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From The Illustrated
London News - Saturday, September 15, 1860 |
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Street Railways |
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| Birkenhead witnessed on the 30th ult. the inauguration of an undertaking
which in this country wears all the aspect of novelty. In New York, Boston, Philadelphia
and the chief towns of the United States, street railways - the chemin de fer Americain of
the French, but better known in England under the designation of horse tramways-have for
some years been established. To the success of the experiment in those places in which it
has been tried, the testimony of not only the most eminent American engineers, but of
intelligent travellers from all parts of the world, has been unhesitatingly borne.
Encouraged by that success, attempts have from time to time been made, in vain, to
introduce the system into our own metropolis, in the hope of thus remedying the serious
inconvenience in its main thoroughfares which is daily caused by an overgrown traffic. It
remained for a citizen of the United States to infuse new hope into the supporters of the
scheme. To Mr G.F.Train, of Boston, the introduction into England of street railways is
mainly to be attributed But five short months have elapsed since he laid the
proposals on the subject before the Commissioners of Birkenhead. Two months later found
those proposals accepted. The 30th ult. saw them carried int practical effect. Nor was the
undertaking inaugurated with a success at all inferior to the expidition with which the
necessary works had been completed.The line of rails - which has been laid down under the
superintendance of Mr Palles, of Philadelphia, and Mr Samuel, of London, extends from the
Woodside Ferry, the landing-place at Birkenhead, just opposite the centre of Liverpool, by
the Shore-road, through Angle and Conway streets, and so to the entrance to Birkenhead
Park. The whole distance is little more than a mile and a quarter; it is, however, quite
sufficient to enable those who take an interest in the subject to form a good idea of the
merits of Mr. Train's experiment. A junction in Conway-street enables the carriages to
reurn from the park by Hamilton-street to the point from which they originally started. |
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Nothing can well be less complicated than the machinery which is employed
for the accomplishment of this double journey. The tramway itself consists simply of two
iron plates, each being raised about an inch on the outer side, and running parallel to
one another, as in the case of the rails on an ordinary railroad. They are fixed upon
longitudinal bearers, which rest upon transverse sleepers, and are so let into the street
as to run completely on a level with its surface. They do not, therefore, interfere in the
slightest degree with the ordinary traffic. To ply on these iron plates, carriages capable
each of affording abundant accommodation to from fifty to sixty passengers have been built
by Mr. Main, of Birkenhead. They are more than double the size of an ordinary omnibus, are
somewhat similar in shape, and are provided underneath with wheels like those of a railway
carriage, but somewhat smaller in size. The plan on which they are constructed would
appear to be exceedingly well adapted to street traffic. Each carriage is twenty-four feet
long by seven feet wide, seven feet being also the height of the interior from floor to
roof. It furnishes sitting room for twenty-four persons inside and for as many more
outside, for whose protection a handrail runs round the top. A space of two or three feet
intervenes between the passengers on each side of the interior, and this it is proposed to
turn to account by allowing passengers to stand there in the event of all the seats being
occupied; handrails, with guiding-straps attached, being run beneath the roof for their
convenience. A small platform at each end of each carriage, raised about a foot and a half
from the ground, and separated from the horses-which may be yoked to either end - by a
contrivance somewhat resembling the splashboard of a hansom cab, affords the means of
ready ingress and egress to the new conveyances, on the decoration of which, as well as on
their adaption to the comfort and security of passengers, great pains have evidently been
bestowed.
In the construction of the new carriages the important question of ventilation has
not been neglected. Each has its sliding windows, with "louvres" to prevent a
draught. Each is provided also with a driver and conductor, both of whom have it in their
power to control, by means of a patent break, the machinery by which the progress of the
carriages is stopped or retarded.
Such is the system of street conveyance which on the 30th ult. began its career at
Birkenhead. As a mere spectacle its inauguration possessed no particular attraction.
Shortly before ten o'clock two of the new carriages were drawn out from the dépôt in
Canning-street and placed upon the line. At eleven two horses were yoked to each, and they
proceeded on their way well freighted with passengers, gliding along the rails at the rate
of about four miles an hour-a rate of speed which might without difficulty be increased to
six or seven miles an hour - smoothly and uninterruptedly, turning one or two extreemly
sharp curves with the utmost facility, and landing their passengers at their several
destinations in security. They continued throughout the day to ply for hire with a success
which must have gladdened the hearts of the proprietors, and their progress was, at
different points along the route, watched by some hundreds of spectators.
To those who witnessed the actual working of the scheme none of its features
appeared so prominent as the improvement, so far as increased accomodation is concerned,
which it has introduced. Travelling by one of Mr. Train's carriages, as contrasted with
one of our ordinary omnibuses, is like quitting a narrow and confined room for a commodius
and well-ventilated apartment. On the score of cheapness, it may be added, the new system
possesses a decided advantage over that which at present prevails in this country; while,
so far as the question of security to passengers is involved, it will be sufficient to
state that of 34,000,000 of persons who travelled by the street railways of New York and
Brooklyn in 1858 only twelve met with accidents.
At a grand déjeûner which Mr. Train gave in the course of the day he received the
congratulations of his friends on the success which he had just achieved - a success to
which the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Peniston, the secretary to the undertaking, to no
small extent contributed. |
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