CHAPTER XXIX 



TRAMWAYS, MOTOR-BUSES AND RAILLESS ELECTRIC TRACTION 



IN previous chapters I have shown that the first great high- 

 way for^the citizens of London passing from one part of the 

 capital to another was the River Thames ; that the liveli- 

 hood of the watermen became imperilled by the competition 

 successively of private carriages, hackney coaches, and 

 cabriolets, or " cabs " ; and that these, in turn, had after- 

 wards to face the competition of omnibuses. A still further 

 development, leading to competition with the omnibuses, was 

 brought about by the re-introduction of the tramway, for 

 the purposes of street transport. ;.,{ 



It was in the United States that street tramways first came 

 into vogue, and it was by an American, George Francis Train, 

 that the pioneer tramway of this type in England was laid at 

 Birkenhead at the end of the '50*8. A few other short lines 

 followed, and some were put down without authority in 

 certain parts of London, only, however, to be condemned as a 

 nuisance on account of the hindrance to other traffic. It was 

 not until 1868 that lines laid in Liverpool secured public 

 favour for the innovation. Fresh tramways were laid in 

 London between 1869 and 1871, and others followed in 

 Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin and elsewhere. 



All the early lines were operated by horses ; but various 

 expedients were resorted to with the idea both of obtaining 

 greater speed and of carrying more persons at comparatively 

 less cost. Among these expedients were steam locomotives 

 and underground cables, the latter for cars furnished with a 

 grip attachment conveying to them the movement of the 

 cables, as operated by machinery at a central depot. The 

 greatest impetus to the street tramway system came, however, 

 with the application of electricity as the motive power. 



The first line opened on the " trolley " system of overhead 



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