Electric Tramcars or Motor Omnibuses ?
Page 6
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The following are reprints of the reports addressed to the Town Clerk of Oxford by the respective experts called in to advise the City Council. A comparison between the estimates and arguments advanced in this connection is of particular interest at the present juncture of events, for it is probable that the decision of the Oxford City Council to adopt electric traction will result in the imposition of a tramway rate to meet a deficit MR. STEPHEN SELLON'S REPORT.
" In response to the request contained in your letter of July reth, and availing myself of the further information received at the meeting of your committee and my subsequent visit, I now have the honour to present for your Council's consideration the conclusions to which I have come. To deal with the instructions in the letter quoted in the order stated ; first, ` the form of traction most suitable for Oxford, taking into account the interests of passengers, ratepayers, all classes of road users, and residents on the routes involved.' Considering, in the first place, the routes covered by the exisiting tramways, I have no hesitation in stating that the interests of all concerned will be best met by a tramway service constructed and worked on. modern lines. The feet that the existing tramways with the present service carry so large a traffic as that shown by the annual reports of the 'company proves conclusively that no other than a tramway method can give such good results. The general argument in favour of trainive.ys as agninst other systems of traction is that the additional capital expenditure results in a large economy in working expenses, from which it follows that, if the traffic is sufficiently great, the total of capital charges and of working expenses will be lower on a tramway than if carried by other methods of road traction. That this is the case in regard to the routes I am now considering is quite clear, because the passengers carried and the traffic receipts shown with horse traction are quite sufficient to justify the capital expenditure on an electric tramway of the best modern construction. This opinion is the result of my experience of 20 years over some en different undertakings, some new and some converted, representing about Goo miles in all, and an expenditure of £6,000,oao. Assuming for the moment that the receipts would remain at the same figure, the economy in working would more than off-set the capital charges involved. Therefore, I have no hesitation in recommending the Council that electric tramways will best meet the requirements.
". The assumption that the receipts from the traffic will remain the same is one not justified by experience. The reasonable presumption is that these figures will increase considerably, and to provide the necessary accommodation for such increase it will, in my opinion, be prudent to construct a greater length of double line than that which is found on the existing tramway routes. This is particularly the case as regards the main routes crossing at Carfax, where the lines in both directions should he doubled. On the north and south route this should he from the corner of Beaumont Street and St. Giles to the south end of the town hall buildings in St. AIdate's Street, and on the east and west route from the western end of Queen Street to the corner of Turl Street and Fligh Street. In view of the construction in parts of these streets, I propose to so construct the double lines there that whilst the cars are kept on their proper side of the road they will not be able to pass each other, thus leaving ample room for the other traffic on either side. In my view the doubling of the lines near Carfax is eminently desirable, not only for the purposes of the tramway traffic, but for the better regulation of the other road traffic, the observance by the tramcars of the rule of the road in such places being decidedly beneficial. " I have carefully considered the instructions of the committee, 'that the Council will not entertain any scheme involving the erection of posts and wires between the east end of Magda/en Bridge and the west end of Queen Street, nor between the north end of St. Giles' Street and Folly 13ricige, and will regard with special favour any scheme which dispenses entirely with posts and wires within the city.' The effeCt uf this decision s that within the limits prescribed either a conduit system or one of the surface-contact systems can. alone be considered. I have gone closely into this matter, and it appears to me that on the ground of expense a surface-contact system is the only one which can be adopted. Now the track mileage within the area from which posts and wires are barred is 2,434, and the electrical
equipment of this position on the surface-contact system will cost about _43,000 per track mile, or £7,300 within the area men
tioned. This figure is one which the scheme can bear, whilst the cost of a conduit would, in my opinion, make the annual capital charges assume an excessive proportion of the gross receipts.
