the american firms of j g brill, philadelphia and john stephenson co, new jersey supplied many trams, as well as other firms; english, australian and local. birney safety cars were supplied by j.g. brill co. to invercargill (6) and new plymouth (3) in 1921, though they were too wide for napier. gordon coates, then minister of transport was in new plymouth for a test run on the new trams. when the driver showed how the 'dead man's control' worked by lifting his hand off the controller, the minister and all were thrown to the floor when it nose dived on its front wheels then slumped back on the track with a shudder.