A STORAGE BATTERY TROLLEY-BUS.
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Interesting Innovation at Work in Yorkshire.
T. HOSE engaged in commercial pursuits often look with amazement at the steps adopted by those in charge of municipal undertakings, failing to realize that the conditions under which business is dime by the officials of kcal authorities are very -different. from those met by one. engaged in the industry. Municipal undertakings
• present opportunities for development unknown in other branches of trade, and it is to. the credit of those who are employed by many of the bigger cities and laorou'ghs of the country that they are just as much alive and fully as enterprising as those engaged under private •employers and limited companies.
• Reference has been made in the pages of The Commercial Motor on Many occasions to the bold line of action which has been taken in recent years in transport matters by the responsible officials of the Bradford City Tramways Department. In the evolution of ideas for the efficient working of the tramways, Bradford has been well forward, not only in the manner in which the heavy traffic of a very hilly city has been dealt with, but in perfecting appliances for safety and the better working. of the system. In other directions. Bradford has'been ahead in its transport developments, and, although these developments have naturally been on lines allied to tramway practice, in many instances they have been of particular interest to those engaged in general transport.
Bradford's trolley-bus system is • of particular interest, but another development., a trolley-busstorage-battery vehicle, used for the conveyance of parcels between Bradford and Leeds, still more nearly approaches customary transport practice tham the trolley-bus. -The densely populated West . Riding, with large cities adjoining -each other on every hand, offers road transport facilities met with in few other districts, but it is quite possible that a vehicle designed to meet the conditions which exist in this particular area would be suitable for -work in no other part of the world. As a matter of fact, in designing a vehicle to meet the requirements of this particular case, a lorry has been produced •which has many advantages, but it would be of no general use unless the road transport of this country was completely revolutionized. In every field the trend of 'design and invention is dictated, in the first instance, by the necessity for economy, and it is the utilization of the available facilities in the most economical way that has resulted in this hybrid vehicle being manufactured.
To the tramways department the cheapest form of motive power is electricity. In the carriage of
parcels, from the parcels depot of the Bradford City tramways to the Leeds City parcels -depot, a supply of electricity is available through the overhead equipment of the tramways all the way with the exception of a short distance at either end of the journey. There is a through .route of tramcars from Bradford to Leeds and, for some tune, tramcars travelled all the way from Leeds to Bradford, using an arrangement designed by the Bradford tramways engineer of that day to allow a change of gauge. But the difficulty with the parcels was in travelling to and from the overhead equipment to the parcels offices, and in making detours away from the tramtrack to deliver loads.
For this reason, the principle of the storage battery vehicle was resorted to and, in. the illustvalions on the previous page, the containers for the special Edison batteries can beseen down the sides of the vehicle. Two trolley-poles are retained to allow the vehicle to use the 'overhead equipment of the rail-leas vehicles, but, in. the case of the vehicle using the tramway service for its supply of electricity, only one trolley pole is used. Alternative method's are available for dealing with the return current, one being as shown in one of the illustrations, where the conductor is to be seen seated at the rear of the lorry and dragging in the tramcar rail a metal-shod bamboo rod, to which is attached a cable attached to the frame ,of the lorry. In the other method a shoe is arranged under the front axle, which not only conducts the current to the line but also makes the steering automatic, the shoe being connected with the front wheels, which follow the tram-track, when the shoe engages with the line. In busy traffic, the men prefer to use the pole, because, in that case, short detours can be made away from the tram-track to allow tramcars to pass, or to allow the lorry to pass a tramcar which is picking up or setting down passengers.
The whole of the work in connection with the construction of the vehicle was carried out at the Thorn buryworks of the Tramway Department, and it was literally made up from scrap. There was scarcely a new part in the vehicle when it commenced running. The wheels are all odd ones, and other parts were taken after they had fulfilled a useful purpose elsewhere. The batteries were of special design, how
ever, to allow the charge to be taken into them when the lorry was running in contact with the tramway wires. The charge is also taken in much more quickly than in the case of the ordinary storagebattery vehicle.
Leaving the overhead equipment of either the tramway or trolley-bus system, all that is necessary is for the conductor to detach the trolley pole and fasten it down with the rope. A roomy body has been fitted, and the chassis was constructed for a thaee-ton load. Drawing current from the overhead equipment, a good speed can be maintained. In fact, there is no trouble with regard to overtaking tramcars, but, when the batteries are put into use, and particularly on a gradient, only a moderate speed can be maintained. The nine miles of very bad road to and from Leeds is usually run in 55 minute, and this allows two journeys per day to be made, so that, even if a faster vehicle were used, there would be no saving. Any distance can be covered when connected with the tramway equipment, but the maximum working distance when the batteries are in use is con sidered to be 15 miles.
So extensive is the network of tramways in the West Riding, however, that a very .considerable distance could be covered in this manner, and arrangements are being made with the Halifax Tramways Committee for a similar vehicle to be run between Halifax and Bradford.
All the cinema films used in Bradford are sent on from Leeds by this vehicle. on Mondays and Thursdays and, although the loads of parcels vary considerably, a good business is done between the two towns and that at a 'cheaper rate than can be quoted by the railway companies. The running cost is somewhat difficult to work out, owing to the .complicated conditions under which the vehicle works as between the two cities and 'under the two authorities, but it is said to be considerably cheaper than a petrol lorry would be, and as a matter of fact, it is a.lmest certain that the additional cost of running one extra vehicle is not felt by either the Leeds or the Braclferd tramways undertakings, so far as power cost is concerned.