Borough Tramways

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 207, 21 January 1913, Page 8

Borough Tramways

MR. 1". BLACK'S RETORT. 1 FAVOt'liS THE OVERHEAD • ELECTRIC. Mr. Fred Black, M.T., E.E., Consulting Electric Engineer, has submitted a revised report to the New Plymouth Borough Council on the tramways proposals. Following is a digest of the report: Tn an outline of the conditions affecting the undertaking since the preparation of his first report some years ago, Mr. Black says that the cost of machinery and of works requiring manufactured materials was somewhat greater than it was then. Certain new legislation re-' kiting to tramways had come into force, the traffic prospects of the borough had improved owing to the oil-field developments, and finally other forms of transit facilities were making claims to consideration for municipal, service. TRAFFIC DEVELOPMENT. Continuing, Mr. Black says:—"The most important feature to note since I my former examination of the district" is the practical development of the oil j industry, which has taken place and is proceeding. The establishment of a re-1 finery and the investment of a considerable amount of capital in the oil field ' must he tlie means of not only increasing the borough's population but materially swelling the daily traffic between the town proper and Moturoa. It is not possible to estimate the extent of traffic that will quickly arise on this half of the tramway system when the oil export business becomes established, but it will be considerable, including, as it must do, traffic due to the greatly in- | creased amount of shipping that will be coming to the port." "It is but seldom that on any tramway undertaking is found such a combination of circumstances favorable to the growth of traffic as apply to this section of the proposed system. A new and | rising industry, involving in turn a considerable expansion of shipping trade, a harbor, an excursionist resort, and a district capable of becoming a residential quarter, are factors of great value. If the town is to profit fully by these developments the present business area must be linked up to tlie western side of the borough bv a system of communication thoroughly efficient at all points, for there can be little doubt that unless the best type of service is established the commercial centre of gravity will tend more and more to shift out to the actual vicinity of the new activities.'" Mr. Black added that the increased importance of the Moturoa route would naturally be reflected on the Fitzroy line, and that it might reasonably be anticipated that transit facilities would have to be provided at an early date. ROUTES.

The routes, additional to those formerly 'reported on, which now had to be considered, were: ' (a) From the level railway crossing on the Breakwater road to the foot of' the breakwater; (b) Liardet street to Recreation Grounds gate; (e) Devon street from Egmont street to Cutfield road and along the latter to St. Aubvn street, as an alternative to that part of St. Aubyn street between the railway station and Outfield road; (d) Devon street from Egmont street to Morley street and along the latter to St. Aubyn street, as an alter-, native to (c), and also that part of St. Aubyn street between the railway station and Morley street. Proceeding, Mr. Black remarks that, as pointed out in his first report, the cost of maintaining a; tramway crossing over the railway would be out of all proportion to the benefit derived from running the cars some 150 yards further along the road. He saw no other

practicable way of extending. the tramway to the foot of the breakwater than by providing a road which did not cross the railway but continued parallel with it. To effect this, it would be necessary to cut away the bank which bordered the railway and on the space thus obtained construct the road along which the tramway was to be laid. He estimated the cost of the track referred to and the overhead wiring 011 this additional route at £760. LIARDET STREET LINE. "Tn view of the present value of land in Liardet street." continued the report, "it is questionable whether the tramway sheds and reserve space for extension should be located there, notwithstanding the advantages of having them beside the power plant. It will be less costly to provide this accommodation further from the eeijtre of the town, and if this is done a line along Liardet street must be considered only in relation to passenger traffic. ,So far as this street is concerned I do not think the probable traffic sufficient to warrant the adoption of the route at present. I The chief source of revenue would be the sports traffic to. the Recreation Ground. but this is too intermittent to compensate for the majority of days in the year when owing to the. shortness of the line the population served would be too limited to furnish payable traffic. If tbo line is built now it should be regarded primarily as a first instalment, towards a route which ultimately will serve either the Avenue road or Carrington road districts. In this event the earlier the date at which it is extended the better will be its prospects of becoming a self-supporting part of the system. Including the necessary double track at the junction with the main line and one loop near the Recreation Grounds gate, my estimate of track and overhead wiring'cost is £2708. RAILWAY STATION" SERVICE. Dealing with routes (<;) and (d) }fr. Mack states: '•] 11 considering these alternatives, the point to note is that the adoption of either of them leaves the railway station to be served by a short branch from the rnain'line along Egmont street. It may be regarded as inevitable under these circumstances that the station service will be infrequent and of practically no value from a revenueproducing point of view. To reach the station, cars would have to be diverted from tlie main line, with consequent delay and annoyance to passengers proceeding to all other points, and to minimise this the only course open—since a 1 shuttle service on the branch itself would be impracticable—would be to

