company was relatively prosperous, and had the resources to raise the line by up to ten feet (3 m) over a considerable length. After 1919 Following the end of the First World War, independent operators of road lorries, and, gradually, road passenger vehicles, became numerous, and the inconvenience of using the tramway became prominent: agricultural produce and supplies needed to be carted to and from the tramway station, and the thinly distributed population were more easily serviced by a road vehicle, especially when that could run to the centre of Chichester or direct to the LB&SCR station there. Traffic declined seriously in the 1920s. In 1924 the company changed its name to West Sussex Railway (Tramway Section) in 1924. Mitchell and Smith suggest that this was a preliminary to securing a takeover by the Southern Railway, the successor to the LB&SCR. The Southern Railway considered the matter but declined to proceed. Southdown Motor Services had been formed in 1915 and was running timetabled bus services locally, and increasingly passengers preferred to take the bus—at a higher fare—and passenger receipts declined further. During this period freight traffic remained relatively steady at about £2,000 a year. Steam locomotives The following steam locomotives were used on the line: Sources for the above table include Kidner Woodcock. and Mitchell and Smith Hesperus had come from the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway and was originally 3 ft 6 in gauge. The first Chichester arrived with the name Wembley having worked there previously, and the engine continued to be known by that name for some time. Ringing Rock was so named because Stephens transferred the name plate from a locomotive on the Kent and East Sussex Railway that had previously worked on the Narberth Road and Maenclochog Railway; Ringing Rock is the English translation of Maenclochog. Railcars In 1921, Stephens was seeking means of reducing operating expenses, and a trial was made of a Wolseley-Siddeley petrol railcar on the line; this did not immediately lead to adoption, but in 1924, acquired two railcars built on Ford Model T chassis, with bodies by Edmunds of Thetford. They operated together, back-to-back with a truck for luggage and parcels between them; they had rails on the roof to contain additional parcels stowed there. The Steam and Things model making company has good original photographs of the cars at . Two more railcars were acquired from the Shefflex