Just for interest sake Max and Rick; i'm starting to receive responses from friends;

 





there ya go!

 

mikey



 

 

Spot on Mikey, they may not be tramways but at least single & double slips in roads.  I would not fancy riding a pushbike down there though, get the wheel caught & a*** up you would go.

Thanks, Mikey.  :thumbs

Quite right.  A lot comes down to definition.  "Heavy" railways running through streets are / were often referred to as "tramways" (the Weymouth tramway is an example) but were never used by, nor intended to be used by, "light rail" style passenger vehicles.

It is tramways of that kind whereupon I am not aware of a double or single slip.

Max, I do hope you are not having a crossroads on your tramway.  If you are this may inspire you!!

Taken during the construction of the 'Grand Union in Montreal!!

 


 

Mikey

Superb engineering and still rather uncommon anywhere in the World today.  Melbourne has one full Grand Union at Balaclava Junction as can be seen here.

Just south of us is this:-

http://www.horsedrawntram.com.au/our_history.html

http://www.victor.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/HorseTramBrox.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Harbor_Horse_Drawn_Tram

double slips are when two people step in it together.

[user=10]mikeyh[/user] wrote:

Max, I do hope you are not having a crossroads on your tramway.  If you are this may inspire you!!

Taken during the construction of the 'Grand Union in Montreal!!

 


 

Mikey

I think I will go and have a little lie down, now.

[user=316]Gwiwer[/user] wrote:

It seems there is a supplier somewhere in the Yoo Ess Ovay; just in discussions with a tram buddy now.

AND …..

we may have a winner here:- http://www.greenhobbymodel.com/model%20trains/tt%20tram%20track.htm

And more here, referred to as "girder rail" http://www.customtraxx.com/ which seems to be the same thing.

Thanks very much, Rick.  CustomTraxx is the go.  I just spent another half hour there.  Very interesting.  The tram fraternity have nearly as many products as the rail mob.  Addictive.

I am really enjoying this thread, so much more to running trams than meets the eye.

Phill

[user=10]mikeyh[/user] wrote:

Double slips, or compound switches, or puzzle switches occur on tramways throughout the world. Double compounds are featured on Tramways in Victoria , Australia. the definition of a tramway is a light railway that uses existing roads for its track UNLESS it is absolutely neccessary. Many rural tramways will have a permanent way especially constructed but as long as the majority of track is built at the side of ,or on existing roads, its a tramway.

Photograph posted with permission of Steve McNicol railmac@westnet.com.au


This typical of most of the Adelaide - Glenelg tramway, Mikey.  It's not a great shot, but you can see that a dedicated right of way has been created for the tramway.  There is a road behind the trees and houses back on to the line on the left side.

Interestingly, the SA Govt have started building another tramway down the middle of the Port Road where the planned canal was never built.  The new tramway will connect the CBD to Port Adelaide. 

You can also see the plain rail.  The girder rail is only found at crossings, the CBD and the main street of Glenelg, Jetty Road.

OK.  On we go.




The lamps have been painted with heat resistent paint and plugged in.




The two 16 mm MDF boards are butt glued with PVA.




The boards are turned over and a butt plate is screwed and PVA glued across the joint.  I plan to turn the boards over to wire them up, for ease of access.  The butt plate stops the joint from breaking when I turn it over.  I estimate that the two boards together weigh at least 10 kg (on the grunt meter).




The lighting truss is hauled up and the lights turned on.  I will be able to slide the lamps along the wires later to create more interesting areas of light and shade.


The shelf with the Bluebird and the tram on it will be relocated higher.

That looks like a useful area to work with Max - and a good surface (if a little hard !!).

Okey dokes, now for a fascia.




The fascia sits in four curtain pole brackets and is trapped in the vee under the base board.  Easily removed for maintenance or new work.

So  how long is this, Max? I did read through but couldn't spot it.

Mike

It's 3.9 metres, Mike.  The wide bit is 500 mm and the narrow bit is 400 mm.

Thanks Max   - about as long as the long side of my new one, so it'll be interesting to see what this looks like as it develops.

Oh, and I've thought of a context - the Tram Museum.  So the trams can go from somewhere to somewhere else - and back again!  That way I can run any old tram I like.

One of our local model shops actually has stock of all the turnouts, double slips and track in Code 75 that I'm needing.  I've ordered it all on line.  Once the track is down, I can get back on to Rr&Co and start planning and plotting.

Sol is going to help me with the live frog switching (he doesn't know yet, so keep it between us). ;-)

[user=8]MikeC[/user] wrote:

 it'll be interesting to see what this looks like as it develops.

The limiting factor is going to be the OHLE cables, Mike.  A bit of a challenge I expect.

Depends how it's wired and switched.  It might be horribly over scale but I'd look at stripping single-core bell wire for live overhead if nothing  better was available at a sensible price.  But that doesn't reduce the need to have frogs, crossing pans and all the poles and insulators which a street tramway requires.

If you're not planning on running live overhead then construction may be simpler as everything can be dummy and only need to look the part without acting it as well.

I seem to recall piano wire being used by some tram modellers but just how easy is it to use?