Gday Richard

Re earlier times

Dead right, during the daytime weekdays, there was little road dragging as the running times were about right, but on Cambers one could struggle,
often a block car on Fridays,from Camberwell

Before the 1 extra car on most routes, early 70s during the day and 1 car
less after 8PM, road dragging was usual at night on most Camberwell and Malvern routes after 8PM

If one went at usual daytime speeds,on Cambers, one would hit the Alfred
clock 3 up, 17 mins from Franklin St to the Alfred

To minimise this, I always took my 7 mins from Franklin st to Flinders St

Then it all changed, after 8PM,On Glen Iris, Toorak and East Malvern
one had to go like a cut cat after leaving Flinders and Swanston.
On East Malverns, it was hard to hit the clock at Balaclava Stn on time
usually about 1-2 down.

Gee I loved it, from being boring after 8pm, it became a thrash

On the up trips,you couldnt leave more than 2 down and hit the 1st clock on time

Monties at Kew was the same

Cheers, Mick

On 20/04/2017 7:12 PM, Richard Youltressteleg@... [TramsDownUnder] wrote:
>

>

> The GC buses also sit at stops when a little early, which is not too often and not for very long.

>

> However where could trams stop on, for example, Route 19? There is a safety zone at Coburg, one at the top of Royal Pde, and that is about all.

>

> Glenferrie Rd is even more impossible.

>

> There simply needs to be a bit more allowance for inadvertent early running. In earlier times, running times were often so tight that rarely could you run early even if you wanted to.

>

> Rail operators and train drivers have it so much easier.

>

> Regards,

>

> On 20 Apr 2017, at 4:13 pm, Matthew Geiermatthew@... .au mailto:matthew@sleeper.apana.org.au [TramsDownUnder] TramsDownUnder@... mailto:TramsDownUnder@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

>

>> On 20/04/17 15:08, Richard Youltressteleg@... mailto:tressteleg@yahoo.com.au [TramsDownUnder]

>> wrote:

>> >

>> >

>> > Overall, too much emphasis in is placed on precise running times,

>> > something impossible to achieve by any vehicle running on streets with

>> > other road users. Passengers often can tell whether you are running fast

>> > or dragging the road, and it is ridiculous to have to run very slow just

>> > because this time all the traffic lights are green and fewer than usual

>> > cars blocking the way. You can't stop a tram just anywhere to wait for

>> > the clock to catch up.

>>

>> My local buses run slow and sometimes just sit at stops - particularly

>> on holidays when the traffic is light, due to running ahead of table.

>> The drivers sit at the stop till the clock clicks over.

>>

>> Now with all buses GPS tracked by the Opal equipment, running early and

>> late is all recorded. Will even show up on my phone when a driver

>> accidentally takes a wrong turn - the little pin shows where the bus

>> really is, not where it's supposed to be.

>>

>> Trams could just wait at certain stops where they are clear of other

>> road traffic.

>> Of course this sort of thing rather ticks off the passengers. :-)

>>

>

>

>