On 20/07/2017 1:55 AM, 'Dudley Horscroft'transitconsult@... [TramsDownUnder] wrote:
>

> Thanks, Mal. Very likely the cops wanted more room.

>


I have an interesting file dating from 1923 when the MMTB and the Melbourne City Council were debating whether to go for centre poles in the central city.

The attached letter records a police view on the topic - they liked centre poles as a method of lane separation, but not at tram-tram intersections.
http://tdu.to/Police-letter-3Feb1923.jpg
There are also some comments noting that the police views resulted in design changes to pole placement.

The main debale with the city council was about whether the centre poles might incorporate street lights (as they did in Malvern).
There is even a pencil drawing of the (new) MMTB pole design with a street lamp on top.
http://tdu.to/Centre-pole-with-light1923.jpg

The MMTB didn't like the idea - partly because the light was in the centre of the road and that meant passengers alighting would be in the shadow of the tram.
I get the impression that they didn't really like centre poles at all, and as we now know they were not used in the city after the initial city electric lines in William St and the top end of Swanston St.

Mal Rowe - interested to read the local politics of 94 years back