Tramway Scheme.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 135, 16 September 1910, Page 7

Tramway Scheme.

CONSULTING ENGINEER'S REPORT. ABOUT £50,000 REQUIRED. Mr. F. Black, A.M.1.E.E., has furnished his report to the Borough Council concerning the proposal to establish an electric tramway service in the borough and suburbs of New Plymouth, and upon the present electrical installation and its proposed extension. The report is very full and comprehensive, covering some sixteen typewritten foolscap sheets, and we are unable to publish it in full, but the following summary con- 1 tains the salient features. Mr. Black opens with a paragraph, as follows, on (PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. I In considering the establishment of a tramway undertaking, .the most important factor is the probable development of the town and district within the near future. Usually a town's progress can reasonably be anticipated from a study of its statistics and business conditions, but in the case of New Plymouth there are exceptional features which make it a matter of difficulty to estimate what the future development is likely to be. These are the importam harbour works projected, with the consequent expansion of the town as a shipping centre, arid the opening up of the petroleum oil field, with the great stimulus it will give to the district as soon as the oil output is on a commercial footing. On these enterprises depends the possibility of rapid growth of population, and a demand for transit facilities on a scale considerably larger than can be entertained at present. It , must be recognised, however, ■ that the influence of these undertakings cannot, yet be gauged sufficiently to justify planning works of a size that the borough might hesitate to adopt under more ordinary circumstances. Having this in mind, I have considered the tramway proposals without regard to any abnormal increase in population thai may be in store for the district at an early date; I have at the same time kept in view certain features in design which will make it possible .to enlarge the scope and usefulness of the undertaking without causing waste or dela/, whenever the need may arise.

ROUTE. In Fitzroy, the line should, I consider, be' constructed up to the Waiwakaiho ■bridge, for Devon Street up to this point,. 13 part oi the main route needed 10 serve the immediate district, and it also forms a part of the route along which any future extension of the tramway at this end of the system will have to be constructed. Within the borough, the route must, of course be along Devon Street, and as the railway station requires to be served, the proposal to continue the route along Devon Street west, in addition to the station route, needs consideration. It is necessary to jremember that a town such as New Plymouth with a population amounting at present, tor tramway purposes, to less than 8,000, cannot ahoru to be over-generous in the provision of route mileage. Every length of proposed track requires to be closely scrutinised before being sanctioned, and in earning its revenue it ■must not draw upon the. business that another and, necessary part of the system can undertake. The town is not yet large enough to justify the duplication'of any part/of the route toy parallel or loop lines, and to construct such will- simply iead to the indefinite postponement of useful branch lines that should have first consideration when the tramway business becomes firmly established. Having regard to the financial results of the undertaking, I' consider that the Devon Street west route, with connection to St. Aubyn Street, involving as it does nearly three-quar-ters of a mile of duplication, should be omitted from the present scheme. To 'reach the railway station the best route is along Egmont Street, which in comparison with Brougham Street, U wider and better serves the business area of the town. Thence westward, St. Aubyn Street and South Road, form the natural route.

The matter of fixing upon the terminus at the Breakwater is affected by the! ! railway crossing the road, 150 yards east' of the wharf. If the tramway crossed, I the railway line an expenditure rimning into several hundred? of pounds j will be incurred in providing crossing | work, signal cabins, signals and de-rail-'ing switches to meet the requirements of the Railway Department, and thereafter an annual charge for the constant attendance of a signalman. As''the track after crossing the railway would I only extend the short distance mention-1 ed, I consider that the liability which the tramway must incur for the cros-i sing, amounting in all to over £SOO per annum, should not be undertaken.' The alternatives are: (a) To make the terminus on the east side of the rail-, way crossing, and (b) to arrange with the Railway Department, if possible, fori the abolition of the level crossing by I (removal of the line (west of the cros-1 sing) over to the existing road, and the handing over, in exchange for the ,ro#d,. of the vacated railway land to be used iff forming the new road, thus enahling. the tramway to reach a terminus oppot site the wharf without having to'.cross the railway. Alternative (b) involves a; sharper curve for the railway where it enters upon the wharf, and it would be necessary to come to an agreement with the Department as to payment for cost of the alterations. Alternative (a) would mean, perhaps, .some little inconvenience for passengers proceeding to and from steamers, but as it avoids the expending .of tramway capital, on non-tramway works, and has the merit of not preventing the adoption of alternative (b) at a later date when finance warrants, it is the one I recommend. The length of route, as scaled from plans, will then be as follows: Miles Chains. Bridge, Fitzroy to borough boundary b '-° In borough: Devon, Egmont . and St. Aubyn Sts 1 ?» Borough boundary to railway crossing near Breakwater 1 ot> Add for connecting line to depot. _ Total '. 4 52 TRAFFIC DISTRIBUTION. The present distribution of population «ives a higher density on the eastern section of the route than on the western but I should expect the latter with its 'service to the oil field, harbour and attractive coast line to give as good a traffic as the former, and ultimately to surpass it in value. The climatic conditions are such as to foster the use of cars when a quick, convenient and comfortable service is available. The outer residential areas will be enabled to develop as they have no opportunity of doing now, and will thus furnish a much, larger traffic than their present popula- j flta would indicate. As to the effect this -will have on the central portion of I tit* tfuitfww it '* gMif&i aa^s* s *-

