Abstract
THE problems of electric traction on railways deserve special study at the present time. In the past, electrification has been adopted, as a rule, only when abnormal difficulties, such as the existence of a long tunnel, busy urban traffic, very steep gradients, or a very high price for fuel, had to be overcome. It will be remembered that, largely as the result of a tunnel accident attributed to an accumulation of noxious gases, the New York authorities insisted that practically all lines entering the city should be electrified. The underground railways of London, the Simplon tunnel, and the Belt line tunnel of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, electrified so long ago as 1895, are further examples. The Norfolk and Western Railroad, a heavy goods line, was electrified because of its long and steep gradients. For the same reason the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, which crosses the Rocky Mountains, had to electrify several of its sections. The development of electric railways in Switzerland, in Sweden, in Bavaria, and in Italy is mainly due to the high price of fuel in these countries.
Railway Electric Traction.
By F. W. Carter. Pp. viii + 412. (London: E. Arnold and Co., 1922.) 25s. net.
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Railway Electric Traction . Nature 110, 338 (1922). https://doi.org/10.1038/110338a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/110338a0