Show electric power farthest north BY ALLEN E X RANSOM tales of the days of 98 the chilkoot chilkott Chil koot pass and the klondike are generally associated socia ted with a land of ice and snow indians and malemute dogs but as serviss writes there are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold after the first rush of the argonauts to these fields which have yielded up over millions in gold came the large operators who having the of their convictions vict ions and undeterred by the six months of ice and snow weather 70 degrees below thirty feet of overlying frozen ground and 2000 miles of hazardous transportation risked over twenty five million dollars in hydroelectric and steam turbine plants with miles of ditches and powerful hydraulics to scrape the klondike river from source to mouth for its hidden wealth among the first of these was the yukon gold company with 0 B perry of new york who installed a few miles above dawson a hydroelectric hydro electric plant of 1875 kw operating under a foot head and consisting of three 54 inch pelton water wheels each direct connected to a kw 2200 volt 3 phase 60 cycle rpm A 0 generator with 17 kw volt exciters excite rs arid controlled by a six panel switchboard with a voltage regulator all of westinghouse manufacture the current was stepped up from generator voltage by nine transformers to volts miles of transmission lines with thirty six miles of main line transmission and eighteen miles of branches this company supplied energy for nine electric dredges each utilizing from to hp and capable of handling from to yards of thawed gravel per day during the dredging season which extends from may 15 to november 1 each year with gravel running from to per yard and sometimes richer and only four men required on a shift the short operating season yields rich returns one of the typical excavating machines is a bucyrus dredge with 7 foot buckets requiring hp and having a daily capacity of cubic yards this dredge as were a number of the others was equipped with westinghouse induction motors rang ing in capacity from hp on the main drive to the smaller sizes on the pump motors this plant of the yukon gold company installed in 1905 has operated continuously and profitably ever since following this development came that of the canadian klondyke company with joseph boyle at its head having located a water power on the north fork of the klondyke river about twenty six miles of the westinghouse international company staff above dawson and within miles of the arctic circle a hp hydroelectric hydro electric plant was installed in 1906 08 the electric equipment contract for which was let to the westinghouse company consisted of two kv a 2300 volt 60 cycle 3 phase rpm A C generators direct connected to hp I 1 P morris francis reactionary turbine wheels one 85 kw exciter direct connected to a 36 inch water wheel and one 85 kw motor generator exciter together with six panel switchboard and two banks of step up transformers from 2300 to volts each bank consisting of three 1250 kv a transformers bear creek installation at bear creek a step down station of kw was built to supply the various dredges in the district later a 50 kw steam turbine auxiliary was so connected through step up transformers of equal capacity that at least one dredge could be operated by steam power ahead of the others at the beginning and end of the season this plant being located further north than the yukon gold plant the company found it necessary to install electric heaters at the intake and at intervals of about two miles in its six mile power ditch and also in the receiving chamber at the penstock heads to keep the anchor ice thawed out this company operated four dredges three of which were much larger than those used by the yukon gold company having a capacity of to yards per day at the bear creek station a physical connection was made with the system of the yukon gold company and the two systems operated in parallel but for a number of years this plant carried both systems difficulties of transportation etc the hp plant of the northwestern light power and coal company was a westinghouse steam turbine station located at coal creek about forty five miles down the yukon from dawson the equipment for this station was shipped largely by the british westinghouse company at a great expense from manchester england across mexico to the pacific and via the san francisco water route to skagway and st michaels and then by the white pass railroad a thousand miles trip down the yukon and partly over the mile snow trail in winter the plant was finally installed by a sixty mile volt transmission line with the dawson systems it was intended to supply dredges in addition to the existing equipments but owing to legal difficulties and the lack of coal at the supposed mine at coal creek after an investment of over it only operated days this is but one of many actual examples of the way the game is played in this country of the yukon the plant was not destined to rust and rot however for the whole plant piece by piece to the last rail was dismantled and shipped to japan where it now adds its output of kilowatt hours to the growing paper mill industry of that enterprising ter country this group of electric stations with their hp of generating equipment equip men t and hp of auxiliary apparatus located practically on the arctic circle and farthest north of any similar installations in the world have operated for fifteen years and have added of gold to the wealth of the world besides extending literally to the par far corners of the earth tha le prestige of electric power |