Out in Birmingham last week, I found myself tram spotting while waiting to go into the town hall. This is the section of the line where the trams run on battery power to avoid having to install overhead wires.
For modellers of the modern scene, this is a gift. The hardest part of any tramway build is the knitting in the sky. Now we can just pretend that the model shows a battery section - job done!
It also occurred to me that it's been a long while since I've ridden Brum trams, and the only place they went in those days was Wolverhampton. The route is now being extended, and the trams have changed too! Another for the list of places to go.
Why was I in Brum? Well, an evening making my little grey cells do some work...
2 comments:
It does look very neat...the visual "clutter" associated with the OLE of a modern tramway with its sturdy masts and thick wiring may be a bit much, especially in some "heritage" environments.
The section of tramway along the seafront in Hastings (and also, I think, in Wolverhampton?) initially used the Doulter Stud Contact system due to the Borough Council objecting to masts and wires, though there were problems with horses being electrocuted and other issues which led to it being replaced first by fitting petrol generator sets in some trams and later the council relenting and allowing the wires to go up. Modern battery technology really makes a difference...
Simon.
Wolverhampton definitely used it. I remember an excellent model from many years ago that took advantage of this. I think there are some non-working studs set in the cobbles at Crich. I also remember the story that the mechanisms would fail, and horses would get a shock, or worse.
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