Colin Seymour's Tram Photos & Information


Trams in Helsinki, Finland; by Pekka Helos [updated Jan 2002]


Trams in Helsinki, Finland

2001 Update

Here are some photos taken in my holiday travels in July and August, 2001. (Updated December 31, 2001)

(See also my earlier photos listed under "Australian Trams").
Thanks to Donald Campbell for supplementary information and showing us around the museum

Sydney Tramway Museum, 2001


Police call box (July 29, 2001)
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A yellow and black suburban Police call box- its purpose was similar to the old-fashioned "Tardis" Police boxes in England. They were a common feature of Sydney streets up until the late 50's when the system changed from the man on the beat to patrols in cars with two-way radio. The box gave the beat policeman somewhere to shelter when it rained, somewhere to eat his lunch and hang his raincoat, and had a direct telephone connection to HQ, usually a "candlestick" type phone.

Liverpool Street Signal Box (July 29, 2001)
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Sydney Tramway Museum (July 29, 2001)
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Aboard L/P class 154 (1: Passengers) (July 29, 2001)
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Aboard L/P class 154 (2: Conductor) (July 29, 2001)
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Aboard L/P class 154 (3: Driver) (July 29, 2001)
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R1 class 1971 (July 29, 2001)
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R1 class 1971 was built in 1936, and was located for many years at Hartley. Acquired from a fruit stall owner who kept it in a paddock for many years; when he died, his family offered it to the museum. Interior view at the Pacific Highway level crossing.

R1 class 1971, at the National Park end of the tram line. (July 29, 2001)
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R1 class 1971, at the National Park end of the tram line (All aboard!). (July 29, 2001)
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No. 19 trolleybus- has an indicator shaped like a hand! (July 29, 2001)
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Inside prison van No. 948. (July 29, 2001)
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Prison van No. 948 was built in Randwick training workshops in 1909, used for transferring inmates between Long Bay Penal Institution and Darlingurst Court House. Retired from service 1950, Restored at Sydney Tramway Museum in 1989.

Brisbane tram No. 295, in the workshops (July 29, 2001)
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No. 290, (1896) one of Sydney's first small trams (July 29, 2001)
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Berlin tram No. 3007, from route number 60, made in 1976. (July 29, 2001)
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Tram No. 37, a Ballarat tram (awaiting restoration). (July 29, 2001)
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Before 1923, Melbourne had been served by about 8 tramway companies, usually run by the municipal councils within the council boundary. Some were well run and modern, others had very little money spent on them at all and were shoddy.
In 1923, all these small tramways were amalgamated, with the formation of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramway Board (M&MTB) creating a city-wide system.
Something similar happened with electricity generation, which was usually in the hands of private companies. These generating companies were absorbed in the 1920's to form the state-wide grid know as the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV).
In absorbing these private concerns, the SECV (relectantly) became a tramway operator, as several of the generating companies had developed electric tramway systems, in the cities of Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat. They had developed the tramways to make good use of the power generated during daylight hours (demand for power was usually for lighting at night, and it was too expensive to shut down the power plant during the day and start it up at night, so tramways became a means to keep the generators running).
Ballarat 37 saw service in all of these situations, as follows:
  1. Hawthorn Tramway Trust (HTT) No. 13 - 1916-1923. The HTT was a Melbourne council tramway
  2. M&MTB N-class, late C-class No. 119 - 1923-1946. Car sold to the SECV
  3. SECV Geelong tramway No. 35 - 1946-1956. The Geelong tramway closed in 1956.
  4. SECV Bendigo tramway No.1 - 1956-1960. Transferred.
  5. SECV Ballarat tramway No. 37 - 1960-1972. Ballarat was the last SECV tramway to close, and the car was donated.
This car is the most travelled of all the SECV cars, and it has survived to this day still with the HTT crest sandblasted on the bulkhead doors.
An 'F' class car (July 29, 2001)
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Although marked "cBc 71" the 'F' class car's number is not known. Found under advertising hoarding of Brisbane advertising tram. Sufficient paintwork remains to give the museum a good idea of the original livery, colour and style of lettering. The passenger tram came out about 1912 but when withdrawn after World War 2, they were changed into advertising trams.
No. 393, an 'F' class car (July 29, 2001)
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This 'F' class car survived in its original state owing to its being preserved in use at a tramway training school.
Balmain counterweight, built 1903 (July 29, 2001)
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This system ran from 1902 to 1955 and prevented runaways into the harbour at Balmain Wharf. The counterweight travelled underground and was linked via a cable loop to the dummy box shown in the picture, to which the tram car was attached. Shown with car No. 393.
No. 1111, an 'O' class car. (July 29, 2001)
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This style was the most numerous (over 650 built) in Sydney and the one that is most well remembered. No. 1111 was built in 1912 at Meadowbank, and could seat 80 people.
Rainbow over No. 1111 (July 29, 2001)
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Melbourne Trams, 2001


