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On this day in engineering history, Professor C.G. Page of
the Smithsonian Institute traveled from Washington,
D.C. to Bladensburg,
Maryland aboard an
electro-magnetic locomotive. Page's 16-hp creation ran along the tracks of the
Washington & Baltimore Railroad, reaching a top speed of 19 mph during the
5.25-mi journey. At first, Page's invention ran so slowly that a boy ran aside
it for several hundred feet. The train's speed increased along level ground,
however, and Page's electro-magnetic locomotive soon shattered the railroad
speed record by a whopping 7 mph.
Then trouble occurred. Near the three-mile mark, cells in
the locomotive's battery began to crack, inter-mixing their acids and weakening
the propelling power. Though modeled after Sir William Grove's successful
nitric-acid battery, Page's design encased its cells in light earthenware. Made
with a slip of platinum, the inner cells were filled with undiluted nitric
acid. The outer cells were filled with diluted sulphuric acid and contained
sheets of amalgamated zinc. The opposition of the platinum to zinc provided a
powerful voltaic combination. As the nitric acid absorbed the hydrogen
liberated from the platinum, water and nitrogen peroxide formed. "The resulting
liquid", William Allen Miller explained in his 1860 tract, Elements of Chemistry: Theoretical and Practical, "constitutes one
of the most perfect liquid conductors."
Although only a handful of the 100 earthenware cells
shattered, the combined effect was enough to slow the progress of the
already-cautious Page. During the one hour and 59 minute trip from Washington, D.C. to Bladensburg, Maryland,
the professor stopped the train 7 times for a total of 40 minutes. Page's
concerns about oncoming cars and cattle on the tracks were not unfounded,
however. During subsequent trials, he learned that even the slightest jolt would
damage the batteries.
Eventually, Professor C.G. Page abandoned his electro-magnetic locomotive
altogether. Other inventors tinkered with batteries and ran various trials, but
as the New York Times reported, "there
was always something the matter which convinced the majority that the use of
electricity for transportation purposes was merely an interesting thought, like
perpetual motion". That, of course, was before Thomas A. Edison build a small
electric railroad at his Menlo Park
laboratory and "it became known that the use of electricity as power for
transportation was practicable."
Resources:
http://www.dcnrhs.org/dc_rail_history.htm
http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r066.html
http://chestofbooks.com/reference/The-New-Student-s-Reference-Work-Vol2/pp0049.html
First Electric Car Ran 80 Years Ago
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9807E6DB1E3FEE3ABC4053DFB366838A639EDE
The Electric Motor and its Applications
http://books.google.com/books?id=6wZPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=professor+page+electric+railroad&source=web&ots=RCqUUeM0i9&sig=LnfPI4tiO3tImSfhcuOd8bPtRG4&hl=en#PPA20,M1
Elements of Chemistry: Theoretical and Practical
http://books.google.com/books?id=sWYDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA370&lpg=PA370&dq=grove+nitric+acid&source=web&ots=sNDNeIUdyD&sig=5G6NG9yJiXcTYzK-oMVy0FT4xyo&hl=en#PPR1,M1
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