PETROL-ELECTRIC TRAIN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 280, 23 May 1912, Page 3

PETROL-ELECTRIC TRAIN

A NOVEL CAR. A novel railway car driven by a combination of petrol and electric power attracted much interest at Marylebone station, where it was taken on a highly successful trial trip to 'South Harrow and back, running at an average speed of from thirty to forty mile an hour (says a Home paper). The car accommodates fifty passengers. This journey may prove to be epochmaking. Suburban railway traffic may be revolutionised almost immediately by the petrol-electric system, and the Great Central Railway electrical engineer, Mr. C. W. Neele, told a representative that he saw no reason why it should not be applied eventually to main line trains, in which case there would be no further need for coal for railway traction.

"A larger engine constructed on the same .principle could pull a full-length train,' 'said Mr. Neele. "As for the advantages as compared with the use of coal, only one man instead of two is required to drive the engine, and there is a considerable saving both in the cost of running and in fuel during the layover—that is, when the train is waiting in the station for passengers. "In the event of anything happening to the driver during a journey, the moment he releases his grip of the con-troller-handle the power would be automatically cut off."