AUCKLAND TRAMWAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13845, 3 September 1908, Page 6

AUCKLAND TRAMWAYS.

♦ — COMMISSIONERS' REPORT. IMPROVED BRAKES REQUIRED THE QUESTION OF SPEED. GOVERNMENT INSPECTION * ADVOCATED. \SX TEUEGHAPH.—SPECIAL COKBESPOXDEXT-J Weixinctok, Wednesday., The report of the Royal Commission (Messrs. R. W. Holmes, engineer-in-chief, and Mr. Stuart Richardson, of Wellington), appointed to inquire into the efficiency and working of the brakes on the Auckland electric tramways was presented to the House this afternoon. In giving their conclusions on the respective questions submitted to them the Commissioners state as follows: — (a) We find the brakes to be in fair working order, but not- in efficient repair. (b) We are of opinion that the brakes as existing when in good order are sufficient for the ordinary control-of the cars, but are not. sufficiently powerful or quick in their action for. use in emergencies. (c) We are, of opinion that the motormen are properly trained, and have an efficient knowledge of, and are practised in the use of the brakes. (d) We , consider the raotorrnen use the brakes to the best of their ability. ] (e) We have to report having investi- I gated the several subjects of inquiry, and, i also, having reviewed the working of the existing law relating to tramway rolling stock, and as a consequence we consider that the general Government should undertake the periodical inspection of the rolling stock oi the tramway systems in New Zealand. -\ .. .--- I The Commissioners, in their remarks regarding their findings, say : *' There is clear evidence that the maintenance of j the brakes in the past has been neglect- j ed; also that the company is now taking j steps to place them in good -working | order, and in efficient repair." TESTS OF THE BRAKES. In regard to the. tests carried out on , College Hill, the report states i "'The first stop obtained, using the hand brake alone, | was on a four-wheel car carrying a load equal to the licensed number of passengers, travelling at a speed of 17.8 miles per hour down a grade of one in 11.78. file car travelled 232 ft before, stopping, the force developed by the brakes being L4B tons. Using the same brake on an eight-wheel car, under similar conditions, at a speed of 22.1 miles per hour, the car travelled 620 ft before stopping, the force developed by the brakes being 1.97 tons. A third trial, using the hand brake, track brake, and second emergency brake simultaneously, when . the car was travelling at; service speed, stopped the car in 242 it. . This must be regarded as an emergency stop," , The following results of comparisons obtained in Wellington are appended:—" A four-wheel .car, carrying 1£ tons more I load, travelling at 14 miles per hour down I a grade of one in 14, was stopped by the j hand brake alone in 74ft, the force deve- j loped by the brake being 1.93 tons. With'] the hand brake ■ atone a bogie car, carry- ] ing 2.8 tons more, travelling at' 16.4 miles \ per hoar, stopped in 215 ft, the force deve- J loped being 2.3 tons. , An emergency application of the magnetic brake on this car at 12.7 miles per hour stopped the ! car in 34tt, the force developed being 4.4 j ; tons. " The results obtained in the Auck- j land tests,".', using the electrical emergency I brakes,*' the report goes .on to say, j "were not as good as those obtained ; -byJ the use of the hand .; brake, which shows i that the electrical emergency brake -is use- ! less for quick stops descending a hilL ( : We j are, therefore, of the opinion that in the i interests of public safety an improved brake' for use in emergencies should be adopted." i NEWELL BRAKE RECOMMENDED. The Commissioners state that whilst not wishing "to unduly advance ; its claims against competitors, it considers; that the Xewell magnetic , combined track; and wheel brake is suitable for steep grades, such as those on the Auckland tramways. This brake, they state, may be used as a service brake, it only requiring to convert in into an emergency brake a quicker application, which would be the instinctive action of a motonnan in the event of emergency. The brake is applied by means.of the same handle on the controller* that is used to apply power to the motors, and as the motorman's : hand is always on this handle, he" has> nothing to do but to turn it quickly in order to apply the emergency brake....,;.' LACK OF UNIFORMITY. The Commissioners state that they found different types of controllers in use, requiring differentTmovements for the application of the; emergency brakes. This ;they consider a source of danger,'as being j liable to confuse a motorman when successively rising the.:, different types. .'Many, complaints were also made as to the inefficiency of the sand gear, which is a necessity for the efficient working of the brakes. The principal fault appeared to 'be clogging" of the fine sand in use. Considerable difficulty in working the sand gear was observed, but it- is stated that this could,.-, be ".easily, remedied by closer attention to. and slight improvements of the gear. - The nroSoiTnan's gong and the sand ■gear, the : ; report '■ states, vary i in'';'.position,'. and are worked by pedals not in view of the motorman, and it is recommended that their relative positions should be the same on all care. CONDITION OF ROLLING STOCK. . The report goes •on to say "The evidence, together with our inspection, clearly shows that the maintenance of the rolling stock has been very much neglected, which could not have happened to the same extent if the undertaking had been regularly subjected to Government inspection. It might be urged as an argument against Government inspection that it is unnecessary, when the maintenance is properly attended to, but we are of opinion, even in instances where maintenance receives the most careful attention, that Government inspection will do good by assisting to keep the maintenance at its high standard." The report refers to the advantages of glass fronts for cars, and to the complaints made as to the stiffness of brakes in wet weather, caused by mud collecting on the gear. "This," say the Commissioners, is in part accounted for by the poor maintenance of the tracks, and also through the several local authorities failing to maintain the streets in a sufficiently good condition to indace the ordinary goods wheel traffic to keep off the tramline. An improved sand gear and a readjustment of the wheel gears is recommended. In regard to the statement that cars have to be driven faster to make up for lost time, the Commissioners say: This we consider a I very dangerous practice, in view of the j class of brake equipment- and the want of an efficient emergency brake." The management complained, and the Commissioners considered rightly, that the motor-men do not describe the defects in such a manner as will guide the men who are engaged in repairing to locate them. "The motormen nearly all state,** the report continues, " that often no repairs were apparently effected after reporting cars defective, alj though the > records show that they were attended to. We are of opinion that this tends to show that, the "general standard of maintenance used to be vc low that the reI pairer* must have considered, as long: a* a | car would run. and the brake* could be i applied in the shed, ii was fit for traffic. ! 1 The Commissioners do not agree with the j view expressed by witnesses that i the J 1 Christensen air-wheel brake "would be suit- J I able for Auckland. " The wheel brake j alone,** they say, ** no matter how applied, J would not be sufficient to properly control J the car. It is therefore necessary to use