experience that the business area of a town becomes steadily more valuable and sought after by the trading and manufacturing interests when rapid transit facilities exist. The consequent gradual re-adjustment of population not only leads to more constant traffic, but improves living conditions by counteracting any tendency to congestion i:i the central areas. I understand that already thero is a fair amount of pleasure traffic frc;.i the town to the Breakwater district. This must develop largely when , electric cars are provided, for the natural attractions are of a high order, and the business should become a valuable feature" of. the line's operations. The volume of passenger traffic to and from steamers in the harbour,- will not, in my opinion, be much.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS. Throughout the route there are no engineering difficulties. None of the grades are exceptional- for electric tramway operation, the worst one being 1 in 21 for a length of 12% chains, in Devon Street; this is far from being severe. The streets on the route are reasonably wide everywhere, with the slight exception of a short length of Breakwater road (from the railway crossing to Ngamotu road corner) where the width is 22 feet, but this is not a serious matter. CONSTRUCTION. The form of construction that I recommend is—for the track, ballasted sleepers with 901ba>per yard rails, ana for the overhead work, span wire and bracket arm, with slung (tangential) suspension of trolley wires. This represents a very suitable type of standard practice, and the estimates given further on are for work embodying improvements , recently introduced and proved to be of value in reducing the annual iost df maintenance. . Mr. Black gives reasons why the overboomed Edison battery cars should not be, adopted. With regard to gauge of track, there are two standards available—the 4ft 8y 2 in. and the 3ft 6in. Although the streets of New Plymouth are wide enough for the former, the desirability of limiting the cost of construction : wherevtr it can be done in reason, induces me to prefer the latter.

ROLLING STOCK. On undertakings where the numbei of cars required is small, and where climatic conditions are never extreme, the most serviceable'type of car is the •'combination single decker," which is of open sty.e for one half its length ana closed in for, the other half. Later on, when the traffic has developed and additional cars are necessary, other types may be considered. To give a uniform service of 14 minutes headway in each direction, live cars will require to be running. I do not anticipate that normal traffic demands will make it desirable to provide a greater total, than this for some time to comei so that allowing for one car being in reserve, except on holidays, four cars will be available for the ordinary work. xHowever conveiiieat it wouldbe to.run a service of less than 14 mhiutef headway on special occasions, I am of opinion that the additional car required .to enable this to be' done, would not earn sufficient in the* year to clear off its annual cost. The seating capacity of the cars should be about 30 passengers. POWER PLANT AT SUB-STATION. It is necessary that the high tension alternating current supplied- by the gentrating station, should be converted into direct current for use on the tramway. The best means of effecting, this, having regard, to all' the' conditions, is I consiuer, to instat two machines of the type known as "cascade" or motor-con-verters. It is of considerable importance in this undertaking that the very fluctuating load common to all tramways shall not be directly imposed on the transmission line and the turbogenerators of the power station. I recommend that for the present, at any rate, the' existing transmission line be utilised for conveying both the tramway and lighting energy to "the sub-station, and to make this possible a storage battery and reversible booster must be installed in conjunction with .the motorconverters. By this means;.the,load fluctuations will be dealt. with f by. the battery, and the converters will always 'run-under a steady load, bo :that, the same transmission line . '.will' then efficiently serve both the. traction;-and public supply services, while with regard to the power station plant two important ends will be attained, viz., there will be no need to constantly run separate generating.sets for the two services, arid the great difficulty of satisfactorily governing turbines running on very unsteady loads, will be avoided. The battery must be installed at the sub-station, and should be of a size .capable of operating a 7-car undertaking, with provision for increasing it's capacity by adding new plates, sufficient to ultimately about double its. original outPU j>UB-STATION, CAR DEPOT, AND OEFICES. '' ' When all the buildings required for a traction and. lighting undertaking can be erected on the same site, it is desirable that it should be done. The existing sub-station in .Liardet Street will, I understand, have to be remoTCdisooner or later to the Council's section .adjoining. Even were this not the, Case an extensive re-arrahgement of; plant aid additions to the building would be necessary before traction work could be undertaken, so that a new location is practically essential. The section referred to is diminished in available area bv the steep bank and old railway site; it will, I believe, be of sufficient size for a new, sub-station, car shed and ,iccs but -accommodation for future ears will have tp be provided elsewhere. As a set off. to the disadvantage involved in, thin, .land of less value, situated out of town, .can be utilised -when the need arises. In fact, it is a fine point, whether it would not be. as well to place the car.shed on a less valuable; site at once and save the £7OO that will otherwise go in building the connecting line along Liardet Street; this is a matter that can be more clearly investigated later on At. the sub-station a separate battery room will be required, and at the car shed a small repair shop with some machine tools must 1,6 CAR SERVICE, WORKING COST AND REVENUE. For ascertaining the approximate annual car mileage I have assumed a through service from terminus to ter■minus for all trips, a running time oi 100 hours per week, a normal ear headway in each direction of 18 minutes, and a 14 minutes headway for maximum traffic. I am satisfied that until the population served has increased 7 or 8 per cent, beyond the number on which my estimate of revenue is based, th< car mileage resulting from this service is as large as financial consideration! will allow. It works out as follows:-Fitzroy-borough boundary ..... 20,3* In borough ..........■: ™.l* Borough boundary-Breakwater 58,685 idlal Aiaaiu :ar .. . ; ; 157,154

