Bryan McKay, age 70, of Merrillville, Ind., for his question:
WHEN WAS THE FIRST ELEVATED RAILWAY BUILT?
Trains in electric railroad systems get power from a central powerhouse. Some railroads have overhead lines above the track. A bar or trolley pole then reaches up and slides along the line, collecting and transmitting power to the locomotive. Other electric trains receive power from a third rail placed beside the track. Electricity moves through metal shoes.
First commercial electric train in the world was one shown at the Berlin Exhibition in 1879. It featured an engine which pulled three cars and carried 20 passengers eight miles. It took its power from a generator which passed it on by means of a third rail.
Earlier, in 1835, a man in Brandon, Vermont, named Thomas Davenport, built the first model electric railway. Another successful test was made on the Edinburgh Glasgow Railway in 1838 by a man named Robert Davidson, but the cost of producing electricity was too great for general use by railroads until the electric generator was invented.
In 9881 the first commercial electric street railway began operating in Lichterfelde, Germany. The first large electric railway system was built in Richmond, Va., in 1887. First main line electrification was on the Baltimore and Ohio in Baltimore in 7895 with operations following shortly thereafter in Chicago, Boston and New York City.
An elevated electric railroad, often called an el, usually runs on tracks that are held up above roads by strong steel beams. Elevated cars get power from a third rail. Electric current moves from a powerhouse and is picked up on the train by a shoe, or metal plate which slides along the third rail.
A man named Col. Charles T. Harvey built a one track. experimental elevated line on the outskirts of New York City in 1867. Before the turn of the century a man named Dr. Rufus Gilbert had developed the standard elevated structure used in New York City and Chicago. The first cars were very elaborate and included mahogany woodwork, thickly carpeted floors and plush seats.
Elevated railroads are operated by engineers. As power moves from the third rail into the train's shoe, power is made available for a motor which turns the car wheels. The engineer controls the amount of current the motor can receive. With a special lever, he starts and stops the train and controls its speed.
In 1969 electric trains called Metroliners started operating between New York City and Washington D.C. Speeds of 100 miles per hour are reached by these trains.
Modern electric locomotives can weigh from 110 to 364 tons. The largest can produce over 9,000 horsepower.