XIII
EDISON\'SELECTRICRAILWAY
ASnarratedinChapterXVIII，thereweretwoelectricrailroadsinstalledbyEdisonatMenloPark——onein1880，originallyathirdofamilelong，butsubsequentlyincreasedtoaboutamileinlength，andtheotherin1882，aboutthreemileslong。Asthe1880roadwasbuiltverysoonafterEdison\'snotableimprovementsindynamomachines，andastheartofoperatingthemtothebestadvantagewasthenbeingdeveloped，thisearlyroadwassomewhatcrudeascomparedwiththerailroadof1882；butbothwerepracticableandserviceableforthepurposeofhaulingpassengersandfreight。
Thescopeofthepresentarticlewillbeconfinedtoadescriptionofthetechnicaldetailsofthesetwoinstallations。
Theillustrationoppositepage454oftheprecedingnarrativeshowsthefirstEdisonlocomotiveandtrainof1880atMenloPark。