Melbourne free city circle tram (July 31, 2001)
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The non-free trams we found difficult to use as the instructions for how to pay fares were extremely complicated!
More Melbourne trams. (July 31, 2001)
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The burgundy and gold W-class trams are being introduced progressively, returning to service after a temporary withdrawal for maintenance, at the date pictured.
Melbourne Route 16 tram to Luna Park in Swanston Street (July 31, 2001)
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View from inside a Melbourne tram (July 31, 2001)
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Note the illuminated street sign, which alternately displays "Tram Stop Ahead" and "Give Way to Passengers"
View of Melbourne - from the Rialto Towers Melbourne (Rialto view) (thumbnail excerpt from a Melbourne postcard)
the tallest of which, at 253m, is the tallest office building in the southern hemisphere (August 1, 2001)
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Adelaide Trams, 2001


Glenelg tram No. 363 at Adelaide terminus (August 2, 2001)
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Glenelg tram No. 363 in closer view (August 2, 2001)
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Sydney LRT Trams, 2001


Sydney LRT car at Central Station (side view) (August 15, 2001)
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Sydney LRT car at Central Station (front view) (August 15, 2001)
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Inside a Sydney LRT car (August 15, 2001)
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Sydney LRT at the junction of Hay Street and George Street (August 15, 2001)
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Further Tram Pictures


United Kingdom


The National Tramway Museum, Crich, Derbyshire


Around 50 trams may be seen at this museum. This includes: The museum maintains a substantial amount of its own standard gauge (4 feet, 8.5 inches, equivalent to 1.435 metres) tramway track. Visitors can ride the trams over a route about a mile long, with stops at a bandstand and a mining display area. The museum features a substantial depot, exhibition hall, forge shop, research library, Eagle Press display, replica tramway street, Victorian bridge, shops and refreshments.
Museum telephone: 01773 852565 (+44 1773 852565 outside the UK)
Photographs Copyright © October 1995 by Colin Seymour

Tram Sign

Tramway sign from Leeds, England, now on display at the museum:
Tramway sign Stand for Hackney Carriages

Cab Fares To or From the Cattle Market

..................... Distance ... Fares

Briggate any part of ... 1 1/2 miles ... 1s-6d
Corn Exchange ... 1 1/4 m. 350 yds ... 1s-6d
Dispensary ... 1 3/4 miles ... 1s-9d
Great Northern ... 1m 150 yds ... 1s-3d
Midland Station ... 1m 320 yds ... 1s-3d
New Station ... 1m 370 yds ... 1s-3d
Post Office ... 1 1/4 miles ... 1s-3d
Town Hall ... 1 1/4 m. 90 yds ... 1s-6d

Wagonette Stand on the Opposite Side of the Road






The photo above is fairly self-explanatory; the sign is in the historic tramway reproduction street area at the museum. As suggested by Dewi Williams, the sign is probably from Leeds, England. Searches for "Briggate" on the Net tend to mostly bring up "Briggate" and "New Briggate" in Leeds. The distances suggest that the Cattle Market was to the south-west of the city centre.
I received an e-mail on October 5th 1996 from Gill Nuttall, Telford, Shropshire, England, who grew up in Leeds, confirming that the sign is definitely from Leeds, as "The Corn Exchange and all the station names, as well as Briggate cannot have existed together in any other place!"
Stud Contacts - Click here to view photo

