DEVELOPMENT OF STREET RAILWAYS 
that is, with single cars running at frequent intervals, intervals 
determined wholly by the nature of the traffic— has many 
advantages over the steam railroad in utilization of power, and 
since there is at the present time no carriage by the electric 
roads of baggage or express matter, excepting to a very 
limited extent, one car which has to be run upon every steam 
railroad train is done away with and this dead weight to be 
carried is eliminated. 
The following table shows the comparative costs of construc- 
tion and equipment of the steam and street railroads of the 
whole state per mile of permanent way or street occupied : 
Cost of Construction. | Cost of Equipment. Total. 
Steam, 2. 879,503 87,992 #87,495 
Electric, . 39,570 10,478 50,048 
After the introduction of electric power and the opening of 
long interurban lines great changes came in the equipment 
of the street railways. Even on level ground the size of a 
car which could be drawn by two horses was limited, and cars 
seating twenty-six wer& as large as could be employed. On 
the electric roads this limitation of size was removed; the only 
thing needed was to increase the size of the motors in order 
to enable cars more than twice as large as the old horse cars 
to be used, and these mounted on eight-wheel double trucks, 
well-heated and lighted by electricity, present a great contrast 
to the older horse cars, small, unwarmed and lighted by dim 
oil lamps. 
The introduction of electricity brought, too, a marked increase 
in speed, and this brings the electric roads into still closer 
analogy with the steam roads. The speed of cars on the 
electric roads never reaches that of express trains on the steam 
railroads, but on many of the interurban roads it is equal to 
that of local railroad trains. Such trains with their frequent 
stopping-places, are very closely related in their manner of 
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