a track brake on the Auckland tramways, and we consider that if an air brake were installed it should be in the direction of applying it to the track brake, so as to make it an effective emergency brake.'" THE EMERGENCY BRAKES. The Commissioners next deal with the statement that, what is known as the second emergency brake, is relied upon more by the motormen than the first emergency. The acting; of fliese two brakes and the third emergency: axe described, ; and the report continues:—'The breaking effect of, the first emergency is considerably neutralised through the 'skidding of the car wheels, so that it is often abandoned in favour of the second emergency. This brake, however; is debarred from use by the company, as its action is. very severe on the motors, and as the third emergency is not reliable, "often failing to act, the whole of these three electrical brakes cannot be considered satisfactory, particularly as all three tend to damage the wheels aud motors of the rolling stock/and only act on the four driving wheels. On the eight-wheeled cars, some motormen, feeling that the first emergency is not generally effective, use the second emergency, although contrary to rules. " Other motormen stated that" they used the first emergency to comply with the rules, although knowing that the second emergency was a better brake, in order to clear themselves in the event of a fatal accident. - It appears to the Commission that the use of any brake which is liable to damage the equipment . cannot be considered satisfactory, and that such an anomalous state of affairs produced by the provision of several inferior emergency brakes should be terminated." -HIGH RATE OF SPEED." The Commissioners refer to a complaint by motonnen that insufficient time is allowed for working the Heme Bay- and Kingsland routes according to the schedule time. The report says:—"The rate of speed, without allowing* time for stops, is 9.42 miles per hour for the former and 8.32 miles per hour for the latter route. On the Heme Bay route, allowing for 19 intermediate stops" four of which are compulsory, and for the slow speed possible up Hobson-street, Victoria-street, and College Hill, the actual speed would have to attain over 15 miles per hour on favourable parts of the route to enable the motormen j to keep to (schedule time. The Commission considers that such a high rate of j speed is attended by grave risks with the brakes .in use." Th© report, which covers 11 foolscap pages of typewritten matter, was ordered to bo printed. ':-.';" i