THE PROPOSED TRAMWAYS

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2610, 18 September 1909, Page 2

THE PROPOSED TRAMWAYS

SOMETHING ABOUT PETROL MOTORS.

The following are the particulars furnished by Sidney Straker and Squire, Ltd., London., in respect of petrol motor tramcars which Mr J. R. Jones recommends, for uso on Gisborne thoroughfares:

In cases where self-contained cars are employed, the petrol tramoar offers the best solution as a practical and economical method of maintaining a reliable and efficient service, and is invaluable, viz: *

Where short lines do not admit of electrification. Where new townships cannot bear the cost of the electric system. Where a service is not sufficiently frequent to admit of electrification proving economical. Where motor traction is indispensable and where no roads exist to admit of its employment. Where the best economy is indispensable. Where cleanliness and efficiency are essential. Where a low capital outlay is an important factor in laying down new tramways. The motor engine and gear : s disposed of in a similar manner to that Avhich is the common practice on ordinary motor cars. Two speed gears are fixed, giving speeds of four and eight miles per hour respectively. Thirty passengers, as well as a driver and conductor, can be accommodated in e-acli car. The following extract from ‘"The Commercial Motor” of a recent date are of special interest, for it refers to the use of petrol motor trains at the International Exhibition held in London : “The probable value of the independent, motor-driven, rail vehicle has for some years past been a subject of considerable interest to the designers and constructors of road vehicles- lt_ will be known to many readers of this Murnal that various efforts have been made in the past to produce machines of this class which' should, in special cases, perform as satisfactorily under railway or tramway conditions as has the motor wagon, in all its various guises, on the common highway. Instances of such enterprise may bo found in the gas-engine-driven tramcars which met with a certain measure of success in this and other countries, in various designs of petrol-propelled and steamdriven tramcars, and in the incorporation of the internal-combustion engine into the designs of small railway locomotives. Various circumstances have hitlierto combined to retard the full development of this class of work,, and not the least of these has been the innate conservation of many railway and tramway engineers and managers. As a practical exposition of the constructioi.~ a! possibilities of a self-contained, motor, rail-car system, Sidney Straker and Squire, Ltd., of Nelson Square, Blaclkfriars, S.E., have afforded a workmanlike and satisfactory example in the recently-designed machines that have been delivered to the Exhibition Pleasure Car Co., and which are now' running in the grounds or the Imperial International Exhibition at Shepherd’s Bush.” There are now 12 tramcars in the grounds at Shepherd's Bush, and they are all the same type. “These trains present a thoroughly Avorlcinanlike arid carefully-designed appearance,- they bear no evidence of having been adapted from some other form of vehicle to the present requirements.” “The satisfactory working of the cars has already resulted in the receipt by Messrs- Straker and Squire of a very large number of enquiries from all quarters, for vehicles to be constructed on this system, with various adaptions to suit local conditions in various parts of the Avorld.”