Interesting photos, Andrew, but it is hard to imagine any Bendigo tram ever going fast enough to bend a pole...

Re the second photo, that is where the emergency rope on Melbourne Ws came in handy. To turn the front pole over to the centre of the tram, you only hand to throw one of the two ropes over the roof of the tram, then driver and conductor could work together to guide the pole onto the wire. Apart from going up a roof step or two to free the end of the emergency rope, the pole could be turned from ground level.

Regards.

On 06/02/2013, at 7:29 PM, Andrew Cook wrote:

>

> Hi everyone,

>

> A while back there was discussion on bent trolley poles on trams. On Saturday, 11 September, 1971, I ventured to Bendigo with a few other

> people to ride and photograph the trams. By this stage, you could see more vintage trams operating in Bendigo. The Ballarat system had only

> one line left and was almost on the verge of being closed down for good. Bendigo still had a good service on Saturdays until about 1.00 pm.

>

> On arrival, we noticed that bogie tram No. 24 was operating with a 'swung pole'. From memory, one pole had developed a rather nasty bend

> in it from a dewirement. As the tram was running off about 1.00 pm, the crew decided to put up with a 'swung pole', rather than fooling around

> with a change-over close to the end of their shift.

>

> The photos show No. 24 arriving at Eaglehawk terminus with a swung pole, positioning the swung pole at Quarry Hill terminus, the crew ready

> to leave Quarry Hill for the Depot and No. 24 is shown in Carpenter Street, Quarry Hill (with swung pole) heading to the Depot.

>

> Cheers, Andrew (who thinks pantographs are a better option, except when they 'flip').

>

>

>

> <196_27.jpg><196_34 (2).jpg><196_34 (1).jpg><196_35.jpg>