I am sending you a picture taken on March 11, 2006 at the terminus of route 11 in Scheveningen (Den Haag).It shows NZH motorcar A327 (1912) from the Haarlem town system next to HTM GTL-8 3018 (1981).You will notice 4 TMS members present (John Shawcross, Jim Jordan, Richard Robson and Wim).
The second picture shows Amsterdam 72 (1903) and toastrack trailer 600 (replica, 1990) followed by Amsterdam 307 (1910) and trailer 663 (1912) in Amsterdam near the Haarlemmermeerstation and Havenstraat depot on September 18, 2010.
The third picture shows Rotterdam 537 operating on the regular tourist tram route 10 on November 1, 2006. The location is Coolsingel in the centre of Rotterdam.
Historic trams on modern systems? No problem.At least not in Holland.
I think the clue is "tourist tram route". Problem in BLACKPOOL is that there is just the one route, and short of having a 4 track layout on the prom, the heritage cars, pedestrians, cyclists and mad motorists will just get in the way. One solution = confine the new LRV's to the Gynn-Ferry section and the veterans to Starr Gate-Gynn; through passengers would have to change. Nah, wouldn't work would it! The answer lies with the local Blackpudlians themselves, after all they're paying for the trams all year round, so let them decide - local democracy, now what's that?
ReplyDeleteAll of the trams that I showed on Richard's blog including Amsterdam 72 of 1903 can outrun any present Blackpool tram. Given the crawling speed at Blackpool, the only danger is burning out the controllers of the historic trams.
ReplyDeleteThose of you who have visited The Hague, where the average speed of the trams (including stops) is 18 km/h (12 mph) will have noticed that historic trams have been operating there without any problem.
When you look at impossible behaviour of the public, go to Amsterdam, where historic trams have been operating all over the system without any problem. And yes, we have very drunk Brits in Amsterdam and yes, they and their American felows get run over by trams through their own stupidity and that's where at least in Holland responsibility lies.
Oh dear Wim. Only British and American drunks in Amsterdam? The first time I ever saw a drunk lying prostrate in the gutter was in - Amsterdam. Looked very Dutch to me. And then there are those under the influence of wacky backy smoked legally in various Amsterdam joints (pardon pun) who I believe cause some anti-social problems in Holland, particularly on public transport. Pots and kettles mate?
ReplyDeleteNo, the statistics cleary indicate an extraordinary high casualty rate amongst Brits and Americans. And I didn't say only Brits and Americans get drunk in Amsterdam.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that unlike Britain, in Holland when somebody gets run over by a tram through his own stupidity, the responsibility is laid where it ought to be, i.e. the offender and not with the tram.
I think we're losing the thread here. The issue wasn't about drunks, you will see them wandering about on the tram tracks of most UK LRV systems and statistically some of them will dare I say be from the Low Countries. The issue is about how BTS can integrate heritage trams and LRV's come 2012. The arrival of the new LRV's will have an impact on (1) how many heritage trams can safely be operated at any one time and on what days and (2) which trams can be borrowed from which museums/collections for safe operation on Blackpool's relaid metals. 2011 will in many respects be a swansong year for the Blackpool system and a last chance to ride and photograph some old familiar friends.
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