On 14/07/2017 11:20 PM, Mick Duncankitbuny@... [TramsDownUnder] wrote:
> Electric trams never ran on cable track as the track was to light,and the flangeways and 6 foot were too narrow
>
>
> New track was laid before electric trams ran
>
I have attached an original drawing showing the cable tram rail and slot beam.
http://tdu.to/Rail-and-SlotBeam_MelbTT_blueprints.JPG
Yesterday, at Bylands, I grabbed some pics of the rail and slot beam there.
It is material recovered from the streets.
http://tdu.to/Cable-tram-rail_Bylands_17Jul2017.JPG
http://tdu.to/Cable-tram-slot-beam_Bylands_17Jul2017.JPG
One thing that's obvious to me is that the MT&OCo got their money's worth out of the materials - there's not much meat left on the rail and the slot beam shows the effect of many years of wear on the slot edge.
Mal Rowe - recognising that 'sweating the asset' is nothing new