Electric Traction on the Pennsylvania Railroad

Electric traction on the Pennsylvania Railroad was a technological success handicapped by an economic factor: the onetime relatively low cost of petroleum, which gave diesel locomotives and highway vehicles a temporary advantage. Today the growing cost advantage of electricity—generated with coal; atomic energy; water, wind, and solar power—prefigures a revival of electric railroad traction.

Drawing upon previously untapped records of the PRR and its suppliers, notably General Electric, the author traces stages in cooperative risk management. First came challenges of limited scope which steam locomotives were unable to meet: the New York City tunnel extension of 1910 and the Philadelphia suburban modernization begun in 1913. Next came a decade of mainline electrification, 1928–38: first New York to Washington and then passenger and freight extensions to Harrisburg. These projects were preceded by large-scale research and experimentation, followed by constant improvement in equipment and operations. Electric traction is depicted as a program involving not only the railroad but also its consultants, equipment and energy suppliers, and (to a lesser degree) governmental bodies.

Locomotive and power transmission design is described in detail—with copious illustrations—as are the creative achievements of managers, engineers, and workers. And the presentation will be clear to readers without specialized technical or business backgrounds.

Michael Bezilla, Historian of the Pennsylvania State University, has written extensively on his state's railroad history. He was a graduate fellow of the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute while completing his doctorate in the history of technology. Publication of this book has received support from the Association of American Railroads.

History

           Pennsylvania & Mid-Atlantic

           U.S.

Nature

Pennsylvania & the Mid-Atlantic

           History