Buffalo & Lockport Electric Railway transmission line

The Buffalo and Lockport Electric Railway.

BY O. E. DUNLAP.

THE cities of Buffalo and Lockport, N. Y., are now connected by an electric railway, the service on which is very similar to that afforded by the Buffalo & Niagara Falls Electric Railway Company between Buffalo and the Falls. The company owning the line between Buffalo and Lockport is known as the Buffalo & Lockport Railway Company, and the men interested in the company are prominent in the line running to the Falls. The president of the road is Hon. W. Caryl Ely, who is also president of the Buffalo & Niagara Falls road. The general manager of the new line is Burt Van Horn, who occupies a similar position on the Buffalo-Falls road. The superintendent is C. K. Marshall, he being also superintendent of the other line mentioned. This makes plain that the interests of the two electric roads are mainly identical and that in many ways they will contribute to the success of each other.

Transformer Room, Buffalo & Lockport R. R.

The cars of the Buffalo & Lockport Railway are at present operated over the tracks of the Buffalo & Niagara Falls road from North Tonawanda to Buffalo, but very recently the Buffalo, Kenmore & Tonawanda line has been purchased by one interested in the Buffalo & Lockport road, and it is the general expectation that in the very near future the Buffalo-Lockport cars will have an independent entrance into Buffalo over the tracks of the line so secured. From North Tonawanda to Lockport the cars are operated over the old branch of the Erie road, which has been leased and transformed from a steam to a trolley road, this being the first transformation of the kind in Western New York. For this reason it has attracted much attention.

The distance from Buffalo to Lockport over the route is about 25 miles, North Tonawanda being situated about midway between the two terminal cities. The rails used on the Erie line were 60-pound, and it was found necessary to relay about one mile of track two miles west of Lockport, and in this work 80 pound rails were used. The contract for the reconstruction of the Erie branch was awarded to J. G. White & Co., and Mr. John A. Wilson had charge of the work for them. From North Tonawanda to Lockport the line has a single track, with turnouts at Martinsville, Pendleton Centre and one a short distance west of Lockport. It was necessary to bond the track, and in this work two gangs were employed, one working days and the other at night. A three- inch horseshoe bond, with No. 0000 wire, was used underneath the rail. About twenty days were consumed in this work.

Cars Passing at Pendleton Centre, Showing Type of Station, B. & L. R. R.

In carrying out the contract Mr. Wilson used a construction train consisting of an engine, three flat cars and a caboose. The wire was strung with the train in motion, the wire being laid on the cross arms of the poles from the end of a boom on one of the cars. Each day about five miles of wire was run out and laid. The trolley wire is suspended from a double line or poles set 88 feet apart. On the poles on the north side of the track two 500,000 c. m. feeder cables are strung. On the south side of the right of way poles have been erected for a power transmission line from North Tonawanda to Lockport.

The poles of the transmission line are set 100 feet apart and three No. 0000 wires run along over the single cross-arm placed on them. The porcelain insulators used are the same as in service on the Buffalo-Niagara Falls power transmission line. The tops of all poles are 22 feet above the track. For about three quarters of a mile in North Tonawanda the trolley wire is suspended on an arm support. Niagara power is being used to operate the road, the connection between the two transmission lines being made in North Tonawanda. The plan of the company is to feed the Lockport end from the transformer station in Lockport and the westerly end from a transformer station located in North Tonawanda.

Ten Miles of Track As the Crow Flies, B. & L. R. R.

Many advantages were secured by the Buffalo & Lockport Railway Company in their very clever move in leasing the old Erie branch from North Tonawanda to Lockport. It assured them of a splendid right of way, a recognized route of travel, well-built suitable stations, a good freight and milk business, etc. In order to handle the freight business to which they have fallen heir, they have purchased two electric locomotives from the General Electric Company. Each of these locomotives weighs 45 tons and is equipped with four No. 55 motors. They have a guaranteed speed of 15 miles an hour and have pulled as many as 28 loaded cars over the line. A significant feature of these locomotives is that they are identical with the locomotives to be made by the General Electric Company for the underground railway service in London, England.

