Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railway

Some Interesting Features of Aurora-

Elgin-Chicago Electric-Railway

Operation.

A representative third-rail interurban railway system is that of the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railway Company, which has the reputation of operating one of the most up-to-date electric interurban railways in the country. This system was described at length in the Western Electrician of December 1, 1902. Since that time, though no extensive changes have been made in the equipment outside of the addition of a third generator in the power house, the business of the company has increased rapidly and many innovations have been made which add to the comfort of the patrons of the road and make the service now the equal if not the superior of the best steam interurban service between the cities named in the corporate title of the company. The object of the present article is to consider the present work of the company and some recent steps it has taken in the way of furnishing power to farmers, the carrying of milk and newspapers, protection of the third rail from sleet, etc., together with a brief outline of the equipment of the system.

The Aurora, Elgin and Chicago third-rail line extends from Fifty-second Avenue, Chicago, west to Wheaton, Ill, a distance of 19 miles; this portion is double-tracked throughout. From Wheaton a single track extends in a southwesterly direction to Aurora, 14 miles. From Eola Junction, on the Wheaton-Aurora branch, a short line extends northwest to Batavia, at which point is located the one great power house of the system, which was erected and equipped at a total cost of nearly $1,000,000. Another limb of the line, also single track, extends northwest from Wheaton to Elgin, 16½ miles. The single-track portions of the road are provided with frequent sidings, and this, together with a strict operating schedule, gives uninterrupted service.

The tracks are built over private right-of-way, for the most part 60 to 100 feet wide. Cuts on the single-track portions are excavated to a width sufficient to allow of a double track when the time arrives for its construction. Eighty-pound rails with the A. S. C. E. section are used and the roadbed is constructed on the lines of the best steam-railway practice. The aim has been to limit all grades to one per cent. Fig. 3 is a view of a portion of the double-track construction.

The Chicago terminal is a transfer station for connections with the Garfield branch of the Metropolitan West Side (elevated) railway. Two-car trains leave Fifty-second Avenue every half hour for Wheaton, when they divide, one car going to Aurora, the other to Elgin. On the return trip the cars meet again at Wheaton and the two are together to Chicago. To give an idea of the speed which is maintained on this road it may be interesting to note that a car recently made the trip from Aurora to the Fifty-second Avenue station, a distance of 33 miles, in 34 minutes. This included seven stops. Cars have been frequently run for short distances at a speed of over 70 miles an hour. The traffic is handled by telephone train-dispatching system, the head train dispatcher being located at Wheaton.

The power house, located at Batavia, is shown in Fig. 1, and was one of the first high-tension alternating-current generating plants to go into operation in which all the switching is done on the high-voltage side of step-up and step-down transformers. Current for operating the line is generated by three 1,500-kilowatt General Electric three-phase generators, having each a 20-foot 80-ton flywheel. These generators are driven by three cross-compound condensing Corliss engines, manufactured by the C. and G. Cooper Company, which run at 75 revolutions a minute. Space has also been left for a fourth similar unit.

The boilers are of the water-tube type of 500horsepower each and carry a pressure of 180 pounds. The chimney, as shown in Fig. 1, is of brick and stone, 240 feet high, with a flue 11 feet in diameter.

Each generator has its own bank of three transformers, as does also each rotary converter in the sub-stations. The transformers are considered as a unit with the generators and the converters, and in the case of the generators there is no intermediate switch or circuit-breaker.

Current from the main generators after passing through the step-up transformers is raised to 26,000volts, the leads being then taken through motor-operated oil switches, after which they are led to the high-tension bus bars in a separate compartment of the power house. Besides furnishing power to its own system this station also furnishes the power for the Elgin, Aurora and Southern trolley line.

The system is laid out with six sub-stations, the transmission pressure being 26,000 volts, three phase. The high-tension lines are carried upon cross-arms 24 inches apart, with the insulators on the lower cross-arm 30 inches between centers. Telephone lines for the dispatching service are carried on cross-arms seven feet below the transmission lines. Fig. 3 shows the transmission lines and telephone circuits on the right.

No direct-current feeders are needed, as the third rail is constructed of a special alloy having a high conductivity, and is moreover of large cross-section (1,500,000 circular mils on the main line), giving it ample capacity to conduct the current from the sub-stations to any intermediate point on the line.

