TRAMS AND LIGHTING.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1012, 30 December 1910, Page 6

TRAMS AND LIGHTING.

SUMMED UP FOR 1910. Comparatively speaking,', tile closing year, -i viewed from tho standpoint of the city tramway authorities, lias "been a 1 •quiet one.- There have been.; no very big works ia progress, the outstanding workbeing the start of the "Wadcstown extension, tho first sod of which whs turned on April 27. It is anticipated that cars \vill> be running on this lino before the middle of next year. The extension will put another 6315 fqet on to the permanent way< in the city. ' Traffic, generally has been good, especially in the last part of the year, the principal increase having beqiv 011 the ;lvilbirnie route, which now needs 1 a 5-minuto - service of large cars to meet requirements. In. order to facilitated.the working of'tho increasing traffic, tho duplication of'tlie track in Moxhani Avenue from Waitoa, Eoad to Nelson Street had to be undertaken, and this work has just been completed. This point', is the half-way passing, mark- between Lambton Station and Miraraar and Seatoun, and the frequent delays at the liops in the past demanded alteration.- The dangerous loop, at ]S T elson Stree« has now been done'away with as a result of the duplication,' which has proved a great improvement in coping with heavy traffic. It is probable that a further duplication of the line down to tho old Kilbirni© Hotel-will have to be undertaken next year, thus giving a double lin-9 from tho tunnel to the old hotel. The Thorndon Quay lino was also duplicated from Davis Street during the year. Ia order to give a clear approach to the Governor's new residence, the centre poles in Sussex Square have been removed, and ; at the .present time similar work is nearing completion from Clyde Quay to Oriental Bay; - Another-improvement on the Oriental Bay track will be a loop at Hay' Street/ ' , -.v' ; One of the most important works in tho city'was the acquisition by the council of a portion" of the frontage of the Union Clothing , Company's • premises. at the corner of Manners and Cuba Streets, and the widening of this previously dangerous spot. ; ■. The New Car^hed. The tender of Mr. A. Eeynell, at <£3945, was accepted in' May for the erection-of a-new car-shed at Thorndon. This building, whiph will accommodate 17 of tho largest type of car, is now nearing completion, and will, it ( is anticipated, he ready-; to receive cars by Easter.

New Rolling Stock. Two Hong-Kong .cars-.-were altered during tho year, and-turned into Palace cars, suitable for work on the Brooklyn hill. 'At tho present time the.conversion of-six box . cars into cars of the combination .typo is. in progress, two of the cars being-completed-and-ready for the tracks.' - Contracts'have also "been accepted for sis sets of - trucks' and equipment for no# cars. : Arrangements are also in hand lor tho construction of -a freight car. This will be in the nature of an experiment, but if experience warrants -an extension of the ; system it - will doubtless be , made. A special .'car was built during the. year for .the Brooklyn hill grades.- ' Machinery' was procured . during - the year for effecting repairs to the -engines and running plant; Previously this work had to be sent out, but' the department is .now in a position'to; do' the repairs, etc.; itself.. The' Paying-in Systom. • • ..The -old system, of, paying in. oyer the counter at Nowtown by 1 conductors has givta way to a new and up-to-date system. The old system necessitated clerks beiitg kspt' oil duty until as late as 1 a.m. Now, howeverj the conductors' make up their boxes" and*'pass th^in-' into 'a machine, Which acts .as' an ' automatic ' collector. The new arrangement ■eliminates the necessity for clerks being on duty in the evenings, or on Sundays. All, the boxes are cleared.in tho morning, and are sent down to the revenue office at Thorndon in hampers.'' The ■ scheme lias been a thorough success/ and-it'is,;the intention of the BejiiiWMent l, to 'iShlaVgo' the system' by erecting automatic collectors: at the hew sheds at Thorndon, and also at th'o main office opposite the Lambton Station. Paying-in will tlien be done by machinery all over tho system. ,

Increase of Waiting-Sheds. Following on tho policy of the previous year, a number of new waiting-sheds were erected at various stopping-places. One was put. up near the Lanibton Station, ono at;Moxham Avenue, and another at Kilbirnie." A small waitiiig-room. was erected at' Island 'Bay, ■ and the' room at Davis Street "was shifted to 'the other side of the road , for tjie convenience of passengers. Some very. accessary addi-tions-were made to the waiting-room. at the Courtimay Place , terminus, and it is. stated that further extensions of this much-used room are in view at, present, the accommodation now available being' totally inadequate. Traffic Arrangements. : The department is at present running 42 cars throughout . the , day-time, the number being increased to 72 at 5 o'clock! In the early part of the year the services from Aro Street and Wallace Street were cut down after 8 p.m., when the cars only ran to Manners iStreet-and the Town Hall respectively. The. Miramar service was also reduced from a 40-minute to an 80minute service. — 1 " ; Fatal Accidents. ■ Two fatal accidents .occurred on the cars during ; the year. One .was caused by a man getting off. acar in motion'in Jervois Quay and the other, which happened in Courte'nay ■ I'lace,' resulted through' a man attempting to cross ;in front of the car. . Full inquiry was made into i both cases, and it was found that Bo;blame was attachable to the department.' ,

An experiment in the direction of re-placing-the street-'arc lamps by metallic filament lamps of 300 candle-power j's. at at present -being tried in 'Cuba Street, between' Mariners Street aiid Harris Street,''and the result is considered _so satisfactory .'that in -the future all extensions will be carried out : wifh the Osram lamps. r ' ■ ' . ' : A Glance at the Future.' .Works which will probably; be carried out..during the.coming year include the extension. of -the . track' fronr Lambton Quay through Customhouse Quay to.tho Post .Office, and the Charlotte Street extension 6clieme. Lighting Matters, \ The records'for the year show a steady progress in the. Lighting;. Department. At. the'present time there aro' something like 5070 connections, the increase in connections from' January 1 to December '24 being 920. as against 540 "for the previous year. The month of July constituted ,i record, no fewer than 101 new consumers being placed "on the books. This , record is. almost equalled by the total for the. present month, whicli is' on the fringe of 100 up to Saturday last. A special 'effort was made. to' increase the sale of electric. current by the introduction of electric stoves," heating appliances, etc., and .a reduction in the cost of .current- for these purposes.- . . A system of continuous meter-reading was brought into force in March, and ,is stated to bo working very satisfactorily. The street lighting was also'much improved during the year. At the present time there are 155?' street" lamps in the city' and Melrose, 104 in Kniwarra. and 137 in Onslow, or a total of 1800. The cost of the generation of current has been .considerably reduced bv the new turbine, which has carried the whole load practically throughout the year. With a view to further reducing the cost by being able to run the turbine continuously, it has been decided to remove two of the ivatcrtube boilers from the Harris Street works, and place . them alongside the 1000 horse-power boiler in the new extension. The contract for tho building in of the boilers has been Vet to Messrs. Mace and Nicholsop. Tenders have also been accepted for cconomiscrs for the boilers. It is anticipated that when these boilers are in working order tho cost of generation will he considerably reduced. ' ■