I have to point out that both the surface-contact and the conduit systems involve an additional expense outside their own
cost, because there is interference with pipes and other works in the street. The amount of this is quite impossible to este. mate without a detailed knowledge of the subterranean works along the routes, and I have not allowed any particular amount for such work, The conduit system requiring excavation and construction to a depth of nearly 3ft., and the eurface-contact systems to a depth not exceeding 2tt. from the street surface, it will be obvious that the conduit is the more expensive in this. respect. The city engineer, who is thoroughly acquainted with. the local conditions, can give your committee a much closer estimate of the amount and cost of such work than I can venture to offer. It is claimed that the working expenses on a surfacecontact system are not greatly, if at all, in excess of those with an overhead equipment,
"The question of safety is, of course, of the greatest importance. The surface contact presents a greater potential danger than either the overhead or the conduit, because the live conductors from which the car derives its supply of power are, in the former case, on a level of the street surface. All the systems which have been brought forward provide, as a matter of course, that these live conductors or studs shall be alive only while a car is passing over and taking current from them, and that the onward passage of the car shall automatically disconnect and leave them dead. It will be obvious that the failure of this automatic disconnection will leave on. the street surface a charged conductor, capable of giving extremely severe shocks to any foot passengers or animal which may tread upon it. The great endeavour of all inventors in this field has, therefore, been to render the automatic action absolutely reliable. With one exception, the motive power of all the practicable surface-contact systems now on the market is derived from magnets carried below the car body. These magnets act upon movable iron pieces in the box under the stud and actuate switches connecting the stud surface to the supply cable. As soon as the car with its magnet moves on, the moving parts under the stud resume their normal position and the stud is disconnected. The exception has a mechanically-actuated switch worked by strikers carried on the car. One of the running rails is slotted, the strikers project downwards into the slot and there meet the actuating mechanism of the switch. A front striker turns current on to the stud, and a rear striker turns it off. The only remark I would make about this method is that it seems to involve the disadvantages of a conduit slot, in the street and a more expensive track construction. In this country there is only one town, as the committee are probably aware, in which a surface-contact system has been in practical use—viz., Wolverhampton. There were some initial troubles during the first months of operation in that town, some cases of animals being killed and injured, but the greater part of the trouble was due to the interruption of service in consequence of failures of this kind. It is claimed that these troubles have now disappeared and that the surfaceContact system in Wolverhampton works with as much reliability and with )1.0 more danger to the public than the overhead trolley system Clearly, in selecting a system for adoption in Oxford, the committee and their advisers will, have to look very closely into the reliability of the various devices offered in this respect, arid the Council will be well advised not to decide to adopt any particular system excepting after consideration of tenders, accompanied with a satisfactory guarantee providing for the continuoue reliable action and maintenance expenses, and, what is more important, the continuous approval of the Board of Trade. Full details for the consideration of the Council's technical advisers will, of course, be necessary. Outside the limits mentioned 7 recommend the adoption of the overhead system. From the point of view of commercial success, of economical maintenance, and of general reliability and safety, no other method can compete with the ove.rhead system. It has had the advantage of the experience of many years under very varying conditions, and has shown itself canaille of serving the very heaviest traffic with the greatest reliability, and the smallest traffic on which a tramway can pay with great economy. This is of the greatest importance, as enabling the maximum profitable extensions to outlying districts.
"The cost of the overhead electrical equipment need not exceed E.1,3eo per route mile. This expenditure does not compare accurately with the cost per track mile for the surface-contact or the conduit system, for the reason that the overhead work costs no more for a double line than for a single line, whereas either the conduit or the surface-contact system costs practically twice as much for double line as for single, so that contrasting a mile of double line the surface-contact work would cost £6,00o and the overhead work £1,300, whilst with single line in both cases the surface-contact work would cost Ze,noo and the over head work £1,300 as before, so that in considering the relative cost the amount of single and double line has to be taken into account. As regards instruction No. 2, I recommend the Council, when it has been duly considered and decided what lines it is advisable to construct with such estimates as it may see fit to obtain, to call for tenders for the construction and.
equipment of these tramways upon proper specifications. These specifications should, as irg ordinary course, be so divided up as to enable the Council to place the contracts for the various parts of the work in the-most advantageous manner. As above stated, particular attention will have to be given to any portions of the lines which will be constructed with the surface-contact equip. ment to ensure that the specification calls for substantial guaranantees and safeguards in respect to this comparatively untried form of construction. It appears to me that the best course to meet instruction No. 3 is to lay before your Council my views as to the expenditure and the probable gross and net receipts to be derived from tramways constructed in a modern way. The first point to be considered is the gauge, and here I am clearly of opinion that the standard gauge of 4ft. 8!,in. is the most suitable. Other gauges have been adopted in some towns for a variety of reasons, none a these operate in Oxford, while the advantages of the standard gauge as regards more comfortable rolling stock, more convenient disposition of the electrical equipment, and the possibilities of future intercommunication, all seem to me to have full force, and to call for the adoption of the gauge 4ft. 8fin.
