Electric motors

[Karl W4KRL]

Frank Sprague's name was brought up in discussion after the recent AMRAD
meeting. You may be more familiar with Sprague Electric, the company started
by his sons Robert and Julian. 

 

This new  biography of Sprague was just published by the IEEE:

 

http://theinstitute.ieee.org/technology-focus/technology-history/ieee-book-f
eatures-a-pioneer-of-electric-transportation

 

It would be hard to get from Point A to Point B by train or by subway
without the contributions of Frank J. Sprague. He designed and helped build
more than 100 electric railway systems across the United States, as well as
a few in Italy and Germany.

Sprague-president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, one of
IEEE's predecessor societies, in 1892 and 1893-is the focus of the new IEEE
History Center book
<http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Archives:IEEE_History_Center_Book_Pub
lishing> The Birth of Electric Traction: The Extraordinary Life of Inventor
Frank Julian Sprague. Written by Frank Rowsome Jr. and edited by John
Sprague, the paperback is available at
<http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-birth-of-electric-traction-frank-rowsom
e/1118713290?ean=9781490955346> Barnes & Noble and
<http://www.amazon.com/Birth-Electric-Traction-extraordinary-inventor/dp/149
0955348/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393003393&sr=1-1&keywords=Birth+of+E
lectric+Traction> Amazon.com.

 

With his extensive knowledge of electric motors, Sprague envisioned an
electric train that would offer commuters a faster and more convenient way
to travel. In 1887, with financial backing from venture capitalists, he
obtained a contract from the city of Richmond, Va., to build a new electric
trolley line to replace the city's limited and often unreliable horse-drawn
carriages.

 

Even though the project took just over 90 days to complete, it was no easy
task. The railway route covered 19 kilometers, and train cars had to travel
up and down steep hills and around sharp curves. 

 

The Sprague system consisted of 40 individual streetcars, each outfitted
with two electric motors that conductors could control with a single switch
inside the car. It was powered by an overhead wire that supplied enough
electricity so that all the cars, which carried up to 100 passengers, could
run at the same time. Called the Richmond Union Passenger Railway, it went
into service on 2 February 1888.

Within a decade, horse-powered rail and cable-drawn vehicles in major cities
were all but obsolete. After evaluating Sprague's Richmond installation,
Boston built the world's second electric rail system. Other cities soon
followed. By 1890, Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Co. received contracts
for 110 electric railway systems in Germany, Italy, and the United States.
By 1905, more than 32 200 km (20 000 miles) of streetcar tracks were laid in
the United States alone. Sprague also served on New York City's Electrical
Traction Commission, which planned and supervised the electrification of
trains coming in and out of the city's Grand Central Station.

 

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