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inches Operate by Electricity Harbor Lighter is Equipped With Electric Cargo Handling Gear Operated From Pilot House--Ready Control is Obtained ENNSYLVANIA railroad lighter No. 151. is the first vessel of -her type to be equipped with electrical- ly operated winches exclusively. She is used for carrying express shipments around New York harbor, a_ service in which time is an important factor. Her winches were arranged for electric drive in the belief that this would re- duce the time required for handling cargoes. She has now been in com- mission about two years. It is diffi- 'cult to carry out an accurate efficiency test in handling miscellaneous packages, but experience is said to show that No. 151 in a given time will handle 300 tons against an average of about 200 . tons. 2, No. 151 has two systems of. booms, --one forward consisting of a single main boom with a maximum capacity of 10 tons, and one aft, of the mast and yard type, with a maximum capacity of two tons. ~With electrical operation, two systems can readily be employed be- cause the motor-driven winches are so compact that they can be housed in a small compartment. This compartment is situated in the hull just forward of the pilot house. All the lines run down in front of the pilot house to their respective winches in the most direct manner possible. Eight booms are provided, their pur- poses and sizes being as follows: For the forward booms, two 24-horsepower motors are used to operate the main port guys. hoist and main boom respectively, while motors of 15 horsepower each are used in connection with the starboard and For the after booms, the starboard hoist, starboard guy, port hoist and port guy are operated each by a 15-horsepower motor. These motors are of the Westinghouse direct-current crane type, totally en- closed and equipped with magnetic brakes. Each motor is geared directly to its winch and the winches are ar- in two rows, ranged one above the OCP E Re AT THE LEFT IS SHOWN THE PENNSYLVANIA HARBOR LIGHTER NO. 151 HOUSE--THE UPPER ILLUSTRATION IS LOOKING AFT FROM THE FORWARD DECK 458 other. The control of the winches js located in the pilot house. The four controllers, one for each motor, for the forward boom are located at the for- ward end of the pilot house. For the aft booms, there are two sets of con- trollers, one located at each side of the pilot house, either of which can be used. The object of this arrangement is to give the operator an unobstructed view of the operations of the booms under all conditions. The controllers are of the type known as "master switches.' They do not control motors directly, but control the operation of a series of magnetically actuated switches, which make the actual connections. These switches are mount- ed on panels located in the motor com- partment. Advantages claimed for this arrangement are that the master switches handle only the small currents needed to energize the magnets and so are light in construction and_ easily handled; the heavy cables carrying the motor currents are of minimum length, and do not have to be run up to the pilot house and down again; the magnet switches permit the use of automatic acceleration, that is, the operator is not obliged to operate the master switches slowly in order to prevent burning out che motors by applying the currents too suddenly. He merely moves the handles at any speed he pleases, and the magnet switches then close in the proper order and at the proper rate. -The motors WHILE THE VIEW AT THE RIGHT SHOWS THE HANDLING GEAR IN THE PILO1