BY MONTAGUE RHYS JONES, C.E. *7S 



passed from the experimental to the commercial process of 

 development and the Lichterfelde Electric Tram near Berlin 

 was the first of this kind. The length is one and a half miles, 

 and the equipment in 1881 consisted of two motor cars, the 

 motion being transmitted to the wheels by belts working on 

 grooved pulleys outside the wheels. The prime source of 

 power was a steam engine, with a Siemens' motor and gener- 

 ator ; but the installation differed in some respects to the 

 Berlin line, the central rail not being used, but the one rail 

 acting as a lead, and the other as a return for the current. 

 Up to 1887 this line carried a hundred thousand passengers 

 yearly. These instances are merely recorded to show that 

 the inception of Electrical Tramways took place in Europe, 

 the principle being the generation of electricity by dynamo, 

 and conveying the current through conductors connected by 

 sliding contact with the cars while in motion. Modern 

 electrical railways are now built chiefly on this principle, 

 although America has far superseded Europe in the improve- 

 ment and perfecting of the system. 



After the year 1881 the commercial aspect of electric 

 traction was carefully considered, and numerous lines were 

 constructed both in Europe and America. In the former the 

 mines of Zankeroid and Hohenzollern constructed short 

 tramways the system of conductors, being overhead inverted T 

 rails. They each carried 300 tons daily, at a cost of a halfpenny 

 and three farthings respectively. The first electrical tramway 

 in England was projected and constructed by Mr. Mangus 

 Volk, at Brighton, in 1883. It runs along the sea beach for 

 about one mile, and includes some heavy grades and sharp 

 curves. The speed was limited to eight miles per hour, but 

 twenty-five miles has been done. The current is transmitted 

 along the rails, with a gas engine as prime power. One 

 million passengers are carried yearly, at a cost of 192 

 pence per car mile, and nearly 50,000 miles are run during 

 the year. In 1883 followed Port Rush, in Ireland, with a six 

 mile length of single track, the current being sent along a 

 third rail by water power. And here let me state that, in my 

 opinion, both Hobart and Launceston are eminently suitable 

 for electrical enterprise, and that a well digested scheme of 

 electrical tramways could be devised for both places, as would 

 compare favourably in point of economical working with any 

 system in the world, owing to the existence of an abundant 

 and permanent head of water, which could be utilised for the 

 generation of electrical power, but a radical alteration would 

 be necessary in respect to the permanent way which is now 

 being laid down in Hobart. The rolling surface is of such a 

 crude character as will not only seriously affect vehicular 

 traffic, but the successful operation of electrical trams. 



