IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - July/August 2019 - 86

history

Robert D. Barnett

a lurid green glare
Sprague's motors in Richmond, Virginia

AT LEAST THREE BIOGRAPHIES
on Frank J. Sprague have been published within the last 10 years. For more
than 100 years, Sprague has been the
subject of countless articles and chapters in books dealing with the history
of technology. All of this is with good
reason. Sprague was a major contributor to modern technology and is considered the father of electric traction.
But not all of his contributions were a
resounding success. Just look closely at
the Richmond trolley line motors for
evidence of this.
In "Lessons of the Richmond Electric Railway," Sprague wrote, "It was
a daily occurrence to see a loaded car
climb a grade with a lurid green glare
lighting up the track." He continued
with, in addition to brush/commutator
problems, "every armature was unwound, the bodies shortened, and then
rewound. Disabled armatures were
numberless, and to keep the road in operation tons of machinery were shipped
by express." In short, although he rightly deserves the title father of electric
traction, and the Richmond project is
credited as the first practical electric
trolley system that set the pattern for
most subsequent electric trolley systems around the world, Sprague's Richmond motors were not a success.
Some of Sprague's biographers noted
this motor problem; some haven't. In The
Birth of Electric Traction, Rowsome, Jr.
said, "The electric motors, his beloved,
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2019.2910424
Date of publication: 18 June 2019

ieee power & energy magazine

In previous IEEE Power & Energy Magazine "History" columns, we examined
aspects of the contributions of Frank J. Sprague to the electrical power industry,
primarily in the area of rail electrification. Past articles include:
* "A Frank Sprague Triumph: The Electrification of Grand Central Terminal"
by J.L. Sprague and J.J. Cunningham (vol. 11, no. 1, 2013)
* "A Sprague Invention: Multiple Unit Train Control" by J.L. Sprague
(vol. 13, no. 6, 2015)
* "Frank J. Sprague Invents: The Constant-Speed dc Electric Motor" by
J.L. Sprague (vol. 14, no. 2, 2016).
Sprague's first large-scale installation in 1888 was with the Richmond Union
Passenger Railway in Virginia. This was considered the birthplace of the electric
railway and designated as an IEEE Milestone in 1992. In this column, we take a
deeper look into some of the technical details and challenges of one of the key
components in the Richmond application: the Sprague motor.
We welcome back Robert D. Barnett for the third time to this "History"
column. A Senior Member of the IEEE, Robert graduated from the University
of Waterloo, Canada, and Niagara College, Canada. In 1982, he formed the Niagara Society for Industrial History as a support group for a proposed museum
in a former Niagara Falls power plant, and he has written about the history of
this topic.
John Paserba
Associate Editor, "History"

beautifully-calculated, ingeniouslydesigned motors simply did not work
very well. They overheated, their costly
new gears jammed, and they endlessly
fell prey to 'crosses' and grounds." As
Dalzell wrote in Engineering Invention:
Frank J. Sprague and the U.S. Electrical Industry, "commutators proved
particularly trouble prone. In the shop,
they performed adequately. Subject to
operating conditions ... they broke down
constantly-burning, blistering and if not
cleaned ... immediately, short circuiting

the motors." In "Frank J. Sprague Invents:
The Constant-Speed dc Electric Motor,"
Sprague's grandson, John L. Sprague,
noted that, on the Richmond project, "It
was a nightmare from the start and a financial disaster when completed ... his
beautiful motors kept burning out, commutators pitted and failed, and brushes
had to be continually changed."
Even so, most writers give the impression that Sprague eventually sorted out
his motor problems. However, an account
by one of the Richmond superintendents,
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