TRAMWAY CARS The car operated on the pioneer lines in New York in 1832 was fashioned after the "voiture omnibus" of Paris, a vehicle designed by an English coachbuilder, George Shillibeer. The body had three compartments and was supported on leather springs. The four iron wheels, all of the same diameter and flanged, were placed centrally. A dickey or elevated seat accommodated the driver and two passengers, and the foot-brake operated on one pair of wheels only. The standard horse-car of 1880-90 had seats for 18 inside passengers and 18 outside, the upper deck being approached by a straight staircase.
Modern car bodies are mounted either on a single four-wheeled truck with a fixed or rigid base 6 ft. to 8 ft. long, according to the sharpness of the curves to be negotiated, or on bogies or swivel ling trucks. The truck may be described as a carriage or frame supported on the axleboxes, and supporting by another set of springs the car body. Of bogie trucks two types are used : one the "maximum traction" truck, having a pair of wheels of standard size—about 3o in.—with another pair of smaller or "pony" wheels, and the other having four wheels of equal diameter. The single and maximum traction trucks are fitted with two motors, while the equal-wheeled bogies may have four motors. The trolley standard placed on the roof or upper deck of the car carries an arm which through a revolving wheel collects current from the overhead wires ; instead of a wheel a frame shaped like a bow is sometimes used for the same purpose. Controllers on the plat form enable the motorman to stop, start and regulate the speed of the car by means of a handle on the upper surface of the con troller frame which has notched divisions. The brake equipment comprises a powerful hand brake with a foot ratchet, operating shoes on each side of the wheels, and a magnetic brake forming part of the controller equipment.
While the various forms of trucks are common both to British and American practice, car body construction differs in many respects. The single-deck car is in general use outside Great Britain where, although many single-deck cars are worked, the greater number are of the double-deck type.
In addition to the types here mentioned other designs are to be found. Single-deck open cars of the "toast-rack" type with transverse seats are employed on many holiday lines : and the Californian type of car body, with the control part closed in and one or two double-sided transverse seats at each end, Is some times used on routes where low bridges preclude the use of double deck cars. The earning value of this type is, however, small when
weather conditions are unfavourable.
Legislation.—Statutory sanction is necessary for the con struction and working of a tramway on public streets or highways. The earlier tramways in England were constructed by private en terprise under powers conferred by special acts of parliament. In 187o parliament passed a general act "to facilitate the construc tion and to regulate the working of tramways" in Great Britain.
This 187o Act of Parliament which is still in force, confers upon local authorities powers to construct and alternatively the optional right to purchase, but not to work, a tramway undertaking established by private enterprise upon the expiration of 21 years, and at every subsequent period of 7 years, at the "then value" of the tramway, land, buildings, materials and plant suitable to and used for the purposes of the undertaking, exclusive of any allow ance for past or future profits or any compensation for compulsory sale or other consideration whatever. In the meantime the under takers are under the specific obligation to repair and maintain at their own expense the roadway between the rails and 18 in. on either side thereof, and are subject to numerous other onerous conditions relating to the method of construction and working: non-interference with Post Office, telephone and telegraph wires, gas and water pipes, electric cables; the services of carriages to be run for ordinary and work-people's traffic ; and the maximum fares to be charged, including reduced fares to workmen, children, etc. The practical effect of the legislation was to constitute the local and road authorities sole arbiters of the tramway situation in the British isles, and promoters or lessees were frequently under compulsion to accept not only the statutory obligations of the act, but also burdens in regard to expensive street widenings and im provements,and otherwise, which were imposed upon them by local authorities. Promoters of new undertakings were deterred and in course of time lessees were difficult to find; in these circum stances some local authorities sought parliamentary powers to work the tramways in their districts. After about 1896 parliament permitted any local authorities that so desired to work tramways as well as own them.