Electric trams have used a variety of different methods for connecting to an electricity supply, i.e. overhead wires (trolley pole, bow collector, pantograph arm), conduit (see "Tracklaying for London's conduit tramways" at Dewi's Railway, Trains & Trams page), and studs.
The photo above shows current collector studs that are installed at Crich for illustration (they are not in use, which is probably a good thing).
The principle behind the studs method, and here I am indebted to Dewi Williams for some information about this method, is that the tram has a long current pick-up (known as a 'skate') underneath it, and the studs are placed in the road surface at a spacing such that the skate is always in contact with one or more studs.
A good source of information is by E. F. Carter, "Stud Contact Electrification", 1949, a 'model railway' book priced at 3s6d. The following is a brief summary.
Sometimes a tram system had to be installed without overhead wires, thought unsightly. Studs or surface contact systems were a cheaper alternative to the safer conduit systems, and cost only 10% more than wires, whereas conduit cost 70% more per mile.
There were three different types of surface-contact system in use at one time in England: the Lorain, the Dolter and the Griffiths-Bell (the "G.B."). Both the Lorain and Griffiths-Bell systems used raised studs, like the ones at the museum. The G.B. studs did not project above the level of the roadway.
The Lorain system was installed at Wolverhampton, from where the Crich museum obtained its studs, and consisted of surface-contact switched studs every 5 ft along the centre-line of the track. The upper iron part of the mechanism in each stud lifted when a long electromagnet on the tram passed over it, connecting the live cable to the stud. As soon as the tram car skate and magnets had passed, and long before the stud re-appeared from beneath the car, the power was automatically switched off as the iron portion of the stud dropped back to road level. An earthing skate at the end of the tram car acted as a safety device by blowing a fuse in any stud that failed to disconnect.
You can see in the photograph above how a pair of studs are laid next to each other in the area where two sets of rails are diverging from a junction, to provide a correctly aligned stud for either route.
According to Alan P Howes (a Public Transport Consultant based in Perthshire, Scotland), writing in newsgroup misc.transport.urban-transit in November 1996, on the subject of Stud (or Surface) Contacts, there were at least six proprietary variations on this system, with installations in Wolverhampton, Torquay, Mexborough, Lincoln, Hastings, (probably) Blackpool, and London in Britain, plus Paris, Tours, Monaco and Munich.
Moving Trolley Pole - Click here to view photo

The photo above shows how the trolley pole is moved round to the opposite orientation when the tram reverses its direction of travel. There is a rope attached to the pole and secured to the car body for the purpose; the driver takes the rope and walks round to the opposite end of the tram, ensures that the trolley wheel is properly located, and fastens the rope to its anchor. The rope is also used to manipulate the trolley wheel back on to the cable when it sometimes comes off.
Coronation Tram - Click here to view photo

The photo above shows the Leeds tramcar 602 which was delivered in 1953 for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. The tram's livery of royal purple and cream, with gold lining, was specifically designed for the coronation. These trams ran for only a few years before Leeds tramways closed in 1959; fortunately one was saved by Crich. If these had served a full service life, which is about 30 years, they would have provided continuous tram service up to replacement by the proposed "Leeds Supertram" of today. This tram uses a bow current collector, which automatically reverses direction when the tramcar reverses; the friction on the top surface is sufficient to fold the collector over to the correct trailing angle, against the supporting springs at the base of the collector assembly.
Isle of Man Bogey - Click here to view photo

The photo above shows a wheel bogey and motor assembly from the Isle of Man: Tram motors normally rated 25 h.p. each, with possibly two motors providing 50-60 h.p.; this assembly belonged to the Snaefell mountain railway, where each car had 4 25 h.p. motors totalling 100 h.p. to power the steep link gradient up Snaefell. In 1895, six tram cars were built by G. F. Milnes & co. of Birkenhead for Snaefell. Their plate frame bogies have a special long wheel base (6 feet, 10 inches) to incorporate the Fell braking equipment and two Mather and Platt 5A 'Manchester' type motors.

Reading


Tram Convenience - Click here to view photo

The Caversham Public Convenience was built for the use of tramway passengers and others at the electric tramway terminus at Caversham Bridge, Reading, Berkshire. In 1906, the convenience was open from 6 am to midnight.
The building is made from decorative panels slotted in to cast iron poles, all made at Walter MacFarlane's foundry in Glasgow. Of 451 panels, only 11 new ones had to be cast; many of the original panels were repaired.
The Caversham Public Convenience was donated by Reading Borough Council to the Chilterns Open Air museum, dismantled by volunteers with help from the Berkshire Industrial Archaeological group in 1985. Repaired and re-erected professionally in 1987-1991. Won "Loo of the year" award in 1992 (a working exhibit!).