The Buffalo & Lockport Railway Company have 10 cars, two of which are combination baggage and passenger and eight combination smoker and passenger. The color of the cars is yellow, exactly like the cars of the Buffalo & Niagara Falls road. Each car is fitted with four No. 57 motors, with a rated capacity of 52 h. p., the total horse power to each car, therefore, being 208 h. p. The Brill Company, of Philadelphia, built the cars.

45-Ton Electic Freight Locomotive, B. & L. R. R.

The speed over the line is quite a little faster than that made by cars on the Buffalo & Niagara Falls road, and the time consumed in running from Lockport to Buffalo is a little over an hour. It is the company's intention to give a half-hour service between the two points. Under the Erie management four passenger trains were run each way every day between Buffalo and Lock port, and it is apparent that the electric cars will afford a better service. There was one freight a day between North Tonawanda and Lockport, and this the electric locomotives can easily surpass if necessity requires. A valuable feature of the company's rights is that it controls the Lock City road, and, under a franchise granted by the Common Council of that city, it has the right to handle freight through that city over the tracks of the local road between the hours of II p. m. and 5 a. m. The lease of the Erie gives unlimited freight rights at all times. Lockport is a city where considerable manufacturing is done, and considerable of the freight to and from these establishments will pass over the Buffalo & Lockport Railway Company's tracks.

The company has constructed a brick car barn in the rear of the Lockport depot, where their cars will be kept. In this building the transformer room is located, as well as a convenient workshop. In the transformer room two 500 h. p. rotary converters, static transformers and the necessary switchboards have been installed by the General Electric Company. The switch board has three panels and is of blue marble.

The possibilities of the cars making a rapid run over the line between North Tonawanda and Lockport is enhanced by the fact that for over 10 miles the track runs in a straight line, with not the slightest curve for that distance. The stations along the line from North Tonawanda east are Martinsville, three miles; Hoffman, four miles; Pendleton Centre, eight miles; Hodgeville, nine miles; Lockport, 13 miles. The road runs through a beautiful farming country, and the advent of the trolley is welcomed as the successor of the steam locomotive, because farmers recognize that there is less liability of their crops being destroyed by fires started by flying sparks from the locomotives. They also welcome a better passenger and freight service, and there is no doubt but that the road will become a factor of some consideration in placing their fruit on the market.

One of the ideal features of the construction of this new electric railway is the fact that it provides a right of way for a power transmission line from North Tonawanda to Lockport, and thus it is likely, in more ways than one, to become a material aid in developing various interests in Niagara county. Lockport is not so rich in power resources but that it is very pleased to feel the thrill of the industrial advancement consequent upon the presence of the transmitted power of the big generators in the central station of the Niagara Falls Power Company.

For many years Lockport has longed for an electric line from that city to the shore of Lake Ontario at Olcott, and it is understood that the men back of the Buffalo & Lockport road will build this line at an early date, they seeing in it the prospects of good travel, not from Lockport alone, but from the larger centres of population, Buffalo and Niagara Falls. The country through which it would run is rich in fruit and general farm produce, and the freight traffic would be an important item, while it would also afford a better passenger service to a large section of country through which only one railroad runs at present. The company also have in contemplation the extension of their line down along the Erie Canal to Middleport, Medina, Albion and other places between Lockport and Rochester. In fact, the time may not be far distant when it will be possible to ride from the Queen City to the Flour City on cars driven at a high speed by Niagara power.

It may be mentioned incidentally that Hon. W. Caryl Ely, who has thus given his energy to the development of a second great electric railway, is vice-president of the American Street Railway Association. He is a gentleman who has been attracted to the electric railroad field by a full and proper conception of the wonderful possibilities of development the electric road brings to a locality through which it is run. He was the chief promoter of the Buffalo & Niagara Falls road, which has won pleasing success. Mr. Ely is not a temporary star in street railway circles. He is of the first magnitude, and, to use his own words, has "come to stay.” In Burt Van Horn he has an able lieutenant, and it will be well worth watching the career of these two men in the electric railroad development.