Trams: Is There Much Tramway Interest On Here??

[schienenkönig]

Yes trams are interesting.
My new project Tram car 3818 from Wuppertal has hís first test ride on Saturday. It ran nearly perfect, only some modifications at the two bogies are to make.

 

[Miamigo259]

An interesting photo that I found on display at the Vienna Transport Museum last Sunday.......


Hadn't realised that they actually ran a few double deck cars in Vienna in the past. It looks as though it wouldn't be out of place running somewhere like Sheffield or Leeds with that body styling !
When the original photo was taken, traffic ran on the left as well, so even the passengers are waiting on the "correct" side.
There were apparently 3 of them and they remained in service up until 1938, when they were withdrawn, presumably as a result of the enforced change to the rule of the road courtesy of Adolf and friends......

 

[David1226]

Part of the collection of OcCre 1/24 trams assembled and displayed by Keith Lambert at the G Scale Society Solent Local Area Group bi-annual exhibition, Wickham, Hampshire, 4.11.2017



David

 

[No72]

Trams are all I model these days... To get my interest they must have character and a trolley pole... To each their own I guess... I enjoy more the building than probably the running and solving the many little vicissitudes thrown up is lots of fun...

 

[David1226]

A scene from Keith Lambert's Heritage Trams layout. Stock built by Keith Lambert, buildings scratch built by Peter Foxwell. G Scale Society Solent Local Area Group bi-annual exhibition, Wickham, Hampshire, 4.11.2017



David

 

[MTheStrong]

Here with a couple of photos of Munich Trams taken on a recent visit:

 

[dunnyrail]

Here with a couple of photos of Munich Trams taken on a recent visit:

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One of the routes back in year 2000 used to run by a road that led to a great G Scale Midel Railway Shop. The route was on the Northern Side of Munchen Hbf heading west prety well parallel to the Station about 3-4 minutes from the front of the Station. Best info I can give I am afraid.

 

[No72]

I was expunged from the model tramway group because they claimed I was playing guessing games but that's bye the bye.... But I was "reviewing" video taken at the 2017 model tramways festival and a couple of things immediately came to mind. 1) incredibly detailed model tramway layouts with superb detail on buildings and streets yet there is no overhead or slot for a plough. 2) Quite a few of the trams run at near light speed and when they stop its just a clunkbang no slowing down, just a stop that would have passengers falling all over the place. So it seems "control" is an issue for a lot of modelers. Just my observations not that I should talk but I am trying to get my cars to run slowly and stop slowly... Thoughts? Discussion?

 

[casey jones snr]

I was expunged from the model tramway group because they claimed I was playing guessing games but that's bye the bye.... But I was "reviewing" video taken at the 2017 model tramways festival and a couple of things immediately came to mind. 1) incredibly detailed model tramway layouts with superb detail on buildings and streets yet there is no overhead or slot for a plough. 2) Quite a few of the trams run at near light speed and when they stop its just a clunkbang no slowing down, just a stop that would have passengers falling all over the place. So it seems "control" is an issue for a lot of modelers. Just my observations not that I should talk but I am trying to get my cars to run slowly and stop slowly... Thoughts? Discussion?

Lack of overhead wires and fast running are pet beefs of mine. However I recently visited a garden railway which was totally tram operation. All the trams with the exception of a stream tram picked up their power from the overhead and they all ran at realistic speeds. A great deal of thought had gone into the layout.

 

[Paul M]

I was expunged from the model tramway group because they claimed I was playing guessing games but that's bye the bye.... But I was "reviewing" video taken at the 2017 model tramways festival and a couple of things immediately came to mind. 1) incredibly detailed model tramway layouts with superb detail on buildings and streets yet there is no overhead or slot for a plough. 2) Quite a few of the trams run at near light speed and when they stop its just a clunkbang no slowing down, just a stop that would have passengers falling all over the place. So it seems "control" is an issue for a lot of modelers. Just my observations not that I should talk but I am trying to get my cars to run slowly and stop slowly... Thoughts? Discussion?

Isn't some of the problem down to dirty track and too coarse speed controllers?

 

[tramwayknowledge]

You are right No.72. Much tramway modelling seems to lag a long way behind the best railway modelling. I think that OO and N gauge trams often lack mass and flywheels so the inertia of the prototypes is lacking - one of the many reasons why I decided to move up to G scale for my 'Last-and-best' layout (though I am also amassing gear for an 009 micro layout to play with when the Scottish winter weather drives me indoors)
.

I know that it may seem impertinent of me to criticise others efforts when all I have to show at the moment is an extremely robust benchwork and masses and masses of 'projects for the future' (I should live so long....), but it does people no good to pretend that all our geese are swans; I have seen some great tram layouts, but I have seen some real turkeys in my time as well. Still 'for those that like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like'.