Seaton, Devon


Seaton Tramway is located in Devon, not far from Exmouth, Exeter, and the M5. Seaton lies alongside the section of Devon coastline that takes you westward via Beer, Sidmouth, Budleigh Salterton, finally to Exmouth.
Private hire is available year-round, telephone 01297 21702 or write to Mrs. S. Gerdner, Seaton Tramway, Harbour Road, Seaton, Devon, EX12 2NQ.
Seaton Tram - Click here to view photo

The Seaton & District Tramway Company has its own collection of purpose built trams.
-The Seaton fleet includes: -amongst several others.

Australian Trams

Sydney Tramway Museum Information & Photos


This is the largest tram museum in the southern hemisphere and features over 40 tramway and related vehicles from places including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Ballarat, San Francisco, Nagasaki and Berlin.
The museum has a running tramway service; since May 1993, trams have been run over the former railway line to the Royal National Park. Visitors may take the tram to the park, then walk for 10-15 minutes to a splendid clifftop view over the parklands. The museum's track totals more than 3km, and an extension is planned into Sutherland shopping centre.
The museum is located at Pitt Street, Loftus 2232, Sydney Australia
Open Sundays and public holidays 10 am to 5 pm (last entry 4 pm)
and Wednesdays 9:30 am to 3:30 pm (last entry 2:30 pm).
The Royal National Park service operates Sundays and Public Holidays.
Telephone: (02) 9542 3646
Fax: (02) 9545 3390
To get there via rail, take the Illawarra railway line from Sydney. You probably need to change at Sutherland to take the Waterfall train to Loftus Railway Station. The museum is right next to the railway line; walking out of the station takes you to the museum entrance on the right.
A fine working tramway museum which I had the pleasure of visiting in 1993, 1995, and 2001.
The museum, with operating track to the left.
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Inside Parklink tram No. 548
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A Brisbane combination ("Dropcentre") tram, built in 1963 at Brisbane City Council Tramway Workshops, and purchased for the museum in May 1969. Length 49 ft., Weight 15.75 tons, four 40hp motors.
This is the only tram in the museum with fluorescent lighting. The Parklink ride takes you to the Royal National Park, where you can (for instance) walk to the spectacular Bungoona lookout.
Nagasaki Bogie Saloon Car
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This 1952 tram operated on the Sendai (Eastern Honshu island) tramway (a 3 foot, 6 inch gauge) and ran until 1976, when the system finally closed down. It was then purchased by Nagasaki Electric Tramways (a standard gauge) and converted to the new gauge using bogies from a scrapped interurban tram. Sydney Tramway Museum acquired it in 1993 as a result of an arrangement made by Melbourne enthusiast Greg King with the tram's owners.
This tram was originally numbered 121 and changed to 1054 on transfer to Nagasaki.
Built: Niigata Iron Works
Seats: 28
Capacity: 84
Bogies: Single-motor, equal-wheel, 2 x 51 hp motors.
Length: 37' 5"
Weight: 14 tons

San Fransisco Tram No. 1014
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This is a double ended PCC car, which was considered a major advance in tram technology in the 1930s; namely in improved electrical and mechanical systems, being faster and with a more comfortable ride than previous models.
After withdrawal from service in 1982 it was loaned permanently to the Sydney Tramway Museum in 1987 by the San Fransisco Municipal Railway (which also operates three trams of this class, restored in 1993) to mark the bi-centennial (Sydney being San Fransisco's sister city), and No. 1014 commenced running at the Museum in April 1989.
Melbourne W2 Class No. 244
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This 1922 tram originally operated in Melbourne; it was acquired by Sydney Tramway Museum (I believe from somewhere other than Melbourne) for restoration and delivery to Christchurch City Tramways (a tourist operation in New Zealand) in December 1995 or January 1996.
Prison Tram No. 948
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No. 948, built in 1909, 38ft. 4 inches and weighing 15.25 tons, carried prisoners between Darlinghurst Court House and Long Bay Gaol up to 1950. The construction was very sturdy, although it is said that a prisoner Darcy Dugan once managed to escape via the roof, which had not received the same attention to strengthening.
Sydney R1 Class Bogie Saloon
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This tram (No. 1979) is shown collecting passengers for a trip on the museum's running line. The R1 class was an altered version of the R class, and were built between 1935 and 1953, ceasing operation at the closure of the Sydney tramway in 1961.
Further information about Sydney Tramway Museum can be found at:
http://www.railpage.org.au/tram/loftus.html (David Hoadley's Sydney Tramway Museum Page)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/trammit/museum.htm (Tramway Museums of the world)

