Electrification of railways

(Associate Member): The thanks of this Institute are due to Professor Buchanan for bis interesting paper on this subject. My idea in these few notes this evening is not so much to criticise the author's paper as to endeavour to express a few thoughts that have occurred to me in reading the progress of the electrification of railways in various parts of the world. Early in the paper disappointment is expressed at the tardiness with which electricity has been applied to railways; this remark is especially brought home to us in this country when we remember that Africa is the only continent in which no rail way electrification or conversion schemes are actually in existence. The author rightly hits the mark when he says that possibly the authorities who postpone investigation of the subject until electricians agree upon the best system, have a valid reason for their conservatism. It is now for the Electrical Engineering profession to make out their case for the electrification of railways, and then for local conditions to prove the deciding factors in the choice of systems. The Railway Gazcttry in discussing this aspect of the question, says : “ Too much stress must not be laid on the disadvantages of lack of uniformity in the system of electrification adopted by different railways. …. It is better to put up with these disadvantages of electric working than to wai t until the best system is discovered or to put difficulties in the way of its ever being discovered by tying all railways down to rigid uniformity.” Nevertheless, in a country situated as we are 6,000 miles from manufacturing centres, it is well that before any electrification takes place the various schemes that have been worked out in other parts of the world should be well studied and considered so that when the time does come for the consideration of railway electrification in this country, our profession will be fully conversant with the difficulties that have been found in other schemes.