No driver is required, for the locomotive is controlled entirely from the barge and the power is supplied from one or more generating stations at suitable points on or near the canal.
Further, as canal traffic with electric haulage can be carried on both by night and by day, the average speed per day can be greatly increased, while the generating and distributing plant are constantly in use.
Statistics have been prepared showing the cost of haulage (i.) by horses, (ii.) by electric locomotives at the same running speed as with horses, and (iii.) by electric locomotives at a higher speed (four miles per hour).
A length of 30 miles of level canal has been taken with an annual traffic of 100,000 tons per mile. The details of the estimates cannot be given in this paper, but the results in brief, are as follow:—
| Cost per Ton per mile. |
Time occupied in Transit. | |
| Haulage with horses at 212 miles per hour | 0·077 | 15 hours. |
| Electric Haulage at 212 miles per hour | 0·032 | 12 „ |
| „„4„„ | 0·041 | 712 „ |
If the figures given are anything like correct for regular working, then the electric is undoubtedly the haulage of the future. For the present, the adoption of steam haulage is slowly on the increase, especially by those Canal Companies which are most enterprising, and which are consequently carrying the most traffic.