Munich, Germany Trams

In Germany, there are large tramway systems in München, Stuttgart, Köln and Frankfurt am Main.
Munich1
No. 19 Tram in München, Germany
Photograph Copyright © Nov. 1988 Colin Seymour

Munich2
No. 19 Tram in München, Germany (Pasing-Marienplatz)
Photograph Copyright © Nov. 1988 Colin Seymour

There are also trams in Karlsruhe, Berlin, Erfurt, Leipzig, Dresden, Mainz, Ludwigshafen, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Bonn, Brandenburg (Havel), Rostock, Goerlitz, Bad Schandau, Ulm, Nuernberg, Gotha, Nordhausen, Potsdam and Freiburg.
The Karlsruhe trams have dual use streetcars that can also use the DB lines.
Thanks to Ulf Kutzner, Mainz, Germany

Lisbon, Portugal Trams

Portugal


There used to be trams in Lisbon and Porto. The last time I visited Lisbon there were operating trams such as this one:
No. 23 Tram in Lisbon, Portugal - Click here to view photo
Photograph Copyright © 1986 Colin Seymour

Amsterdam, Netherlands Trams


Destination Centraal-Station - Click here to view photo
Photograph Copyright © May 1992 Colin Seymour

Parry's Flywheel Tram

Flywheel Tram Pictures
A British company, JPM Parry & Associates of Cradley Heath, has designed a tram based on a flywheel drive. It weighs only 6000 lbs (a conventional tram car weighs around 40 tons) Due to the light weight, the track loading is much lighter and saves on the engineering needed to install the system into an existing roadway. Instead of running down, the flywheel is recharged with kinetic energy at each stop, in around 90 seconds, which is much faster than recharging batteries, by an electric motor powered from a short, low voltage distribution rail at the stop. The flywheel tram can travel between stations several kilometres apart, drawing only on the kinetic energy stored in its flywheel. As power is only needed at fixed points along the line, power distribution by rail or overhead wire is not necessary.
Further information:
http://www.bangor.ac.uk/ml/whr/ppm.htm (Parry People Movers on the Welsh Highland, Ben Fisher, May 11th 1999)
http://www.atco.org.uk/news/news974/dorset.htm (The Parry people mover and the Weymouth Harbour Tramway, 6th May 1998)

Flywheel Tram Questions over Practicality

Paul E. Bennett, writing in Usenet newsgroup uk.transport had this to say (reproduced with permission): 
Subject: Re: Parry People Mover
Date: Sat, 01 Jun 96 21:27:02 GMT
Organization: Transport Control Technology Ltd.
           netking@dircon.co.uk "Colin Seymour" writes:
>  A British company, JPM Parry & Associates of Cradley Heath, has designed 
>  a tram based on a flywheel drive.
>  It's supposed to be the tram of the future.  It spins up only at
>  stations, and weighs only 6000 lbs, and can
>  go for several miles without needing a continuous electric supply.

Based on the ride I had at the Himley hall track, I doubt that several miles 
could be covered between flywheel re-charges. The tram lost a lot of it's 
potential energy in the initial accelleration.

Using such a vehicle, as a tram, in small town streets would necessitate it 
mixing with other traffic at road intersections. If the waiting period was too 
long the tram would be stuck and cause an obstruction.

> Since in normal use the tram would be recharged at each stop, the
> length of routes isn't necessarily a problem.

It may be fine on a totally segregated (mostly flat) rail route and kept away 
from other modes of transport but I do not consider this a serious "Tram of the 
Future".
-- 
Paul E. Bennett
Transport Control Technology Ltd.
Going Forth Safely

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