Lackawanna Suburban Electrification

Abstract

The initial electrification on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad includes approximately 68 route miles and 158 track miles of line out of Hoboken, New Jersey, and covers the more important parts of the suburban service and a small amount of freight transfer switching. The 3,000-volt d-c. system is used. Power is purchased in the form of three-phase, 60-cycle, high-tension, alternating current delivered by the power companies to five substations owned and operated by the railroad located along the right-of-way. Four of the substations are manually operated and one is fully automatic. Mercury-arc rectifiers are used exclusively for converting the alternating current to 3,000-volt direct current. The rectifiers have excited grids and are compounded to give substantially flat voltage up to 150 per cent load. All d-c. distribution is through the catenary system, auxiliary feeders not being necessary. All d-c. circuits are protected by high-speed magnetic blow-out circuit breakers. The catenary system is of the tangent-chord double-contact wire type supported on steel structures in multi-track sections and on creosoted wood poles on the single track branch. Multiple-unit trains are used exclusively in the passenger service, made up of two-car units consisting of a motor car and a trailer car, semi-permanently coupled together. Motors are insulated for 3,000 volts, are operated in series-parallel under electropneumatic control with automatic acceleration, and are self ventilated. The freight transfer service is handled by two locomotives of the ``three power'' type, arranged for operation from the 3,000-volt d-c.