D.—4

8

although this would be an unusually fine performance. On the average it may be taken that 60-watt hour per ton-mile will be required from 12 units per 200-ton train-mile. It is thus obvious that the cost of power to the railway company, if it generates it in its own station, will considerably exceed the 3d. which we have allowed : and, in order to keep it down to this figure, current at the outside would have to be purchased at a price of about Jd. or at the most not exceeding Jd. Now, although electrical engineers very frequently mention their costs of production at under £d., it will nearly always be found that such figures are based upon insufficient capital charges, and the only way in which it is possible to obtain figures at all approaching the Jd. required is by having current generated upon such a large scale as would result from the combination of several railway companies, together with a large load for electric lighting and power purposes. It is doubtful if at the present time in London there are any stations producing current, taking all things, including capital charges, into account, at less than fd. per unit. It is obvious that the t;ost of power at the present time is a very important factor in the electrification problem. The above figures, of course, only give the actual running-costs. Another estimate of the comparative costs of the two systems is as follows: — Steam. Electric, d. d. Coal or equivalent electric power ... ... ... 7'25 5'15 Water ... ... ... ... ... ... 0'25 Train-crew ... ... ... ... ... ... 6-00 335 Maintenance ... ... ... ... ... 325 2'oo Supplies ... ... ... ... ... ... 0-25 o'lo Total per train-mile ... ... ... 1700 10'60 This assumes the consumption on the steam locomotive of 4 lb. to 5 lb. of coal, and at the electric power-house of 21b. of coal per indicated horse-power hour, taking into account the difference in tin- quality of the two coals, which would be a saving of about 50 per cent, in favour of electricity. Another of the savings which is important is that in repairs and maintenance, and the following estimate has been prepared to show this : — Steam. Electric. Per Cent. Per Cent, Boiler ... ... ... ... ... 20 0 Running-gear ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 20 Machinery ... ... ... ... ... ... 30 15 Lagging and painting ... ... ... ... ... 12 5 Smoke-box ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 0 Tender ... ... ... ... ... ... 13 0 Total ... ... ... ... ... 100 40 Extract from, the Railway Magazine for March, 1905. It would be interesting to know whether the directors and officers of the North-eastern Railway are satisfied with the results that have so far attended the electrification of a portion of the system. The accounts for the past half-year show that the receipts from passengers have increased about £9,000, whilst the cost of electric working has been £22,824. There is a saving of £42,386 in locomotive expenses, and a reduction of train-mileage amounting to 675,232 miles; of this, however, only 232,090 is saving on passenger-train running, so that only £14,500 of the reduced locomotive expenses can be charged as a saving on passenger account. The balance-sheet therefore works out like this: — Dr. £ Cr. £ To Cost of electric traction .. .. .. 22,525 By Additional passenger receipts (all credited-to Six months'interest on capital expended on electric traction) .. .. .. 9,157 cost of converting line (£241,376), and Saving on locomotive expenses .. .. 14,500 rolling-stock, 88 vehicles (say £44,000), at Loss on working for six months .. .. 10,875 4 per cent, per annum .. .. 5,707 Loss of first-class traffic, as shown by balance-sheet, because of accommodation not being provided on electric trains .. 6,300 £34,532 £34,532 The electric-train-mileage was 588,786, and the electric-car-mileage 2,189,571. The cost of running per electric-train-mile is almost lOd. The locomotive running-expenses per steam-train-mile amount to a trifle over BJd. per train-mile. Extract from the Railway Magazine, December, 1906. Just as, ten years ago, electric traction on tramways was creating great interest throughout the country, so now the application of the same system of propulsion for railway purposes is being seriously considered by most of our large railway companies. It still remains to be shown that it is cheaper than steam traction so far as long-distance lines are concerned ; but the writer considers there is little doubt that, for dealing with local traffic in the neighbourhood of large cities, the adoption of electric traction is an absolute necessity if tinrailways are to retain the traffic which is, so to speak, ready-made and only waiting greater facilities. *