. The Street railway journal . the generaladoption of electricity on street railways there has been a demand foran efficient and reliable switch which could be operated in some wayfrom the car. The advantages of such a device are apparent whenthe large number of switchmen required on any one of our largeroads is considered, since the annual outlay for their wages is a veryconsiderable item of expense. The switch shown in the accompanying engraving is one thathas been in use on the lines of the North Hudson County RailwayCompany, of Hoboken, , on Fifteenth and Madison Streets, andhas given
. The Street railway journal . the generaladoption of electricity on street railways there has been a demand foran efficient and reliable switch which could be operated in some wayfrom the car. The advantages of such a device are apparent whenthe large number of switchmen required on any one of our largeroads is considered, since the annual outlay for their wages is a veryconsiderable item of expense. The switch shown in the accompanying engraving is one thathas been in use on the lines of the North Hudson County RailwayCompany, of Hoboken, , on Fifteenth and Madison Streets, andhas given the best results. The cars pass this corner on an averageof two or three a minute, yet the motormen have no trouble inthrowing the switch in the direction desired without stopping andby a single movement of the controller handle. The method of operation is as follows : a section of track aboutthirty feet in length, and about twenty feet distant from the switchtongue, is insulated from the remainder of the track and is electri-. ELECTRIC TRACK SWITCH. cally connected with the magnets in the switch box. These mag-nets are four in number, two on each side of a reciprocating softiron armature which is connected through a lever with the switchtongue. The negative terminals of the magnets are grounded andelectrical connections in the box are so arranged that only one ofthese two pairs is excited at the same time, the bar being alternatelyattracted from one side to the other. Each time that it is so thrownthe connections are reset so that the next impulse of current willattract it in the other direction. If a car then passes on to the insulatedsection the current from the wheels, instead of passing directlyto the ground, passes through the rails and magnets and turns the August, 1896.] STREET RAILWAY JOURNAL. 493 CO CO switcli. If, oil the other hand, the iiiotonnan of a car approachingthe switch should not wish to move the tongue, he simply shuts offthe current b} his controller and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectstreetr, bookyear1884
