Hi all,

The photo from Noel's stable of excellent shots taken around Perth and other places is taken on the Barrack St Bridge while the tram is heading to the Carbarn at Hay St East.

There are several observations that can be made from the photo as follows:-

1 - it is difficult to say from where the tram came - i.e. off Beaufort St, or from Stirling St.
1a - the routes that fed off Beaufort St were (North Perth) 22 Charles St; 19 Blake St (Mt Lawley - off Walcott St); 18 Inglewood terminating at Grand Promenade and the last route to close in Perth.
Note - 3 & 17 were short workings on Beaufort St, 20 & 21 were short workings on the Charles St route.
1b - the route that fed from Stirling St was the Maylands route with short workings 32 & 33.

2 - All trams irrespective from which routes that the tram came showed route 8 Hay St East when returning to the Carbarn.

3 - In the photo can be seen overhead for a facing crossover in front of the tram. The crossover was in fact used for trams travelling north along Barrack St and crossing over to Stirling St to take up running on the Maylands routes or one of the short workings. It was not usual for passengers to be on the tram when using the crossover, but that's not to say it didn't happen. Certainly passengers were carried from Stirling St toward the city when the tram was running to Barrack Square, or direct to the Carbarn.
3a - The crossover was originally a trailing one which meant that the trams travelled north past the crossover, then set back south to the inbound line, and then travelled north in the wrong direction to the points which can be seen behind the tram and which lead to Stirling St. This method of shunting led to many complaints from the signalmen in Box C which worked points and signals at the east end of Perth station, because the tram would block the vision of the signalman while waiting to shunt back and then shunt to Stirling St. The trailing crossover was removed and replaced with the facing one after many years of complaint. The solution was not satisfactory, but better than the original problem.

3b - There was a stub track which ran along the kerb of Stirling St but stopped short of Beaufort St which was the actual terminus of the Maylands routes. See attached map from Tracks by the Swan (map courtesy Adrian Gunzberg & Perth Electric Tramway Scy {Inc} copies of the book are still available btw - bit of shameless advertising there). Slightly north of the end of the stub track, but in Beaufort St, was an unwired trailing crossover located outside the Law Courts. Had the stub terminus been physically connected to the Beaufort St inbound (or Up) line, and the crossover wired, then this would have been the ideal place for trams to Stirling St to shunt. Only one change end required, and the tram would have been clear of the bridge instead of having to wait for a clear space to shunt across to Stirling St. Passengers could have boarded from the kerb and clear of road traffic as well, however that was not to be.

4 - Not long after the photo was taken the Maylands routes were closed and converted to bus operation.

5 - the tram was an "F" class Brush car - one of four that came to Perth in 1903 from England. All four cars (Nos 31 to 34) had clerestory roofs and were built to the Brill design. No 34 was involved in a serious accident around 1926 and so was rebuilt to a standard "E" class body with "V" trusses - probably because the Brush trucks would not have cleared the "A" type body "D" trusses. These trams all had 14 windows in each side of the saloon, whereas the "G" (Kalgoorlie) trams had 12 windows per side.

6 - A truly excellent photo, thanks Noel.

Bob in Perth

-----Original Message-----
From:TramsDownUnder@... [mailto:TramsDownUnder@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 12 December 2017 6:52 AM
To:TramsDownUnder@...
Subject: [TramsDownUnder] A Perth gem

The attached pic by Noel Reed had me a little puzzled.

It's usually the location that stumps me, but this one is easy - 34 is heading south across the railway bridge into Barrack St.

By the way, the only recognisable bit these days is the bridge.

What puzzled me was the number.

34 was an ex Kalgoorlie car on Brush trucks ... but this car has an arch roof, not the clerestory roof of the 1902 Kalgoorlie cars.

It turns out that this car was re-built with an arch roof in Perth.

Mal Rowe - heading to Perth in 2018





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Posted by: Mal Rowe mal.rowe@...>
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