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Show i will i.:ai:2 0:12 hu;;d?.ed :.:iles An hour I; :::::::;:;2:-::32"2--;3C-:vcc::::c":::c::::::::xU would be so concentrate! that there 19 not a curve In the roaibed or a brlige on the line that could etand the strain. The locomotive that Is being built for the Southern Paclflc has no driving rods. It Is run by a dynamo and lta weight Is confined not by the length of a twelve-foot connecting rod, but Is distributed dis-tributed over nearly fifty feet. It Is not bothered by ponderous, rigid driving driv-ing wheels, and it can take a sharp curve without tearing up the outer rail, for Its trucks are pivotal, Jut as the trucks of a motor car on the elevated. It loses no tractive power as a result of this "spread," for Its power comes from the dynamo . and not. from straining driving rods. The limit of tpeed for safe running irlth the present style locomotive is ninety miles an hour. If an attempt Is made to get up a regular speed of 104 miles an hour or more there Is bound to be trouble sooner or later. Ths finest materials and these alone are employed em-ployed In this day of railroading will rot stand th strain of greater speed. The constant hammering of the connecting con-necting rod. for Instance, would result In crystallization and make the tempered tem-pered steel brittle as glass. The roadbed will not permit It, for another an-other thing, and In this respect the advocates ad-vocates of the Internal combustion locomotive loco-motive say the new engine will be found a vast Improvement. The "maintenance of way," or keeping up the roadbed. Is one of the greatest items of railroad expenses. This Is not the fault of the heavy freight or passenger cars, but of the locomotives. Anyone that has ridden rid-den In the cab of a locomotive knows how the side rods Jar when the locomotive locomo-tive Is pulling a heavy load, but It Is worse when the engine Is "running Idle," when the steam is shut off and the reciprocating parts are unbalanced. When a locomotive Is coasting down a hill, with steam shut off, the worst effects ef-fects are experienced. It means that the great driving rods pound and hammer, ham-mer, loosening spikes and jarring the ties, thus giving the section hands plenty of work with their picks and shovels. Four duplex engines will furnish the power for the dynamos that generate the electricity of the Southern Pacific locomotive. The Southern Tacl.lc Railroad com- r&ny has contracted for a locomotive that is expected to revolutionize the transportation system of the word. It is a power house on wheels. Within a few months it will have Its public trial. The test will be watched by mechanical engineers and railroad men generally with the deepest interest Ehould the locomotive come up to expectations Its introduction will mark one of the most Important epochs In traction history. The new locomotive is firele89, smokeless smoke-less and waterless. It needs no coal, drops no ashes and It throws no sparks or cinders. Its builders say U would be able, provided a clear track could be obtained,, to haul a 2000-ton train from New York to San Francisco without a single stop. There would be no need of delays for fuel or water, for the locomotive loco-motive can carry enough fuel for the Journey of 8000 miles, and It needs no water for steam. Theoretically all this has been figured out to a mathematical certainty. What remains now Is a practical prac-tical demonstration. -. Tfce locomotive uses a combination of compressed air power, fuel oil power and electrical power. It Is an application applica-tion of the Diesel type of engine to locomotion. loco-motion. The englen proper which is being buUt at the Corliss works In Providence. R. I., will be ready tor testing test-ing by December 1. The generator and electrical parts will be built by the General Gen-eral Electric company at Schenectady, and the trucks and frame by the Amer7 lean Locomotive company at Schenectady. Schenec-tady. Every part of tha new locomotive is of standard type.' This new locomotive Is the design and Joint product of Joseph H. Hoadley. president of the International Power company and organiser of the American Locomotive company, nd Walter H. Knight, chief engineer of the International' Interna-tional' Power company, land formerly with the Qeneral Electric company. It embraces some remarkable features. The Diesel engine, which heretofore has been applied to stationary engine work alone, will be used to drive a dynamo which will provide the electrical power for the locomotive. A speed of from 100 to 120 mile an hour is expected on the trial run. There Is said to be no limit within reason for the speed the locomotive might attain, provided the roadbed and other conditions permitted. An average speed of 100 miles an hour could be maintained from the Atlantic to the Pacific if it were posrtble to get the right of way. Such speed could be attained by other electrio traction vehicles. ve-hicles. It is pointed out. were it not for the difficulty of getting power at aU times. , With the trolley system the trolley Jumps the overhead wire. With the third rail the shoe Is alternately on and off the fall when high speed is attempted. at-tempted. With the new locomotive there is no trolley and no third rail, and the application of power is continuous. Aside from the question of speed, the builders of the new locomotive believe it will bring about Important economics in the operation of railroads. The steam locomotive has to carry Its fuel and water with It This means five tons of coal and 7000 gallons of water. In addition, addi-tion, there is the weight of the tender. It is an axiom in traction engineering that it takes a pound of weight to carry a pound of weight" Of all the coal burned by a steam locomotive $6 per cent of the energy produced passes up the smokertack and 4 per cent "gets on to the boilers." When It comes down to the final test only 2 per cent finds Its way to the driving wheels. To overcome this waste has been one of the great problems engineers have been studying for years. The Diesel engine has a thermal ther-mal efficiency of 38 per cent. There is a loss in the transfer to the generator and armatures, but 28.35 per cent of the energy en-ergy "gets onto the motor and axles." In other words, the new locomotive Is expected to save more than eleven times as much energy as the steam loDmotlve. That the limit has been reached In the building of steam locomotives Is accepted ac-cepted by railroad managers. Within the last five years locomotives have gained 100.000 pounds In weight,' and they can take on no more. This has been accompanied by an Increase In tender capacity, which is a waste on the principle that "It takes a pound in weight to carry a pound of weight.". Driving wheels can be made Just so large and no larger. Connecting rods can be made Just so long and no longer. If the driving wheels are giant affairs it means a tremendous weight to the machine that must come on the tracks in a comparatively small space. There is one way to "spread" the weight and that Is to have longer connecting rods. But here a difficulty Is encountered. Tractive power necessary 'or high speed or great draught cannot be obtained If the rods are much over 12H feet. This fsct has put steam locomotive builders between the devil and the deep sea of the rtiort connecting rod. If the steam locomotive could be made more compact com-pact greater power could be obtained; but, on the other hand, the weight |