Recently I revisited David O'Neil's book 'History of the Geelong Electric
Tramways' and was reminded of something that eluded me in the making of my
2008 DVD.

The relevant section of David's book:

At the West Geelong terminus at Church Street, a "Tram Waiting" light
alerted passengers from the North route that there was a tram waiting at the
West terminus. The light was operated by a contactor. (The pole on the
overhead wire activated a switch).

Presumably, the light alerted incoming passengers on the North line intent
upon visiting the popular West Geelong shopping centre in Pakington St, that
there was a tram waiting at the West terminus.

This would have afforded them the opportunity to change trams, and avoid
continuing on to the city centre only to catch another tram back out to
Pakington St.

At the location of the "Tram Waiting" light, only the Melbourne-Geelong
railway separated the North and West tram lines, requiring just a short walk
to save a lot of unproductive tram travel. Also presumably, the ticket they
purchased on the North tram was transferable to the West Tram.

Mal's post of July 25 (Geelong Pengelley 18 arrives at West Terminus) seems
to show the whole arrangement....

.. What looks like a Forest City light box mounted high up on a pole
and facing towards the North line.

.. A set of Forest City contactors on the overhead just beyond the
last passing loop in Pakington St.

.. Interconnecting wires between the contactors and the north-facing
light box, and also down the pole outside the hotel to interconnect with
similar contactors at the previous passing loop as part of the safe-working
system along the single line in Pakington St.

Since closure of the Geelong tramways, the area where this convenient
'change of trams' took place has been substantially upgraded to carry motor
vehicle traffic over the railway line.

Roger Greenwood

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus