The amount of current sent through the traction
circuit will of course vary with the requirements, and as the extent
to which the resistance to slipping may be increased is very great,
this method is likely to prove of considerable value. While in some
cases the use of such a method of increasing the tractive power of
locomotives would be confined to ascending gradients and the movement
of exceptionally heavy loads, in others it would prove useful as a
_constant_ factor in the work of transportation. In cases like that of
the New York elevated railway system, where the traffic during certain
hours is much beyond the capacity of the trains, and the structure
unable to support the weight of heavier engines, a system like that
just described would prove of very great benefit, as it would easily
enable the present engines to draw two or three additional cars with
far less slipping and lost motion than is the case with mechanical
friction alone, at a cost for tractive current that is insignificant
compared to the advantages gained. Other cases may be cited in which
this method of increasing friction will probably be found useful,
aside from its application to railway purposes, but these will
naturally suggest themselves and need not be further dwelt upon.
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