send us few ears us possible. So far I as Hie suggested route along Devci ] street with connect:.in t» St. Aub; street either by Morley street or Cutlield roail is"concerned, J have nothing to urge again?!: it: of the two connections 1 prefer that along (.'iitlield road. Devon j street has the advantage of being wider that St. Aubyn street, and is likely to form part of a future route serving the Elliott road district. These are the points in its favor, hut its adoption in , preference to St. Auhyn street for tho present scheme must, as explained, virtually side-track the railway station. In fact, I consider that if the St. Aubyn street route he not adopted, it would be | wiser not to construct the Egniont street branch, seeing that its. revenueearning power would be so small and its utility so restricted.'' COST OF ROUTES. The report then set out the following estimate of the cost of these routes in .sections, together with an estimate of the Egniont street branch. —• £ Devon St. and Outfield Rd 5382 Devon St. and Morley St 4707 Railway Station to Outfield Rd. .. 3403 Railway Station to Morley St. .. 2728 Egmont St. from Devon St. to Railway Station 1757 I MAIN LINE.

Mr. Black mentioned that he had carefully revised the original estimates relating to the through route from the W.iiwakaiho bridge via Devon, Egniont and St. Aubyn streets and South road to the railway crossing near the breakwater. At the existing prices of materials and labor the cost of this work he estimated would be £28,800. In the event of the proposed extension to the foot of the breakwater being adopted this amount would he £28,450. In these circumstances the passing place (loop) for cars at the end of the line would not then be required adjacent to the railway crossing, but near to the Breakwater. The coist of such passing place is included in the estimate given for the extension. Should a main line route via Devon 1 street West and Outfield road or Morlev street (in lieu.of St. Auhyn street) be adopted the estimates just given would apply to it, as the amount of construction would be virtually the same. In this case the cost of the Egniont street line (already given) must be added if it were decided to instal it. SUMMARY 0F ROUTE COSTS. The summary of route costs was set out as follows: £ Fitzroy to railway crossing, via Egmont and St. Aubyn Sts... 2?,800 Fitzrov to railway crossing, via Outfield Rd. or Morley St., with branch to railway stn. 30,557 For extension of (1) or (2) to foot of breakwater, add .... 410 For branch on Liardet St. to ; Recreation Grounds, add .... 2,706 If branch on Egmont St. to railway station be omitted from (2) deduct 1,757 The whole of the foregoing estimated • costs were, he continued, based upon recent prices and quotations for similar work, but did not include the usual 10 per cent, for engineering and contingencies, nor anything for altering the Post and Telegraph Department's wires (estimated at £4OO, if undertaken simultaneously with certain alterations contemplated by the Department). With regard to the former, when a definite route or routes is adopted the percentage on tlie cost of such should be added. CONSTRUCTION. In view of the altered traffic prospects, and the recent legislation dealing with the internal arrangement (curtailing the seating of ears), he recommended that the track gauge should be the standard one of 4ft 8y 2 in instead of 3ft 6in. This would secure greater seating capacity. With regard to the rolling stock itself, lfe considered that should Liardet and Egmont streets be adopted as branches a sixth car would become necessary. If this were decided on it would be desirable, to consider the adoption of two types, of cars, as, for instance, four combinations and two bogies. Tlie arrangement of the power supply plant should be generally on tlie principles formerly recommended, but after learning from the borough electri- ' cal engineer of the development of the power supply in the borough he co/» sidered that the addition of a tramway load would render it most desirable that a duplicate transmission line from the generating station should be construct: ed. With this line provided, the tramway and at least a part of the ordinary industrial power load could be carried apart from the lighting load during normal operation, and yet be available for all loads on emergency. His estimate of the present cost (including £IOOO for building) was £4400. The cost of rolling stock had also increased, and under existing conditions his estimate for five ears delivered and erected was £9500. FITZROY TO THE BREAKWATER. Mr. Black gave the following summary of the capital cost for the tramway system from Fitzroy to the Breakwater, via Egmont street:—

Track and overhead work 29,210 Alterations to telegraphs 400 Feeders (approximate) 500 Rolling stock (5 cars) 5.500 Sub-station equipment 4,400 Car shed and repair shop 1,800 Total £41,810 Engineering ar.f: contingencies, 10 per cent. 4.180 Grand total £45,990 SYSTEM TO BE INSTALLED.

