Re: [SFMuniHistory] Re: Driving trams
IS Edit
Monday, March 4, 2002 11:11 PM
I got lots more practice with Birneys in Bendigo,
Peter.
I guess the big debate among good motormen down
here is between manual lap and self-lapping brake valves. I prefer manual lap
and on most normal service stops would defy people to tell me when the wheels
stopped turning.
As for Peter B. saying he was a bit rough on
acceleration at first, the problem is that with the Melbourne W-class trams,
you're often leaving a near side tram stop and need to get out and occupy that
intersection on a yellow light. So you have to push through the series notches
to get the beast underway quickly. It's the same driving a PCC or any Public
Service Vehicle (to use a British term). You have to establish your presence in
that intersection before some other SOB on the cross street jumps the light and
cuts you off.
The W-class had four 40hp motors, the PCC four 55
hp motors, but the same traffic scenario. So the pressure was on to get through
the notches and get that sucker moving. When you push through like that the
motors don't get a chance to run up to the power available on each step. It's
especially noticeable going from series to parallel if you're still pushing it
through as you would well know Peter E, though Peter B says that W-2 you use in
SF was a particularly good one.
I don't know what Peter Winspur (was a real good
guy and a real pro on trams) showed Peter B but what I started doing was running
it up through the notches to the top of series, then letting the motor rpm and
tram speed catch up. In other words take my time going into parallel. The die
was already cast by the time I got to the top of series. That made a huge
difference to my smoothness. It's OK to be in a hurry in series, but then let
the tram gather itself. It's almost like going from low to high range in a
Roadranger truck gearbox. It just takes a bit longer and it's not worth hurrying
it through.
Having drawn a comparison between a K-35 and
a Roadranger, I'd better stop here.
Except to say I love driving old air-brake
equipment, but there was nothing like a good 1100 PCC, or even a good "Baby
1000" (maybe). Give me an air brake car that could do 50mph on the street in San
Francisco and stop as quickly as a PCC I might have a rethink.
RT Murphy
----- Original Message -----From: Peter D. EhrlichTo: TramsDownUnder ; SFMuniHistorySent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 12:26 AMSubject: [SFMuniHistory] Re: [TramsDownUnder] Driving trams[This is also being sent to SFMuniHistory, as it applies there as well.]
In a message dated 3 March 2002 @ 1803 PST, "IS Edit"
<[email protected]> wrote:
> I agree, Peter. Even I would like to do the occasional shift. I've only driven
> trams a few times in the last 10 years and thoroughly enjoyed it.
>
> I never got bored driving them either. Too many variables. And you can always
> introduce some to add to the fun if boredom threatens.
>
> Bob Murphy
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: demondriver44
>
> Murph,I agree with you about the discipline involved in driving
> trams,I have never driven heavy buses or semis but would have put in
> well over 1,000,000 km driving other things and tram driving is a
> very different discipline,mind you,quite a few trammies shouldn't be
> put in charge of a wheelbarrow and sometimes the most unlikely ones
> will give the smoothest and fastest ride.When I started my braking
> was good but my acceleration was careless and rough,this was
> corrected by Peter Winspur,early in the piece fortunately,after that
> I was a far better driver and connies would change shifts to work
> with me,they knew they wouldn't be thrown all over the car and they
> would only take their fair share,the bag would not be too heavy.I did
> not run ahead though,just on the knocker.So many people have said to
> me that tram driving must be boring and so easy but it was never so
> for me and after 25 years I still sometimes miss it.I love the feel
> of the steel wheels turning on steel rail and all the variety of
> sounds as you pass over railjoints and through special work,your
> senses and your body learns all this stuff and it becomes innate,it
> never goes away.Peter E.you know what I'm talking about.Peter Bruce.
Tram operation--especially of an air car--is truly an art form. I learned
my craft from the master, a gentleman named Jack Smith, in 1982. He learned
his craft from his father, who was one of the first black motormen on the
private Market Street Railway. His first "job" at the age of 12 or so was
to bring his dad lunch and ride with him. Since this was a night shift, his
dad would say "Run the car" while he had his sandwich. The passengers
didn't care or even notice.
It took me a while to master the nuances of the straight air brake. Jack's
test was to take some champagne glasses, fill them with water, and if you
did a smooth stop, none of the water would go over the side of the glass.
If you did a "stonewall" stop, you'd be mopping up the floor!
I had a trainee recently who had trouble with his stops. He'd take too much
air, release it all, and have to reapply, causing a hard stop. So I said to
him, "How do you stop with an automobile?" He said "I let up on the brake
pedal a little bit at the end of the stop." I said, "It's exactly the same
principle here with a straight air car." He improved considerably after
that.
And R.T., remember when you ran the Sacramento Northern Birney up at Rio
Vista back in 1970 or so? You were a master then, too!
Milantram
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