The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 1914. SELF-PROPELLED CARS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14233, 5 March 1914, Page 4

The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 1914. SELF-PROPELLED CARS.

Though (he Wanganui ratepayers refused to instal a tram service with self-pro-pelled cars, it is evident that this system of traction is competing most successfully in the Old Country and clse'where with the more expensive overhead electric service. Quite recently the Edinburgh Town Council appointed a Commission “to visit various cities in England with the view of inspecting self-propelled cars, and obtaining further information on the subject of street traction.” Exhaustive inquiries were made, and various systems of tram and motor bus services were duly inspected. The “auto” tramcar, seated to hold 37 persons or 65 with doubledeck, was voted a great success, the Commission being most favourably impressed with its speed, hill-climbing, comfort, and freedom from shock or excessive noise. The gradients on the road—l in 15 and 1 in 17—were negotiated without any apparent difficulty. Burmingham’s motor omnibuses, Coventry’s self-propelled railway coaches, and petrol-electric driven tramcars were well spoken of, particularly the railway coach. This latter is mounted upon double bogies, and resembles in appearance an ordinary up-to-date passenger ear, divided into three compartments, with carrying capacity of 50-60 persons. The ear is propelled by petrol engines, of which there are two (each 105 h.p.) beneath the car body. Reviewing the information set forth in the report, and impressions formed in the course of, visits to the vai’ious places, the Commission is of opinion;—That the “self-propelled” tramcar has attained such a degree of efficiency as to render it a reliable, safe, and suitable vehicle of public transit. That as regards first coif of car, it is necessarily dearer than an electric car deriving its power from without, but this is counter-balanced by substantial savings in construction of tramway, absence of any central generating station, and wires' above, or conduits beneath, the street; and by the advantage that each car is an independent unit of power, one breakdown not involving the complete stoppage of the system or section of the system. That the reliability of the car in its freedom from breakdown is assured, is evident from the experience at Morecambe, and. in a larger measure by the immunity of the Metropolitan motor-bus from interruptions. The Commission also holds the view that as regards working costs of tramcars automatically propelled, experience in England is at yet too restricted to state with exactness. The guarantee of makers, however (of this particular speciality), and comparison with the motor-bus costs which are so similar in their form of motive power, would appear to offer the prospect of close comparison—in the final results'—with the cable or the electric tramway car. As regards the relative merits of the directdriven petrol engine, and of its compeer, the petrol-electric combination, the Commission is led to believe the latter an improvement upon the former, giving ease of locomotion, simplicity of control and drive, and silence of working. Concluding, the report states - that the success already obtained with the “self-propelled” car justifies its introduction (experimentally) to the city of Edinburgh. It apparently affords the prospect of adaptation to the existing tramway service of the city.