"In the centre of the town, on either side of the crossing of the main routes at Carfax, the lines should be doubled, as above stated. There should also be an extension of double line in St. Aldate's Street north of Folly Bridge. Elsewhere a sufficient number of loops to provide for a five minutes service appear to me to meet the requirements, and the remainder of the line should be single track. In the estimate of construction costs which tollows I have taken into account this proposed proportion of single and double line, which gives me the route mileage at 5.375 and the track mileage at 7.291 miles. The track mileage on which posts and lines cannot be entertained amounts to 2-434 miles, and that on which posts and wires are permissible to 4•857 miles, the route mileage being 3.87. There are suitable sites for a generating station to be found either in Twenty Pound Meadow, or adjacent property, well situated for economical power generation and distribution. The site now used for the tramway company's depat is very suitable for housing the proposed rolling-stock, and my estimate covers its adaptation for the purpose. I estimate that the capital expenditure in constructing and electrically equipping this suggested system will be as follows :
The traffic returns of the tramway company show that during the year noe3 the tramcars carried 2,716,500 passengers, and that the total receipts were /13,19o. Experience has taught me that a very safe basis is that an electric tramway service will carry traffic of 40 per cent, greater value than•a horse tramway on the same ground and the same population. There are many cases in which the increase has been much larger. I am not aware of any where it has been less, and from what I have seen of Oxford, I feel sure that 40 per cent, is quite a moderate increase to allot. On this basis the receipts of the electrified tramways will amount to /18,360 per annum, which it will be observed, works out at a rate of /3,416 per route mile. The working expenses should not exceed 6o per cent, of the receipts, so that the revenue accnunt will stand thus :
From this net revenue has to be met the interest and sinking fund unon the capital expenditure. Assuming this to be as high as 6 per cent., it will be seen that there is a substantial credit balance to he anticipated. t am therefore confident that the tramways suggested will be financially successful, as well as a great improvement and convenience to the inhabitants and visitors of Oxford.
"I have given separate consideration to the extension from the present tramway termini to the suburban and outlying districts, and I am of opinion that it would be financially advantageous to the tramway system as a whole, and necessarily a great bene
fit to the population of the city and outlying districts, to make the following extensions : "Considering very carefully the amount and distribution of the population on these extensions, I have come to the conclusion that the amount of traffic receipts to be anticipated in consequence of their construction, including the mutual feeding effects between this and the central system, will be fairly proportional to the length of individual extensions, and that the gross receipts thereon will have a value of not less than Annually Deducting therefrom working expenses of 5,528 So that a balance of between /1,400 and /x,500 will remain after satisfying these charges. Summarising the whole financial results, I put forward the following figures :
"I strongly recommend your committee and Council to give their fullest consideration to a complete scheme, and it is for this reason that I have outlined, the whole of the extensions described. I would point out that in any application for powers to carry out these works the Council can ask for such a period for construction as will leave the order and date of execution within the discretion of the Council. In my opinion, looking at the character of the districts to be served, the extension along the Iffiey Road will be the most immediately remunerative of those mentioned, whilst those to Cowley and Headington seem to promise the greatest ultimate development. I have for the convenience of the committee put into the form of appendices* a state. meat showing :what I think will be the value to the whole system of each extension, including its feeding effects. It will be noted that in the above estimates no allowance is made in any way for the acquisition of the existing tramways. I trust that the above information will enable your Council to decide upon the next steps to be taken, and I shall be pleased to supplement this report with a.ny details on which the Council would like further explanation."
MR. W. WORBY BEAUMONT'S REPORT.
"In the following I beg leave to submit to the Corporation of Oxford my report in accordance with the instructions received from you, and the further instructions received at the time of my visit op the 22nd ult. from the Tramways Committee. On that occasion I made a general inspection of the whole of the routes now traversed by tramways, those of proposed extensions, and those of the present omnibuses. I have previously visited and stayed in Oxford on several occasions, and have thus made myself acquainted with the city and the streets and roads of the city and suburbs, and the traffic. to be provided for.
"In your letter of the r4th ult. you inform me that the committee have decided that the Council will not entertain any scheme which involves the erection of posts and wires between the east end of Magdalen Bridge and the west end of Queen Street, nor between the north end of St. Giles and Folly Bridge."