Railroad electrification in the United States
Railroad electrification in the United States began at the turn of the 20th century and comprised many different systems in many different geographical areas, few of which were connected.
[4] A number of municipalities passed laws in the early part of the 20th century forbidding steam locomotives from operating within city limits, after some bad accidents caused by the awful conditions of visibility in smoke and steam-filled tunnels and cuttings.
[6] Long, deep tunnels provide poor ventilation for steam locomotives, to the point where crews had to wear oxygen masks to avoid asphyxiation.
The electric locomotive has many advantages in mountainous terrain, including better adhesion, greater power at low speeds, no requirements for fueling or watering, and regenerative braking.
The planned California High-Speed Rail system, for example requires electrification to achieve acceptable speeds through the Tehachapi Mountains.
[7] Extremely high-traffic lines can readily recoup the high capital investment of electrification by the savings accrued during operation.
Diesel-powered freight runs similarly operate over the South Shore Line, and the San Diego Trolley and Salt Lake City TRAX light rail systems.
The construction of the Howard Street tunnel through Baltimore in order to make a rail connection to New York City brought about the world's first mainline electrification.
The total track mileage covered around 28.5 miles (45.9 km), which included not only the station and tunnel lines but also an extensive yard.
The BA&P, a copper ore-hauling short line in Montana, electrified in 1913 using a 2,400 V DC system engineered by General Electric.
Original motive power was in the form of 28 identical B-B boxcabs, which served until de-electrification in 1967, by which time diesel-electric locomotives were cheaper to run.
The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad ('Pacific' was not added to the title until incorporation in 1927) electrified two of its mountainous divisions using a DC overhead system.
Despite most other US railroads dieselizing at this time, the N&W would not begin this process until 1955, thus making the Elkhorn Grade the last American electric rail line to be replaced by steam traction.
A short portion of the Empire Connection was electrified when it was built in 1991, allowing trains from Albany direct access to Penn Station New York by use of dual-mode locomotives.
This electrification was part of the Acela Express high-speed project, and involved the building of overhead lines electrified at 25 kV 60 Hz, requiring trains to handle a change of voltage on the fly at New Haven.
The New Haven chose the 11 kV 25 Hz system, later used by the PRR, in addition to working with Westinghouse to develop AC/DC electric motors (locomotives) to run on both AC overhead lines and DC third rail.
A third-rail system was used for most of the line except overhead trolley wire was installed between Mickle Street in Camden and Gloucester City as well as a 10-mile (16 km) segment between Newfield and Millville.
The Camden-Gloucester City portion was installed due to a decision to use the old Camden Seventh Street line as part of the route.
Numerous grade crossings on both this segment and in Gloucester City precluded the use of third rail due to public safety considerations.
On Oct. 20, 1948, New Jersey's public utility regulators ordered P-RSL to remove all remaining 26 wooden MU coaches from service as a safety hazard should they be involved in fire or collision.
P-RSL management already was considering replacing the MUs due to an aging power distribution system and obsolete rolling stock.
The PRR electrification utilized overhead catenary wires electrified at 11 kV 25 Hz, and was fed by four substations in Arsenal, West Philadelphia, Bryn Mawr, and Paoli.
PPL Corporation-owned Safe Harbor Dam, located near the Exelon-owned Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant between Conowingo, Maryland and York, Pennsylvania, supplies the power for all post-1925 electrical expansion projects, while Exelon supplies the pre-1925 electrification areas through the existing Philadelphia, Ardmore, and Chester substations.
The Caltrain Modernization Program (CalMod) was a $2.44 billion project that electrified the railroad's main line, which serves cities in the San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley.
Caltrain's service had previously existed almost unchanged in its current form since it was operated as the Peninsula Commute by the Southern Pacific Railroad in the late 19th century, but proposals for electrifying the line had begun as early as 1992.
The project lay dormant due to lack of funding until Caltrain agreed to share its tracks with the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
The Illinois Central Railroad electrified its three commuter lines serving Chicago in 1926 pursuant to ordinances passed by the city.
Extensions of electrification over intercity lines, such as West Trenton-Jersey City, Norristown-Reading-Harrisburg, and Lansdale-Bethlehem were planned, but because of the Great Depression, they were dropped.
The Texas Transportation Company operated a small Class III railroad in San Antonio until 2001, mostly serving the Pearl Brewery.
The BM&LP was an isolated short line in Arizona which hauled coal from a mine near Kayenta to the Navajo Generating Station power plant at Page.
