WHEN THE TRAMS STOPPED.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 115, 16 May 1924, Page 3

WHEN THE TRAMS STOPPED.

FINDING THE CAUSE. POWER BOARDS EXPLANATION. Auckland Power Board yesterday afternoon adopted the following report of a sub-committee that was set up to consider the interruption to the supply of current at Kpsom sub-station on Sat- __. urday, 19th April when a lot of race trams at Ellerslie were held up : — ,1 " While the Works Committee were gt anxious to find the cause of the stop- t ; page, they were still more anxious to y prevent a repetition. With this in view the committee, in company with Mr. ti ■Wyllie, inspected the Epsom sub-station, a> Mr. Wyllie explained to the comittee pc what had taken place and stated he c i intended to make certain adjustments ct to the equipment, and, by .setting the li trip as high as safety to the station it would permit, no repetition need be a: feared. j* " Your committee then met in con- "< ference with Mr. Eord, general manager jj» of the tramways, and Mr. de Guerrier, ll engineer. The whole position was fully . P discussed from every aspect, covering the needs of the present and the possibilities of the future. ' "Mr. Ford reported that the tram- 1 ways had made temporary arrangements ~ to * overcome the shortage of feeders. ' The permanept work would be under- , taken on the arrival of the cable which , had -unfortunately been on the 6.5. I g Matatua. which bad collided with „ another steamer in the English Channel. ;, " The following were found to be the t outstanding facts: fl) The trips in the t station were set too low, but it has f, been arranged tiiat they be set on the t highest point (with safety to the plant) c for race traffic on all future occasions; li (2) the capacity of the tramway feeders . was considerably below the capacity t required for the" power demanded and I caused a considerable less of power. . According to the Power Board's en- t gineer, this amounted to 40 per cent of * the power transmitted at the peak, t The Tramway Department had, how- j ever, endeavoured to remedy this hy making certain temporary arrange- ° ments, made necessary by the delay in shipment of their cables ordered . some time apo; (3) Re Christmas traffic. At that thne the high-tension | equipment of the Power Board, with its ( safety devices, was not in commission. The committee learned that the old circuit .breakers were not acting properly, and, consequently, reliable data had not lieen obtained as a guide to what should be provided for when the board took over in April, 1924. '"Your committee has also to report on the 3rd August 1920, Mr. Wyllie _ wrote to the late Mr. W al klate with c reference to race traffic and the serious I loss in power in the tramway feeders, s In Lis letter Mr. Wyllie stated: 'Improvements in feeder capacity will re- c duce your power consumption and I our maximum load."' Mr. Walklate 1 replied on the 10th of the same month: 'Your remarks are correct and the c matter will be gone into.' > "Your committee has further to re- I port that Mr. Wyllie is fully investigating the question of future require- s ments and will report to the board at a ' later date. - ' ] In the course of a brief discussion, ' Mr. T. Bloodworth questioned whether j J the tramways manager admitted that I - the tramway feeders were considerably ' below the capacity required for the ' power demanded. ! The chairman (Mr. W. J. Holdsworth) [' said each side must take its fair share ' of blame. The Power Board's engineer 1 intended to watch the trams during the June races very closely, and would bring in a further report as to whether more ! - power should be provided. j r