I The working expenses per car mile will I depend to some extent upon the price at which the generating station, when enlarged, can supply power for traction purposes. In combined undertakings Hie tramway must be treated as a wholesale customer of the lighting and power department, and where, as m this case, delivery of the current is given in the sub-station and the consumption is at a steady rate over long hours, it can profitably be supplied at a mucii lower price than that charged to small consumers who have to be reached by mains, and whose demand is of an intermittent and short hour character 1 estimate that the charge to the tramway will not exceed iy 8 d per unit, though it must be understood that this price may be subject to some slight variation when the new conditions of the station's working are actually ascertained. Taking the consumption at 1 unit per car mile the cost of power will be £737 Management and labour I estimate at £3,104, and repairs, maintenance, stores and sundry expenses at £1,580, making the total working expenses £5,421. Coming now to the probable revenue of the undertaking, size of population is the first consideration. A tramway represents capital invested for a long term of years, "and therefore it is not the number of people served in the first year of operation that determines the financial prospects. Owing to the difficulty, however, .of forecasting . the growth of population over several years, it is found best to allow for an increase of about 10 per cent, in cases where no unusual conditions exist to restrict a district's development. I consider this rule may' reasonably be applied to New Plymouth, so that on the basis of the present population in the district affected by the tramwayß of 7,500, the growth to be taken into account will bring the total to 8,250. The average yearly revenue per head of the population, I estimate, after reviewing the conditions as closely as possible *and comparing them with those on other undertakings, at 17s, or a total amount of £7,012. During tie first year of working the revenue per head will probably be rather less than this, fdr several months are always required to bring about some readjustment of population, which the tramway will cause. FAKES. The scale of fares that should be adopted is a matter for more detailed consideration when the actual service comes to be drawn upi I consider that its basis should be penny sections Ho ensure the widest possible use being made of the cars. If this plan be followed the Fitzroy route should have two sections and the Breakwater route three, so that through fares would be 2d andl 3d respectively.

CAPITAL COST. For the construction of the undertaking as recommended my estimate of cost is as follows: — Track, single line with passing places, 4m. 52chs. at £4,680 £21,762 Overhead construction at £BSO £3,953 Feeder cables £4OO Rolling stock, 5 cars at £9OO £4,500 Sub-station, plant and proportion, of building £3,700 Car shed with tracks ■ and repair shop ..:... £I,BOO £36,115 Contingencies and Engineering, 10 per cent. £3,011 Total £39,726 ; SUMMARY OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE. Revenue at 17s per head £7,012 Working tost ' ' £5,421 v.'apit;u charges at 5 per cent, on £39,726 £1,986 £7,407 Loss £395 EXTENSION OF POWER STATION PLANT. .Mr. Black also submits a report-on the extension of the v power station plant, and strongly supports Mr. Black, the local electrical engineer, in his request for the installation of further plant which he considers absolutely imperative. This report will be published later. Copies of the Report are being circulated amongst members of the borough Council .and the Tramways Committeie, and will be considered by the Council at an adjourned meeting on Tuesday evening next.