RM Archive
FROM THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE ARCHIVES
100 YEARS AGO MARCH 1923
Vincent Raven on electrification
A PAPER read before the Great Western Railway (London) Lecture and Debating Society by Sir Vincent Raven, Technical Adviser to the London and North Eastern Railway, brought out a number of interesting points.
It is generally admitted that many of the claims advanced in favour of main line electrification are now beyond question, particularly in regard to such matters as the saving in engine preparation and shed time as compared with steam practice, the fact that tractive capacity is not limited by the boiler capacity of individual steam locomotives, ease with which double-heading can be adopted, superiority in starting heavy loads, more rapid acceleration, regenerative braking and, in particular, the possibility of approximating the speed of freight trains more nearly to that of ordinary passenger trains, thereby increasing line capacity and probably avoiding the necessity for laying additional tracks and making costly widenings.