Re: The elusive La Luna loop
  prescottt

I guess my next question would be why it is called "La Luna" and not Luna Park?

I think I finally spotted it in that aerial photo. It seems to go around an island of land with some buildings on it - more an "around the block loop"? In that case, what I find intersting is that it's not oriented towards the city (the major destination), which one would expect a terminus loop to be, but towards Carlisle Street. There was obviously a very specific intention in building storage capacity into the terminus, being in an entertainment area (the one at Caulfield probably had a similar intention) - but from Carlisle Street? What catchment does Carlisle Street pick up from that would justify such a piece of infrastructure at this point? Is it a coincidence that both of Melbourne's loops were at either end of the Balaclava Rd corridor with a major event/entertainment precinct at each end? I assume this was all done by one of the pre MMTB operators which means they had their own unique approach, possibly an idea picked up from Sydney? What year was the Balaclava Rd line and these loops built? Was there a direct service between Caulfield and St Kilda?

So many questions!

The shape of the buildings around Macdonalds St Kilda seem to indicate the former position of the loop: the world's first Maccas tram drive-through?

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Caulfield+Racecourse/@-37.8667121,144.9777755,176m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xb0fbd58d11fcb909!8m2!3d-37.8774539!4d145.0412446 https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Caulfield+Racecourse/@-37.8667121,144.9777755,176m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xb0fbd58d11fcb909!8m2!3d-37.8774539!4d145.0412446

I would think that every bit of tram infrastructure in Melbourne was built for a specific purpose and these two loops had one, the need for which obviously later diminished. Risson certainly didn't indicate that he was against loops when he looked at the Tatra T3, but rather that it was not possible to retrofit them into Melbourne. Sydney's were mostly built when lines were originally built and Sydney had a need for them, Melbourne didn't.

Tony P
---InTramsDownUnder@..., <mal.rowe@...> wrote :

While working on the book about the Prahran & Melbourne Tramways Trust,
Ian Brady and I searched hard for a pic showing the loop at Luna Park in
use. We didn't find a suitable pic. In fact, we think it was probably
only used for storage of trams at busy times, not as a regular terminal
loop.

Here's a pic I found today - the loop is just opposite Luna Park at the
left centre of the pic.

http://tdu.to/Aerial-view-StKilda_SE-across_LunaPark.jpg http://tdu.to/Aerial-view-StKilda_SE-across_LunaPark.jpg

You can see a tram sitting at the normal terminus - which was still used
for some years even after the loop was removed.
See: http://tdu.to/a2867/StKildaBeachTerminus_11-10-1969.jpg http://tdu.to/a2867/StKildaBeachTerminus_11-10-1969.jpg

At right of the pic attached to this email, just above centre, you can
also see the old terminus of the line down Park St - which deviated into
Mary St and Beaconsfield Pde to join the tram line in The Esplanade.
That deviation was removed in late 1959.

Mal Rowe - still searching