Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive

Tom must build a locomotive engine to compete with the best engines of the time, an engine under the patent of Jandel. The result is the Hercules 0001, an electric locomotive measuring 90 feet long, 14 feet tall and weighing almost 275 tons. The engine is powered by a pantograph connection to dual overhead catenary lines providing 3,000 volts DC. The engine is laid out with two non-driven trucks of four wheels on either end, and 12 driving wheels of 70-inch diameter. The layout of the driving wheels is never explicitly mentioned, but the configuration would be either 4-12-4 or 4-6-0+0-6-4 (see Whyte notation). Each axle is independently powered. The output of the engine is estimated at 4400 horsepower. The locomotive in the story was loosely based on the electric locomotives of the Milwaukee Road.^[1]

Tom is able to achieve the target specs of 120 mph on straight tracks, for passenger transport; for hauling freight up a 2% incline, he is able to achieve 45 mph.

An ammonia pistol is also used, a black pistol-like weapon which shoots compressed ammonia. It has a bulb on one end.

• Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive e-text at Project Gutenberg

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