Trams and Tramway Matters

[themole]

Dresden Tramway Museum Depot.

A slight!! bump with a Saurer Truck.

 

[sleepyrider]

I'm finding this collection of photos you're sharing really inspirational - thanks!

Jim
Leicestershire

 

[tramcar trev]

Great Pictures..... the thing that just occured to me is the inrcedible amount off effort and expense that was gone into to get all these systems up and running, the amount of infrastructure needed is what killed off trams, Busses just need a road and a driver....

 

[Madman]

Great Pictures..... the thing that just occured to me is the inrcedible amount off effort and expense that was gone into to get all these systems up and running, the amount of infrastructure needed is what killed off trams, Busses just need a road and a driver....

Slight thread drift approaching!
True. I have often had the same thoughts. But with the cost of fuel ever rising, we may yet see a come back of electric powered public transport. Although it may not have overhead wires and tracks.

 

[themole]

Working bow collectors for trams using brass rod. Easy to make, and they do work. The bass plate is one half of a piano hinge, springs the pair Bachmann provide on their trolley pole ass'y. See pictures below.

 

[themole]

Works wagon for the tower wagon.Castings are from the Spanish Occre range. Alyn

 

[Dtsteam]

The LGB steeple cab has a place on the tramway......

My garage is an endlessly untidy source of wonder to the garage afficianado, but tonight I found this adapated steeple cab body I was given many years ago. I was wondering what it was based on, and this excellent thread has provided the answer. Looks like another bits gathering excercise is about to begin

 

[yb281]

Great Pictures..... the thing that just occured to me is the inrcedible amount off effort and expense that was gone into to get all these systems up and running, the amount of infrastructure needed is what killed off trams, Busses just need a road and a driver....

Slight thread drift approaching!
True. I have often had the same thoughts. But with the cost of fuel ever rising, we may yet see a come back of electric powered public transport. Although it may not have overhead wires and tracks.

This has already happened in many British cities Dan. Many places over here have got trams again, some using closed railway branchlines, some with completely new tracks, some with a combination of the two.

 

[dunnyrail]

More thread drift, Trolley Buses suffer all the disadvanteges of both Trams and Buses.
Trams - still need all the expensive overhead ( doubled) and have to run to fixed routes.
Buses - still stuck in the same traffic jams as buses unless you put in dedicated Bus ( Troley bus) lanes.
QED
JonD

 

[tramcar trev]

And even with dedicated bus lanes things don't improve much. In Canberra we are desperatley trying to become "green" so we are encouraged to all ride bycycles... not at practical when trying to get a length of timber home from the hardware shop.... we are also told to use the busses . I have a free bus pass but unfortunatoley for me to take the bus to my shopping centre takes 40 mins, takes 5 in the car....Bus lanes are not the solution....

 

[tramcar trev]

The LGB steeple cab has a place on the tramway......

My garage is an endlessly untidy source of wonder to the garage afficianado, but tonight I found this adapated steeple cab body I was given many years ago. I was wondering what it was based on, and this excellent thread has provided the answer. Looks like another bits gathering excercise is about to begin

Yes I'd like your garage.. a tidy workshop is the environs of a sterile mind....
A trolley pole would look nice on the steeple cab, give it more of a "tramway" look....

 

[yb281]

not at practical when trying to get a length of timber home from the hardware shop

No imagination, that's your problem Trev.

 

[themole]

Could be a candidate for a Bachmann conversion?

Uses for Bachmann body bits including a tram bodied caboose! Alyn

 

[themole]

The LGB steeple cab has a place on the tramway......

My garage is an endlessly untidy source of wonder to the garage afficianado, but tonight I found this adapated steeple cab body I was given many years ago. I was wondering what it was based on, and this excellent thread has provided the answer. Looks like another bits gathering excercise is about to begin

AEG loco used on the LBMStE railway and on various tramways. LGB make the model. Alyn

 

[trammayo]

That third picture (post 98) is a seriously improvised bit of kit - fascinating!

 

[Gizzy]

Great Pictures..... the thing that just occured to me is the inrcedible amount off effort and expense that was gone into to get all these systems up and running, the amount of infrastructure needed is what killed off trams, Busses just need a road and a driver....

Slight thread drift approaching!
True. I have often had the same thoughts. But with the cost of fuel ever rising, we may yet see a come back of electric powered public transport. Although it may not have overhead wires and tracks.

This has already happened in many British cities Dan. Many places over here have got trams again, some using closed railway branchlines, some with completely new tracks, some with a combination of the two.

In the news today....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-18100674

 

[garrymartin]

Great Pictures..... the thing that just occured to me is the inrcedible amount off effort and expense that was gone into to get all these systems up and running, the amount of infrastructure needed is what killed off trams, Busses just need a road and a driver....

Slight thread drift approaching!
True. I have often had the same thoughts. But with the cost of fuel ever rising, we may yet see a come back of electric powered public transport. Although it may not have overhead wires and tracks.

This has already happened in many British cities Dan. Many places over here have got trams again, some using closed railway branchlines, some with completely new tracks, some with a combination of the two.

In the news today....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-18100674

What a hugh waste of money that is, its not like the there isn't a train every 15 minutes or a bus every 10 already. The money would be better spent re opening all the closed urban/ suburban stations , putting back some of the lifted track & some more DMU's. Politicians , they don't know their a**e's from their elbows!
Rant over now,
Love the tram thread BTW, maybe one day...........

 

[Dtsteam]

Donkeys years ago didn't Rotheram build a tram with a trolleybus body ( a truss ?) for through working with the old Sheffield tram system. That didn't work either.

 

[pghewett]

Yes, Rotherham's last batch of cars did look a bit like trolleybuses, although it wasn't a case of putting a trolley body on a tram chassis but they went the way of all flesh - mainly I suspect because (a) the stock was renewed but not the track or electrical supply,so eventually there was a high and unfundable capital renewal cost, and (b) Rotherham's economy declined and the local finances could not support anything but the cheapest (not necessarily the most cost effective) solution.

To pick up Garry Martin's point about whether it wouldn't be better to invest the money spent on trams on new/reopened lines etc., I think the business case for new tram systems rests usually on three points (1) trams are supposed to serve a different market to trains with much closer stop spacing - typically every km or so, and (2) trams can go into places that trains can't reach (ie city centres and housing estates. Tram trains are an attempt to have the best of both worlds and in some places are a real advance on both trains and buses. Not every tram scheme is a good one but it's difficult to imagine heavy rail solutions to those we have got now - fancy a few DMUs running through the centre of Manchester? Or Nottingham?

Graham H

 

[garrymartin]

The main line out of Sheffield to the more densely populated south was 4 track , this was halved to 2 sometime in the early 80's leaving plenty of space to relay a line and rebuild or build new stations. Reinstating the bus service ( which used to be free at one point) that connected the Midland station with the city centre would also be a good move.
The first articulated buses in Britain were used on this route (#500 City Clipper )