Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-11
LOCAL MAN MVEN7S
CLEVER CON TRIVANCE
MAKES GASOLINE WAGON INTO
TROLLEY TOWER
Chief Electrician of Pacific Electric
Rigs Up an Automobile Repair
Vehicle That Makes Fifteen
Miles an Hour

1t is only a question of a short time
before the automobile emergency tower
will entirely supplant the horse-drawn
wagon towers for repairing overhead
trolleys in Los Angeles.
The Pacific Electric railway has been
using one of these novel vehicles dur
ing the past fifteen months and the eX-
pertinent has proved so eminently sat
sfactory that the motor vehicles will
replace the old horse wagons as fast
as the latter are worn out.
Chief Electrician Alexander of the
Pacific Electric company originated the
idea. He took a gasoline commercial
car of the type made by the Olds Motor
works, designed tower to fit on 1t and
had the whole arrangement rugged up
in the shops of the Pacific Electric
company.
Time is an element of great import
ance in repairing trolleys.
1t does not take long to pile up
line of cars when a trolley breaks.
Delay means loss of money to the
company and inconvenience to passen-
gers.
It was this consideration that led Mr..
Alexander to think about applying
tower attachment to an automobile.
Talks OF ContriVance
yes, the motor emergency tower is
a great success" said Mr. Alexander
TT does the work of two of the old
emergency towers drawn by horses.
The crew of the motor tower costs us
$1.5O per hour and it pays us to get
them over the ground as fast as pos
sible.
Moreover, we get better work out of
the men on the gasoline vehicle than
on the horse wagons. They get sleepy
jogging along in horse drawn vehicle
at the rate of four miles an hour and
it takes them some time to wake up
after they get to the scene of accident.
Travelling at the rate of fifteen miles
an hour through crowded streets keeps
the men on the alert all the time. They
feel the Importance of their work more.
1t gives them some of the spirit that
animates the men of the fire depart
ment.
Besides, there is not so much differ
ence in the original cost of the two
outfits when you consider that a team
of the most expensive horses will
barely last eighteen months at the
work.
Replace Horse Outfits
"As fast as our horse outfits wear
out we are going to replace them by
motor vehicles. l am now contemplat-
ing the purchase of motor wagons to
be equipped with towers for the Pasa-
dena branch of the service"
The Pacific Electric motor tower has
only been laid up for repair five days
during the fifteen months that it has
been in use. During that time it has
been on duty night and day. At night
the crew sleeps in the station, where
they can man the car at a moments
notice. 1t takes just two minutes to
start up the machine and get out of
the barn after receiving an alarm.
Since Mr.. Alexander first put his mo-
tor tower in use he has received many
inquiries from eastern companies re-
garding its practicability. In answer
to these Mr.. Alexander has returned
pictures of his car and exact statistics
showing the mileage covered and the
expense of operation. The result has
been that numerous eastern concerns
have installed similar emergency tow
ers during the past year.