He also gave information as to the work the British Government is doing in the application of these engines to airplanes, and said that work is going forward on a 1,000 h.p. engine with a weight of 2 3/4 lb. per h.p. He stated that they could build engines of 3,000 h.p. for railway transportation, and concluded by expressing optimism as to the future of oil electric power for railway transportation and as to the success of the Canadian National's efforts along these lines.

Sir Henry Thornton, President, Canadian National Rys., is reported to have expressed great satisfaction with the oil electric car development, and to have said: This car seems destined to revolutionize railway operation in this country. I am particularly delighted with this development, because it has been the outcome of research and experiment by men of our own Canadian National system. Not only will this car do big things for Canada, but it has already attracted wide attention in the United States, a proof of which lies in the fact that the head of the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia and another prominent United States railway man are coming to Montréal to see me about this engine.

S. J. Hungerford, Vice President, Operation and Construction Departments, Canadian National Rys., is reported to have stated, shortly after the 60 ft. car completed the Montréal-Vancouver trip: It marked a step forward in the development of railway motive power which can be described by no other word than revolutionary. When after much thought and study we undertook to develop these oil electric cars, we were convinced we were working along the right lines in the creating of a type of motive power which would result in the solution of the vexing problems of thin branch line traffic and highway bus competition with which the first class roads of North American are faced today. We did not, however, allow our hopes to rise too high, and above all we did not make any extravagant claims for our invention. Severe tests on comparatively short runs in Eastern Canada proved to our complete satisfaction that we had not been incorrect in our deductions, as these more or less minor tests proved beyond doubt that we had evolved a motive power unit of such low fuel and maintenance cost as to be incomparably superior to any other type of motive power in use on railways. It was not, however, without some trepidation that we undertook to authorize the severe transcontinental test which the small oil electric car has so successfully completed. The report of that test makes it evident that by working along present lines, we can solve, through the oil electric car, not only interurban and branch line difficulties, but revolutionize transcontinental traffic as well. The results of this test trip make it evident that a single locomotive of this type could handle passenger trains clear across the continent without being relieved. Conceivably it could start with a sufficient supply of fuel to make the entire trip. It would result in fewer locomotives being required for a given train service, and it would eliminate delays in changing locomotives at terminals, and the taking on of coal and water en route, thereby making it possible to have shorter schedules. Furthermore, the employment of such locomotives would render it unnecessary to maintain water stations, and would greatly reduce the need of terminal facilities of various kinds, besides effecting economies in the cost of fuel. It would eliminate such vexations as smoke and cinders, and overcome all danger of property close to the right-of-way being set on fire by sparks from the locomotive. Taken all together, the indications point to the rapid development in the use of oil electric motive power on railways.

Railways: C.N.Rys.

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