THE TRAMWAY AND RAILWAY WORLD. January
5, 1911.
Glasgow Corporation tramway department are at
present fitting vestibules to a number of cars, and on the result
of the experiment will depend the question whether this addition
will be made generally to the cars in that city. One vestibuled
car has been run on the streets for about six months, and about
half a dozen of' the type are at present in use. In all, 22 cars
will be so fitted, in order that a good trial may be made.
The ordinary Glasgow car has a 6 ft. wheel-base truck. Some of
the vestibuled cars have this length of base increased to 7 ft.
by the insertion of lengthening pieces in the truck frame.
In other cases a truck with an 8 ft. wheel-base is used. The trucks
are by Mountain and Gibson, the Brush Company, and Hurst, Nelson
and Company. Some of the cars have 8 ft. 6 in. wheel-base Mountain
and Gibson radial trucks which have been changed to the rigid type.
The vestibuled cars have the usual 17 ft. bodies, and accommodate
62 people each. The platforms are 6 ft. long, as in the case of
all the cars with roof covers.
The style of the vestibules is shown in the accompanying
illustrations. The glazed framework is built up from the dashboard.
The off side of the rear platform and the near side of the front
platform are completely closed in, while the entrance sides are
left entirely open. The sash forming the front panel of the vestibule
can be lowered and raised by a strap like the sash in a railway
carriage door. To prevent the driver getting at night a reflection
on the glass in front of him from the lighted car behind him, a
folding wooden shutter is provided, which closes over the front
window of the car body. For the same reason the window in the front
door of the car is obscured except a part in the centre, which
is left transparent to enable the driver and conductor to look
through or communicate with one another when desired. The light
coming through the transparent part is prevented from reaching
the glass screen in front by the driver's body when he is standing
in position for driving the car.
It was found on the earlier trials that a strong
draught blew down the front staircase from the upper deck right
on to the driver. This has now been prevented by the fitting of
a hood over the staircase extending from the top-deck dashboard
backwards. To allow of passengers ascending and descending the
stair, the part of the hood at the stair-head consists of a roller
shutter which is kept open at the end of the car which is the rear
end at any time, and kept closed
at the driver's end. Some improvements in car ventilation have
also been introduced. All window sashes on both decks of Glasgow
cars are fixed, and ventilation is obtained by small ventilators
above the main sashes which open inwards on hinges to an angle
of about 45 degrees. It was found that the air entering and striking
the roof was frequently deflected downwards with uncomfortable
force on the passengers' heads.
To prevent this, the arc swept
by the top of the ventilator in opening or closing has been covered
by perforated zinc in arched form. This breaks up the current of
air entering, and has been found a satisfactory arrangement. In
the newer cars further ventilation is obtained by an air extraction
process dependent for its action on the speed of the car, as in
the case of " torpedo " ventilators in railway carriages.
The roof is perforated along the centre line by numerous small
openings, and these are covered externally by a sheet iron plate,
spaced about an inch from the outside of the roof. At intervals
the plate is made a little broader, so as to give lateral projections.
The
space at the sides between the plate and the roof is closed, but
the projecting parts arc open front and rear, so that as the car
runs along, a blast of air travels through the openings. This sets
up suction action and draws air out of the interior of the car
through the holes in the roof. The arrangement described applies
to the upper deck, but a similar scheme is in operation for the
lower deck. In the latter case the suction openings, if they may
so be called, are at the sides of the car just above the ordinary
ventilators.
The use of ticket boxes, in which passengers are invited to deposit
their used tickets as they leave the car, has proved very successful.
These boxes are now fitted on all the cars, and are attached to the
end of the car body just beside the door. They have proved too small,
and additional boxes are now being mounted inside the dashboards,
giving four boxes per car. It is found that about one-third of the
total tickets issued, are put into the boxes. The old tickets are
sold for 33s- per ton, and the quantity so sold is at present about
55 tons a year. The cars and the streets are less littered than formerly
with old tickets, so that in every way the plan is successful.
© The Tramway and Railway
World
