Birney - a - ganza Shakey Isles
WALTER Bennett
Saturday, January 12, 2002 1:48 PM
I have already mentioned in "Thingswithwheels"
about the New Plymouth, New Zealand Birneys.
I was bought up there, the family lived in Westown
and I went to the local primary school.
The three cars 7,8 and 9 were imported from
USA in 1921 and were of the fairly rare body type G (Four
doors).
They operated exclusively on the City to Westown
route until it closed in two sections in 1949
With the closing of the route they were to be seen
on the Fitzroy - Port line as required, and they lasted until the last day
of operations in July 1954.
I related how I used to lurk near the tram terminus
at David Street, Westown for the arrival of the tram from the town.
(The cars were one man operated on this
line,)
Before the
motorman could change ends my plan was to rush across the road and pull down the
trolley pole and secure the rope round the cleat provided.
Some drivers appreciated my early attempts to be a
"Trammie".............But some did not !!!
The attached picture is provided by noted tramway
historian and friend Graham C Stewart of NZ. and shows the afore mentioned
scenario.
The little red and cream car stands at Westown
terminus ready for the trip back to town.
When the replacement trolley bus service was
installed, the Westown terminus was extended about 3kms to Wallath
Road.
My brother Geoff, tells the story of how, on the
way back from the Technical school in town, several burly schoolboys would
bounce up and down together on the back platform of a Birney as it sped
along Devon Street in the dip past Swanston Engineering.
Birneys could never bounce like a normal single
trucker, preferring to perform horizontal oscillations, so it was only a matter
of time before the pole was snatched from the wire by the Earl rope
catcher.
If the hapless driver had had a bad day, the boys
would be faced with the daunting prospect of walking up the formidable Morley
Street hill , and the inevitable "Chat" with the headmaster when they finally
made it back to school.
WGB
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