All About Inventions and Discoveries
The Romance of modern scientific and mechanical Achievements

io6 All About Inventions descent, during which it is not necessary to call upon the locomotive for an ounce of effort. Coasting is possible, the train being kept under control by the brakes. But the long descent has been put to useful purpose. The motors, which drive the locomotive during the long climb, are caused to act as generators during the down-hill run, and the current thus gener- ated is returned to the power station. So far as Great Britain is concerned, main-line electrification has not been adopted in connection with our railways upon an ambitious scale. The North-Eastern led the way by electrifying its sub- urban line, which feeds the teeming districts along the north bank of the Tyne. Other railways followed suit where the conditions were somewhat analogous, such as the Brighton Railway, which took in hand the electrification of its southern suburban network, which is now being carried through to completion. Similarly the London and South-Western Railway has commenced the electrification of its outlying net- work. In all these instances electrification has been forced upon the railways in the interests of self- preservation. The electric tramways came, and, owing to the superior speeds thereby offered, they filched the greater part of the traffic from the steam railways serving the selfsame areas. The railways are retali- ating by electrifying their competitive lines. By the attraction of a frequent high-speed service combined with low fares, they have been able to hit the electric tramways in turn, and have either regained the greater part or the whole of their lost traffic. One of the most beneficial electrification schemes from the public point of view was the conversion of