THE WANGANUI TRAM SYSTEM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 36, 8 March 1909, Page 4

THE WANGANUI TRAM SYSTEM.

While attending the recent Press Conference at Wanganui, a representative of the Timaru Herald made some enquiries into the working of the new tram lervice, chiefly with the idea of finding out whether such a scheme would be practicable for Timaru. The two towns have almost equal populations, and if the trams can pay in one town, there is no reason why they should not be able to achieve the same success in the other The Wanganui system is as yet a small one, and first commenced running on December 10th of last year. The service is owned by the Borough Council, who obtained a loan of £42,000, which covered the cost of everything, including the power-house and buildings, engines, dynamos, -trams, erection of poles, and construction of lines extending over five miles. The power is obtained from two suction gaa producer engines, each 132 b.h.p,, one being kept as a stand-by, and two 75 k.w. EVctrieal Con&tJ-uotiouCompany's dynamos, directly coupled. It will be seen from this that a duplicate plant is kept for emergencies, and if the producer gas plant should fail, provision is made for a supply of town gas, which can be connected, if —necessary, without any loss of time or stoppage. The gas-works, as well as the tram service, being owned by the Borough Council, no electrical power is yet supplied to private consumers. The five miles of tram line tap the suburb of Aramoiho, .three milefc out, and the racecourse is also connected. The cost of running the trams work out at £23 per day, including fuel, wages, salaries, interest, depreciation, etc. The taking for last month was about £24 per day, and for the previous month it was slightly greater. Four cars are at present running, and there arc two on order. Since the inauguration of the service there has been nothing in the way of a serious stop or accident. There are side poles for the track, and a 4ft Gin gauge is used The weight of the rails, which are spiked to wooden sleepers, is 031b per yard. When fully loaded cacn car weighs 8 tons. The system, is without doubt firstclass, and is one which Wanganui people may well be proud of. Just now their population is 10,000. By being leveller, Wanganui may be claimed to be better suited for a tram service than Timaru, but this is a point scarcely worth considering, as the additional power required to take a car up a hill would not by any means strain the service. The only chance of a strain being brought upon the engines would be in the event of all cars simultaneously climbing hills, but provision could be made to prevent such a tiling occurring. There is no denying the fact that people, think nothing of riding in a tram when the cost is only a Id or 2d, and by encouraging the townspeople through cheap fares, there is little doubt that a system similar to that of Wanganui could Im> successfully worked ill Timaru. It is stated that I.iverenrgill is discussing the question of instituting an electric tram service. I