The Cable System of Tramway Traction

1896 – contemporary look at cable systems at home and abroad, 56pp, 1994, 6 photo pics and 2 line drawings, softback, £10

Contents: Intoductory; Historical – the Cable system abroad, the Cable system at home; Method of constructing and working a cable tramway; Advantages of cable traction*; Financial aspect – cost of construction, working expenses; Convenience to the public; Limitations and objections to the cable system; the Extension of the cable system; the Present prospects of advance.
*…the utility of cable traction on gradients must be insisted upon. It is the only system to which heavy hills make no appreciable difference either as to efficiency or cost of working. Apart from animal haulage, it is the only mechanical method by which the progress of the car is not dependent on adhesion or the grip of the wheel on the rail. Besides the fact that there is thus much less wear and tear both of wheels and rails than when heavy steam or electric motors are used, no steam locomotives or electric car could, without rack rails, successfully cope with some gradients up and down which cable cars are worked with ease…Another very valuable feature of cable traction is its safety…At the Board of Trade inspection of the London line a car was detached from the cable and allowed to run away down the hill. After reaching a speed of over 20 miles an hour the brakes were applied, and it was stopped in its own length.” [pp.34-36]