Regular sub-station equipment in all the sub-stations consists of two 1,500-kilowatt rotary converters, each with a bank of three transformers. The stations have air-tight bus-bar compartments, which are kept cool by air under pressure delivered by a blower. The machines may be started with alternating current from the transmission line or by direct current from the third rail. When starting, as synchronous motors on the high-tension side, re-active coils are used to counteract the influence of the leading current produced, thus keeping the power factor as near unity as possible.

The cars are of the general type shown in Fig.2, which offers also a good example of the bridgework along the line. They are 472 feet long and 39 feet four inches over bodies and seat 56 people. The cars are up-to-date in all particulars, possessing electric heaters, transverse cane seats, toilet rooms, smoking compartment, etc. Four new cars of the same type have lately been added which are several feet longer. These cars, with one express car, one convertible buffet and parlor car, the latter described in the Western Electrician of September 10th, complete the rolling-stock equipment.

Having thus briefly outlined the general equipment of the system, it will be interesting to note some of the new ideas which have been developed by the company. One of these is the method of fighting snow and sleet which was tried last winter with success and which equipment is now a part of every car.

In years past a great deal of annoyance and delay were encountered in fighting sleet which collected upon the third rail, interrupting the traffic. Many plans were devised to do away with the trouble, including various kinds of cutters, etc., all of which proved unsatisfactory. Finally a method was tried which has been successful and which consists in sprinkling the third rail with a solution of calcium chloride (Ca Cl2). The solution used consists of the Ca Cl mixed with water until the specific gravity is about 1.2. The freezing point of the mixture thus obtained is 30° below zero. The solution is prepared in large quantities in a 45-barrel tank at Wheaton, from which it is readily delivered to the cars. Upon each car is carried a small galvanized iron tank holding sufficient of the liquid to last the car on a 20 or30-mile run, A rubber tube passes down through the platform to a brush-like arrangement shown in Fig. 4. The brush is of steel and is pressed upon the rail by a spring. It may, however, be sustained in a raised position by a catch which holds it after it has been raised by the rubber insulating handle shown in the picture. A bent section of gas pipe attached to the lower end of the rubber tube delivers the solution to the rail just ahead of the brush.

The action of the solution upon the ice is a peculiar one, seeming to decay the ice and make it porous and scaly so that it is readily swept away by the brush, or at least a sufficient amount of it so that the shoe which follows behind is given sufficient contact to deliver the necessary current.

Not only does the solution destroy the ice but it also protects the rail for a limited length of time from the further collection of sleet. The solution is not expensive and the cost is insignificant when compared with the great amount of time and expense saved by its use.

An interesting experiment which the company is making is the furnishing to farmers living near the line with electric power direct from the third rail. The results have been highly satisfactory so far to the farmers who have had the power brought to their farms. Of course the quantities of power sold by the railway company are small and intermittent and there is not a large amount of profit derived from the power thus sold. But it is a far-sighted policy, nevertheless, as anything which contributes to the prosperity of those living in the neighborhood of the line will in the end benefit the railway company.

Thus far there are 40 to 50 farms connected in this way to the system. The power can be used fora variety of purposes, such as threshing, grinding, sawing wood, etc. It is the common practice of the farmers in this part of the state to do their threshing and grinding on the barn floor, so in installing the motor equipment a line shaft is generally employed in the barn belted to the motor and driving in turn by pulleys the various machines.

Fifteen horsepower is the popular size of motor, though some of 20 horsepower have been installed. They are connected by a metallic circuit to the source, one wire being connected to the third rail and the other to the track rail.

The average cost is from $500 to $675 for each installation. This is not far from one-half the cost of a gasoline engine of the same power. No difficulty is experienced in the operation of the motors, which is a much more simple task than the running of a complicated gas engine. Directions accompany each motor and all that the farmer has to master besides the throwing of the switches is the replacement of blown fuses and the care of the commutator and brushes.

So even is the voltage on the third-rail due to its large cross-section and to the ample power sup-plied that a number of farmers have tried lighting as well as power work. For this purpose six lamps are connected in series and the pressure on the third rail being in the neighborhood of 600 volts, the lights are run somewhat below normal voltage therefore giving them long life, though they are not quite up to full candlepower.

