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| Duck your trolley. What does that mean? https://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48963 |
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| Author: | Tim Davis [ Tue Sep 09, 2025 4:15 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Duck your trolley. What does that mean? |
I was looking at a video shot at the Crich Tramway Village. There was a sign that said "Remember to duck your trolley." I couldn't find anything online so, what does it mean? |
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| Author: | whodom [ Wed Sep 10, 2025 4:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Duck your trolley. What does that mean? |
Grok couldn’t find a direct reference to the phrase. It suggests it probably means “watch out for the trolley”. |
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| Author: | Alexander D. Mitchell IV [ Wed Sep 10, 2025 8:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Duck your trolley. What does that mean? |
A note that "trolley" in the UK vernacular is the equivalent of what Americans (and Canadians?) would call a "shopping cart" or "pushcart" (think the big flat carts at feed or hardware stores). "Trolley" is also the word for the wheel atop the overhead electrical contact pole on many, but not all, trams/streetcars/whatever terminology applies where you are. Having said that, even as an Anglophile rail enthusiast I have no clue what that sign is supposed to indicate. Perhaps "lower your electrical pole to change ends" or something? |
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| Author: | R. Hahn [ Thu Sep 11, 2025 6:33 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Duck your trolley. What does that mean? |
Per the description in a Youtube video on the Crich, "The curious sign 'duck your Trolley' is a reminder to tram crew to pause and move the pole and wheel to the adjacent contact wire.". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-EGfQpRdJY |
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| Author: | wesp [ Tue Sep 16, 2025 8:35 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Duck your trolley. What does that mean? |
Here is a lengthy explanation from Kate Watts at Chrich. Quote: "We refer to the current collector on the top of the tram as the trolley pole. On our site we have two wires above the trams, one for cars running north and the second for cars coming south, but owing to some temporary track issues, at Wakebridge, we have to stop and move the current collector from the north to the southbound wire, before proceeding north to Glory Mine. In doing this the trolley pole is drawn down from one wire, under it, and moved over to over to the next wire. This act is called "ducking the trolley". The signs around site were put up earlier this year to remind crews to duck the trollies and ensure the current collector is on the correct wire. Should a car proceed with the trolley on the wrong wire, there is the risk of a de-wirement at places where the wires diverge, or worse, if approaching another tram, the two-trolley poles would collide." Video of “ducking.” |
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