 

[No72]

You are right No.72. Much tramway modelling seems to lag a long way behind the best railway modelling. I think that OO and N gauge trams often lack mass and flywheels so the inertia of the prototypes is lacking - one of the many reasons why I decided to move up to G scale for my 'Last-and-best' layout (though I am also amassing gear for an 009 micro layout to play with when the Scottish winter weather drives me indoors)
.

I know that it may seem impertinent of me to criticise others efforts when all I have to show at the moment is an extremely robust benchwork and masses and masses of 'projects for the future' (I should live so long....), but it does people no good to pretend that all our geese are swans; I have seen some great tram layouts, but I have seen some real turkeys in my time as well. Still 'for those that like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like'.

I tend to agree. I am always in favour of positive critique. Individually it makes us better and stronger and as groups it improves focus and promotes a stronger "team" environment. However knocking someones work simply because they either lack skill or you don't like it does not serve any purpose except alienation.
I am curious though as to why the tramway chaps seem so far behind their railway counterparts when both are basically the same thing.

 

[dunnyrail]

I was expunged from the model tramway group because they claimed I was playing guessing games but that's bye the bye.... But I was "reviewing" video taken at the 2017 model tramways festival and a couple of things immediately came to mind. 1) incredibly detailed model tramway layouts with superb detail on buildings and streets yet there is no overhead or slot for a plough. 2) Quite a few of the trams run at near light speed and when they stop its just a clunkbang no slowing down, just a stop that would have passengers falling all over the place. So it seems "control" is an issue for a lot of modelers. Just my observations not that I should talk but I am trying to get my cars to run slowly and stop slowly... Thoughts? Discussion?

I totally agree with what you say but as Casey mentioned there are some that get it right. On the other side of the coin I have just been rebuilding a Garden Railway for a friend and he left me a Loco to Test out the rehash of the fiddle yard that had been completely relaid and additional points put in. The loco was a Heljan Class 25 Diesel that a friend of his had done some work on the chip. It ran so slow (35 scale kph max) and had the acceleration/deceleration so much altered that it took me near half an hour to test the 5 sidings in the 10ft long shed. This loco took 8 yards from max speed to a stop!

I know that shunting is supposed to be done in a controled manner but at 1/2 MPH for all the moves as you often see at shows is just plain silly. I worked at Healey Mills Marshalling Yard back in the 70/80's and the speed that shuters used to knock cuts in to sidings and how they moved around had to be seen to be believed. All done with gradual starts to a fast run then fairly quick slows to a stop and reverce. Not something that can be seen much now but worth watching if you can find a yard somewhere. This vid shows some of the variety of speeds, very slow in places but also some quite quick runs as well. Pretty much how I remember things to be at the Mills

As for Tram layouts with no wires one of my pet hates to. Also Electric Railways all round. A better option rather than nothing is to run with the Pans up, they do need to be tethered to a certain average hight though. Though with BiMode and Batter Trams being all the rage just now I guess thatbin Modern Day equivalents there is a prototype for us. Though Battery Operated Trams are nothing new, but in the olden days they never had a pan as well. I will finish off with something for the Modern Days that I intend to build. A BiMode on the Harz. Running on Dismal no wires, pan down!

 

[David1226]

A scene from Herritage Tramway showing part of the collection of OcCre 1/24 trams assembled and displayed by Keith Lambert at the G Scale Society Solent Local Area Group bi-annual exhibition, Wickham, Hampshire, 4.11.2017



David

 

[David1226]

Tram on a street in Seville, Spain, 18.9.2018




David

 

[Chris Vernell]

Tram on a street in Seville, Spain, 18.9.2018

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David

Is that a battery powered tram recharging from a short length of overhead? I see no overhead wire.
Ah yes, Senor Google reveals that it is.

 

[KentKeith]

Spent Saturday at the East Anglia Transport Museum for what was billed as "Trolleybus Weekend". Other modes of transport were available:



Interesting was the fact that I used to get the Rte.161 bus to school everyday, from Mottingham to Shooters Hill. At that time, though, it was on an RT, not a Routemaster.

More tram pics should follow.

 

[schienenkönig]

My interests for the trams caught me round about 1972. I got a simple plastic box called camera from Kodak and made my first photos. Later I filmed them with a suoper 8 camera. And a few days ago I bought a simple super 8 film scanner. Here is the first result. It shows a diversion on route 2 and 8. Tracks are renewed on their normal service to Klinikum Barmen. At those times they had a block bypass. So I filmed that.

 

[No72]

That is an astounding result from 8mm... Could you share details re your scanner?

 

[No72]

Is that a battery powered tram recharging from a short length of overhead? I see no overhead wire.
Ah yes, Senor Google reveals that it is.

Super capacitor tram... They charge up in about 30 seconds where as a battery takes much longer to charge.