Electric locomotive application

ELECTRIC locomotives were first used for the movement of main-line traffic over 45 years ago. This early application was for tunnel work but it may be taken as the beginning of a new era in main-line transportation. In this era the steam locomotive has been transformed in appearance and characteristics. More recently the Diesel engine has been applied to passenger and freight trains. During all this period of development the characteristics of the electric locomotive have continued to be superior to those of either the steam or the diesel-electric locomotive. Many of the early ideas with regard to the application of electric locomotives are still valid today, but progress in transportation engineering has become so accelerated that a periodic review of each type of motive power must be made by those who are responsible for their application. A discussion of the engineering fundamentals which enter into the selection of an electric motive power unit for main-line work will be presented. An understanding of these fundamentals is essential to the specification of a balanced design. A locomotive which is specified on this basis will give all of the advantages of momentum operation augmented by high electrical horsepower at high speed. This is one of the unique advantages of the electric locomotive.