This is one of the first attempts made by an inter-urban road to furnish power to adjacent farms and is creating considerable attention. The farmers who are now connected would not change back to the old .method, and to all appearances the electric motor has come to stay.

Superintendent Wendell Ballou of the Elgin, Aurora and Southern Traction Company has been prominently connected with the movement, having had the installation of the motors under his personal supervision.

Not only is the farmer benefited by the installation of electrical machinery upon his farm but he is also afforded a ready means for transporting milk to Chicago, which furnishes the best market for this product. Hand in hand with this goes the delivery of early morning newspapers to the various towns along the road. This dual service is performed by one express car, which is enabled to make one paying trip each way per day. The newspaper service was begun in 1903, and it is estimated that as high as 80 or 90 tons of newspapers were carried each month during the summer just past.

As soon as the first installment of the last edition of the morning papers is off the press, which is about 3:30 a. m., they are hurried to the Fifth Avenue terminal station of the Metropolitan Elevated railway, over whose tracks the express car is allowed to pass. Here the car is waiting for them, and by means of a sort of endless-chain lift provided with extending arms to carry up the bundles of newspapers they are lifted up and dumped into the car on the tracks above.

About 25 per cent, of the papers are delivered at Fifty-second Avenue, Chicago, for distribution to Oak Park and nearby suburbs. Twenty per cent. go to Aurora, as many more to Elgin and the remainder are delivered to the Elgin, Aurora and Southern Traction Company for delivery to more distant points. By this means the latest editions of the morning papers can be delivered to the points named from 45 minutes to one hour and 30 minutes earlier than could be done by the steam roads, giving the people the latest edition instead of the "country" edition. The company receives its pay from the publishers on a tonnage basis.

Arriving at Wheaton about six o'clock in the morning the "newspaper special" is ready to begin collecting milk. It is first run to Eola Junction and picks up the milk cans from there in toward Chicago, arriving at Fifty-second Avenue at about 8:40 a. m., where the milk is delivered to the city milk dealers. Fifteen cents per eight-gallon can is charged, which is prepaid by a milk ticket inserted in the holder on each can. The average amount of milk carried each day is about 1,400 gallons.

Coil.www.by this company may be mentioned the buffet car ,which, as stated above, has been already described in the Western Electrician. This car is the first of its kind ever operated upon an electric railway and is a model of convenience. It is intended is permit men living in the cities of Aurora , Wheaton and Elgin or other towns along the line whose places of business are in Chicago to take their morning or evening meals on the way if they so desire. So well is this car balanced that a glass of waterfilled to within a quarter of an inch of the brim will ride upon one of the tables without the water being spilled when the car is traveling 60 miles an hour and over, which can hardly be said of a dining car upon a steam road even when traveling over a first-class roadbed.

As an example of another unique departure made by this company may be mentioned the buffet car, which, as stated above, has been already described in the Western Electrician. This car is the first of its kind ever operated upon an electric railway and is a model of convenience. It is intended is permit men living in the cities of Aurora, Wheaton and Elgin or other towns along the line whose places of business are in Chicago to take their morning or evening meals on the way if they so desire. So well is this car balanced that a glass of waterfilled to within a quarter of an inch of the brim will ride upon one of the tables without the water being spilled when the car is traveling 60 miles an hour and over, which can hardly be said of a dining car upon a steam road even when traveling over a first-class roadbed.

An agreement has recently been reached between the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railway Company and the Illinois Central railroad which is not only of much importance to the two interests concerned but which may be looked upon as significant of the general trend toward more amicable relations be-tween steam and electric railways. A freight-traffic arrangement has been entered into by the two companies whereby through freight on the Illinois Central may now be billed to Elgin, Wheaton and Wayne, completing part of its journey over the electric line. The electric company receives a portion of the tariff, giving at the same time the Illinois Central entrance, practically, as far as freight is concerned, to the above-named towns.

The president of the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railway Company is Mr. L. J. Wolf of Cleveland. Mr. E. C. Faber is general manager of the company and Mr. Edward F. Gould is the electrical engineer. Both gentlemen make their headquarters at Wheaton, Ill.