Old Photos For No Reason Whatsoever

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Bloody hell! I saw the Ruts last week at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney. Opening for The Stranglers. Great night.
Of all those concerts on there The Ruts is the only one I went to I think , also saw them at the Nelson Mandela building in Pond St ,they were brilliant. Malcolm Owen is a great miss ,but the Ruts and The Members are the best 2 of the old punk bands for new material I think.
 

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Grafitti.
A.R. Heathcote Cutlers
Bernard Works, Sylvester Gardens.
2013
 
I think it is just an illusion. The man is bending forward but he is nowhere near the trolley pole which is in contact with the overhead power supply. At the terminus the trolley pole would be swung round by the conductor as it was easier for the tram to pull it than push it. On damp days a lot of arcing would appear between the trolley pole and overhead wire.

I don't think the Town Hall was classed as a terminus so there would be no reason for the trolley pole to be moved at that point.

The pole was spring loaded and the roller on the trolley pole would make contact with the underside of the overhead power cable. This was very inefficient so the pantograph was designed to take over from the trolley pole.

I'm sure someone will correct me but the current Supertram uses a Z shaped pantograph to take power from the overhead cable and is much more efficient than the trolley pole.

Although, as far as I know, no Sheffield trams had a pantograph. The conductor would use a bamboo pole to turn the trolley and then pull seat backs forwards so that passengers would be forward facing.
 
Sorry, if I erroneously introduced the word pantograph into the debate, I knew it was a trolley, but I felt that the word was ambiguous in the circumstances. As inherent in the word, a pantograph was a originally a drawing instrument wasn't it, used to scale a drawing? I used the word in the sort of loose sense, you mind find in a crossword.

Mind you I wasn't sure it was a 'trolley' on the photo as I think these had originally been literally a little trolley with 4 pulley wheels sitting on parallel wires like a train wagon that was dragged along behind the tram .... but its not my field.
 
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Although, as far as I know, no Sheffield trams had a pantograph. The conductor would use a bamboo pole to turn the trolley and then pull seat backs forwards so that passengers would be forward facing.

I think you are right. I mentioned the pantograph in relation to the Supertram but I had forgotten about moving the backs of the seats!!
 
The above image really highlights the traffic congestion with the trams running on the main roads.
This was something that really developed in the late 50's when cars became more available.
Very few people owned their own vehicle until the mid 50's and then in the 60's the trams got in the way of the traffic flow, bearing in mind that the traveling passengers used to stand on the pavement edge and then all the traffic stopped to allow the passengers onto the trams.as their only means of passing a tram was on the inside.
When the motor scooters came on the scene the lines were notorious for getting your scooter wheel caught in the track as I find to my peril at the Havelock Bridge end of Shoreham Street.
The only self contained tram track that I can recall was past Millhouses Park and onto Abbey Lane.

It was an excellent means of transport which would have been better updating rather than total decimation at the time.

UTB
 

The above image really highlights the traffic congestion with the trams running on the main roads.
This was something that really developed in the late 50's when cars became more available.
Very few people owned their own vehicle until the mid 50's and then in the 60's the trams got in the way of the traffic flow, bearing in mind that the traveling passengers used to stand on the pavement edge and then all the traffic stopped to allow the passengers onto the trams.as their only means of passing a tram was on the inside.
When the motor scooters came on the scene the lines were notorious for getting your scooter wheel caught in the track as I find to my peril at the Havelock Bridge end of Shoreham Street.
The only self contained tram track that I can recall was past Millhouses Park and onto Abbey Lane.

It was an excellent means of transport which would have been better updating rather than total decimation at the time.

UTB

Agreed Kent. There were several sections of self contained track, Prince of Wales Road being the obvious one. There was also that short stretch of old tramline on Angel Street I think which was there for many years after the system was closed which ran down the centre of the road on its own raised strip.
 
I'm going to be a bit pedantic Kentblade .... but doesn't that photograph actually show the congestion caused by double-decker buses, not trams?

I formed the opinion that its buses that really clogged up the traffic in London (and less so elsewhere), they are just too big to get round corners quickly enough in the correct lanes as they swing out and round they block traffic both ways. It is fashionable to blame cars but being a cyclist, I know first hand the filth these things emit and I also note that on many routes up here, they are run virtually empty throughout the day and could be replaced by big cars.


But no one is prepared to call a spade a spade.
 
Was this the last one played at Wigan Casino?
Yes
It was the last song of the night every night as I remember ,what was Josephines for a bonus prize ?
Struggling with that one Sitters
Last record time I was either ;
1.Pissed
2.Pulled a bird
3.Still trying to pull (owt would do at that time)
4.Gone for a kebab,indian or chinese
 
Agreed Kent. There were several sections of self contained track, Prince of Wales Road being the obvious one. There was also that short stretch of old tramline on Angel Street I think which was there for many years after the system was closed which ran down the centre of the road on its own raised strip.
I had forgotten about the Prince of Wales
UTB.
 
I'm going to be a bit pedantic Kentblade .... but doesn't that photograph actually show the congestion caused by double-decker buses, not trams?

I formed the opinion that its buses that really clogged up the traffic in London (and less so elsewhere), they are just too big to get round corners quickly enough in the correct lanes as they swing out and round they block traffic both ways. It is fashionable to blame cars but being a cyclist, I know first hand the filth these things emit and I also note that on many routes up here, they are run virtually empty throughout the day and could be replaced by big cars.


But no one is prepared to call a spade a spade.
Not pedantic at all Vorpal Blade.
You want to see the cyclists commuting in, out of, and around London, they must be very brave. The point I was trying to make was that every time a tram stopped at a tram stop all the traffic had to stop to allow passengers on and off the trams.
I thought that buses had now to be emission friendly or whatever terminology fits the bill.
Cannot be easy cycling around.
As my Grandad was a tram driver I suppose that got me into all transport interests with steam plus photography as my main interest.
Did work as a cleaner/fireman on a preserved railway but unfortunately to old now to continue.

UTB
 
Yea you’re right should be ashamed of myself for not remembering that.
I remember when I stayed in Baltimore in the 80s ,we used to go to a club called Hammerjacks and the last song of the night was always George Thorogoods brilliant 'One bourbon ,one scotch ,one beer' Its about 8 miutes long which gave you enough time to either chat up a decent lass ,go for growler or get a couple more bevvies. great times.
 
Blimey I used to have a toy version of one of those and it was called Sketch-a-graph. Only problem was that the rubber grommets on the elbows made any movement jerky instead of smooth.
View attachment 37002


Had a Ford Cortina who's manufacturing drawings were surely drawn up with one of those?
 
Blimey I used to have a toy version of one of those and it was called Sketch-a-graph. Only problem was that the rubber grommets on the elbows made any movement jerky instead of smooth.
View attachment 37002
Along with Spirograph, the cause of many broken dreams of art and design as a career choice :(
 

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