Accrington on Rails - The Tramways: A Complete History - Robert Kenyon

equipment – Borough’s Electrical Engineer £33,300 - Mr Sellon £31,193 .The respective totals - Borough’s Engineers = £84,100 , Mr Sellon = £81,493 . This Sub-Committee has decided to recommend for the present time, that part of the tramway which was proposed for construction between the Cemetery Hotel (Whittaker’s), and the Griffin Public House will NOT be constructed. The estimated cost of construction for this extra section was £5,000, and this should now be deducted from the capital cost of the works. This Committee feels that leaving out this section will not have an adverse effect on the estimates of revenue generated. It seems, after careful consideration of these figures, that the new tramway will be self supporting after the first full year of operation, during which there would be a temporary loss caused by the suspension of services due to the ongoing work of reconstruction. Yours, J. Beckett, (Borough Treasurer). ( A sub-committee of Accrington’s councillors and officers visited several existing tramway systems in the run up to electrification in 1907, and these included those in Derby, Liverpool, Manchester, Reading and Sheffield .) The Report of your Sub-Committee On the type of car for the electrified tramways, your Sub-Committee has spent a considerable amount of time trying to decide on the ideal for the new electrified tramways. Amongst the many cars we have examined there is not one which could be considered absolutely right for our district, in fact it does not appear that such a car does exist. In our opinion such a tramcar should possess amongst other qualifications an array of features including - lightness, convenience, comfort, sightlines, stability whilst in motion, good braking, a good earning capacity, be of sufficient power but not too large to negotiate the terrain of our hilly district. CAR BODIES After examining several types of car our conclusion was, that if cars with top decks were adopted the upper deck should be covered over. One reason being that trams with covered top decks earn between ½ of a penny and 1 penny more per car mile than those with open tops. With our uncertain weather, this Sub-Committee feel they have done the right thing by recommending a covered top deck, as this would protect the passengers, thus adding to their comfort. In going around the country observing tramway operations, it was noted that many towns are putting roofs on open top cars that had been in use for some time. This confirmed the Sub-Committee’s views on this matter. The type of body which we thought might be best has windows down the length of the top deck, which could be raised or lowered at will, thus full advantage can be made of fresh air and ventilation as required. Other reasons for favouring double deck cars are connected to capacity. The single deck cars have enough seating for between 28 and 32 on a four-wheel frame. If a larger capacity is required the necessity arises of having two bogie trucks with four wheels each. This raises the issue of weight, for an eight-wheel single deck bogie car with a capacity for 48 passengers would weigh in at approximately 13 tons. The idea of having light-weight cars with a reduced capacity would remove the necessity for bogie cars. However, the necessity for bogie cars only arises with large cars with a capacity of 75 and 85 passengers. So to put bogie trucks under a car which could only carry 52 passengers at most, would waste electrical current and be expensive to maintain and install. The greater cost of current and in maintaining the permanent way, increases the running costs by between ¼ and ½ of a penny per car mile owing to increased weight. In comparing working expenses in various English towns that are operating cars with four-wheel trucks we found the following; - In every instance bogie cars cost in excess of 7 pence per car mile in total expenses, and in the case of Burnley over 8 pence per car mile. Whereas, in towns operating trams mounted on rigid 4 wheel trucks at 6 feet apart or 8 feet - 6 inches apart on ‘flexible’ 4 wheel trucks, the total cost per car mile is less than 7 pence and in some instances less than 6 pence. In debating the likelihood of using single deck saloon cars for the entire system, there were issues of suitability, these include the congregating together of smokers with non-smokers, also the mixing of ‘various classes’ of passengers, these difficulties being accentuated by the reduced capacity of a saloon car. Up until about three years ago there were only two types of truck in general use. One was the bogie truck already referred to, whilst the other was a rigid truck with a wheelbase of about 6 feet. The most serious objection to the rigid truck is the liability the car has to pitching and/or rocking. Your Sub-Committee felt this should be avoided if at

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