Mr (teal? as follows with the system to be installed: —"As my instructions were to report on a tramway | system T have not prepared any estimates for other systems of transport, but I interpret the direction as to the best system to be installed to refer to a general comparison between a tramway and a trackless trolley or petrol motor 'bus undertaking. Of the two latter the trackless trolley system of 'buses is unquestionably the better for any conditions where congested traffic is not the daily and hourly rule. The success of the motor 'buses in London is continually quoted as a reason why they should be adopted in all sorts of town's where the conditions are not similar in one respect. The trackless trolley 'bus is a motor 'bus. but differs from

the petrol vehicle in that it draws its power from a central station through I overhead wirr?. it therefore has. the ' great advantage of a inueli cheaper power than petrol gives, and the carrying only of a simple electric motor with one moving' part instead of a miniature power station consist n;;' of petrol engines, gear boxes, differential mechanism and much else. "Both trackless trolley and motor 'buses are exceedingly severe on road surfaces, and the petrol system requires paved roads of first-class quality if it is to operate at a reasonable maintenance cost. I lnve this month travelled on two different motor 'bus systems recently started in Ilawke's Bay. In both cases, notwithstanding that the macadamised roads run over are among the best in Xew Zealand, the vibration and jolting at even a moderate speed are most unpleasant. Apart from the discomfort caused, this vibration tells on the engines and entails a heavier upkeep than where wood blocking or other expensive paving is available. As it is impossible to use pneumatic tyres on motor 'buses, the weight of the vehicle and load (from 6 to 6 y 2 tons) acts very detrimentally on macadam construction of any kind. "It is conceded by practically all motor 'bus advocates that the overhead ] trolley electric tramway is the most efficient transport system in existence, and (excepting only in the special circumstances applying to parts of London) it is only on the grounds of comparative cheapness in first cost that the - 'bus system is put forward. Admittedly the tramway is tlie most expensive of the three systems, but it is t/he cheapest in working cost, the most efficient and reliable as a transport agency, and in regard to the safety of passengers as well as of all road users on the routes worked, it is, according to the British Board of Trade returns, far superior to any system of independent vehicles. It is not necessary for me to do more than call attention to the foregoing conditions that have to be kept in mind. The ratepayers have v to decide for themselves whether they want the more costiv but far more efficient and dependable 1 system or the cheaper system with its attendant increased cost of maintaining rtads.

COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATIONS. As a result of its deliberations the Tramways' Committee recommended:— (1) That the system to be adopted i» New Plymouth be the overhead trolley electric tramway system. (2) That the line of route be from the Waiwakaiho Bridge, Fitzroy, > to the foot of the Breakwater, via Devon, Egmont, and St. Aubyn streets, with a branch along Devon street from Egmont street to Morley street. (3) That the necessary steps be taken to take a poll of the ratepayers upon the proposal of the council to raise a special loan of £55,000 for the construction of electric tramways within the Borough of New Plymouth—such loan to be for a period of twenty years and to bear interest not exceeding £5 per cent, per annum, with y« per cent, sinking fund additional. AUSTRALIAN SYSTEMS. REPORT BY CR. CLARKE. While on a visit to Australia recently, Cr. Clarke took opportunity to make enquiries regarding the working of tramway systems in Melbourne and Sydney, and as a result has submitted a report to the Council, in which the following remarks occur:—Mr. Moncks, the Australian manager of the Edison Storage Battery Company, kindly gave me all information and arranged to have the test of their cars on' November 23, but owing to further difficulties with the Government, who control the Sydney tramways, the matter was further delayed until February, 1913, so that unfortunately not being in the position to wait until then, I was unable to witness any test of the storage battery. "At your request I visited Melbourne , with the idea of observing a supposed motor bus service there. I found, however, that this had disappeared, apparently not -having been found a profitable investment. The bus was still there, and was running on race days and other holidays. I was not much impressed with this and the general opinion was that the roadway in Melbourne was not good enough for motor bus service. This

would apply a great deal more so to New Plymouth, as I found the Melbourne streets considerably better than ours. While in Melbourne I was able to see all systems of trams, including the trolley, cable, horse and steam cars, as some of these latter two are still in ex-

'noc there. Having no experience of the storage battery I cannot speak on its merits, but I am of opinion that if the council considers this system it will be probably more than a year before anything will be done. "With regard to all other systems I have no doubt in my own mind that for New Plymouth the only svstem is the overhead trolley system. This is not only my own opinion, but is the advice I received from several leading tramway engineers in Australia, after having fully described the position of our electric system here."

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