I have started ordering books from Middleton Press in England. They have a large collection of books on British Railway lines, tramways and other forms of transport. There is also a book about Austrian Narrow Gauge railways. This book might provide some direction to the person asking about the narrow gauge train the Beatles rode in the movie "Help."

In the book about the Burton & Ashby Light Railways, the author mentions a "trolley pole overhead reverser." I've come to the conclusion that this is an arrangement of the overhead lines the reverses the trolley pole as the car travels through it. You can see it in action at the National Tramway Museum in Crich on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPuJSeDyyVI. The Seaton Tramway appears to a similar arrangement.

I was briefly confused by a picture on Richard's Tram Blog: http://tramways.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html. Scroll down to the pictures under the heading "First and last trips". The caption mentions a pull cord for the reverser which is on the pole on the right of the picture. There is an object mounted on the pole and I can't see the pattern of the arrangement. (Bonus: There is something for horse car fans on this page and check out the rail greasers. You will see these pictures before you get to the "First and last trips" pictures).

Is there any chance that this was tried here in North America? I would think that if they were, it would be very early years of the trolley when they were smaller.

Tim Davis
Detroit, MI

And we lose another one to the dark side. ;-).

Enjoy!

-Hudson

The pole reverser at Crich is fascinating and was new to me. I know of no such thing in the U.S. In this country, the conductor would pull the pole down slightly using the trolley rope hanging down. Then he would swing it around and put it back on the wire facing the other direction. The other surprise for me at Crich was that the English trams did not have trolley ropes! They carried a long wooden pole on the car in case the conductor had to manipulate the pole. The pole is certainly more awkward than a simple trolley rope. The lack of a trolley rope cetainly encourages wyes in the overhead at reversing points.

You can find mention of these reversers very rarely. If you think about it, their application is very limited.

First, you need a double ended car.

Second, it has to be short car so that the pole can be center mounted.

Third, you better be sure it is well maintained, because if something goes wrong, look at all that special work you are going to tear down while pushing the pole.

Fourth, how much labor are you saving, anyway? Are your staff so busy they can't change poles?

There is a picture of one of these on Page 15 of Blackpool's Century of Trams, 1985, by Steven Palmer. In this case, the turn back is in the middle of traffic, and maybe the reverser keeps staff from walking in the traffic. Plus it rains a lot there, and who wants to walk around with a pole in the rain?

Early Pacific Electric interurban and suburban cars had one center-mounted trolley pole. When the new P.E. Terminal and office building was built at Sixth and Main Streets in downtown Los Angeles, the interior of the terminal had a trolley pole reversing mechanism similar to the one at Crich. Sometime after the terminal was built, P.E. went to two trolley poles per car making the trolley pole reversing mechanism no longer needed. I presume it was removed sometime in the 'teens.

I'm sure someone from the Orange Empire Railway Museum can provide further details on the P.E.s mechanism including dates it was removed and perhaps even a photo.

Thanks!

Hi

One of the main differences between the USA and the UK systems, is the UK generally uses what we know where as a swivel head type trolley harp, which allows the shoe itself to swivel 360 degrees (I cannot speak to what trolley head arrangement the PE had in their terminal). It also meant that all the trolley frogs all need to have a mechanism in them to change the direction of flow at track switches. Also, when using a swivel head trolley harp, it is not as critical that the over head wire be as close to the center of the trackway or off set towards the inner curve.

Generally the swivel harp arrangement is found in use on trolley coach systems. The other issue is the pole itself is generally insulated from the overhead contact wire volatge.

Attached are two photos taken in recent months in "Beamish" which is a large out door museum. It shows the bamboo pole and how it is attache to the trolley pole, and another showing the length of the bamboo pole.

Cheers--Karl Johnson

Beamish! What a place. Originally known known as "the North of England Open Air Museum," this is a fantastic collection of industrial and social history, a sort of 19th century Williamsburg. Every rail historian should visit this place and be amazed and inspired. Imagine -- trams running on paved streets through a village, steam locomotives burning coal mined on site, demonstrations of a variety of industrial and agricultural enterprises, all performed by costumed docents and reenactors. That's Beamish.

One of Ira Swett's Interurbans Specials, probably No. 16, has a photo of a similar reverser in the new Los Angeles Subway Terminal at 415-7 S. Hill St., dated about 1925. Those long single pole cars had a pneumatic cylinder in the pole base to quickly lower the pole if it went too high. I don't think the cars had pole ropes at the time. Even with a rope or shepherd's crook, the platforms at a terminal might be too crowded for walking poles around. However, even on opening day, nat all cars needed the reverser: http://framework.latimes.com/2012/07/05/pacific-electric-subway-opens/#/0

Why does Crich have a gauntlet track under their bridge? Is it just for fun or for a practical reason?

I was going to chime in about the original layout at the PE 6th & Main terminal, but it looks like there are of folks far away from Los Angeles with extensive knowledge of the Big Red Car system. Ira Swett left a great legacy with his Interurbans publications. The PE building still stands, but the Main St. entrance and part of the old waiting room were converted into parking areas in the 1960s (sacrilege!) and the building has been modified for residential use in recent years.

Regarding swiveling trolley shoes: OERM has an Irish tram with an offset pole, and it has a trolley-bus shoe so it can make good contact with our centered trolley wire. The wire on the Hill of Howth tramway was off-center, rather like some mining railways.

Ira Swett's reprinted an article from the 1906 era as one of his Interurban Specials. It was called "PE in Transition." This was in the era between the completion of the downtown PE building (offices and terminal) and going to MU operation of the interurban cars.

I have not yet pulled down the issue from the shelf and refreshed my memory.

IIRC. this reprint included a diagram of the double track terminal and the trolley reversing system. I believe the trolley pole reversing set up used upside-down troughs instead of wires. In one case the trough went through the wall into the loading gate area.

It was soon after this time that the company went to MU cars, two poles per car and extended the interior tracks through the back side of the building (the street there was a floor height lower) onto an short elevated section. With these changes the pole turning of single pole cars in the downtown terminal ended. Later on the elevated section to extended to become the elevated terminal for the Southern District trains (to Long Beach, San Pedro, etc.) and only a limited number of trips used the through tracks (some being cars/trains to Pasadena).

Bob and the gang, here's a PE Subway-themed video just for fun--

From the linked LA Times piece, somebody in one of the comments posted a link to KCET-TV's Huell Howser program where he visits the Subway Terminal Building (and the mile-long tunnel!) in 1994 and again in 2009 for an update. 55 minutes of worthwhile public television: http://www.kcet.org/shows/huell_howser/visiting-with-huell-howser/subway-terminal-update.html

_________________
Posting from another 2 train tunnel city,

The video I provided a link to above also includes LARy #1435 in storage adjacent to the Subway Terminal Building. According to the Hicks-Hakner database at http://www.bera.org/pnaerc.html, the #1435 is currently owned by the Electric Railway Historical Assocation (website at http://www.erha.org/). Bob, what are the current whereabouts of the #1435? Is it still in downtown LA or is it back out at Perris?

Last time I looked (within the last year or so), it was still under the bus deck on the south side of the Subway Terminal Bldg. It has had some cosmetic work done; as far as I know it's complete with regards to motors, control apparatus and air brake equipment. Regarding ownership by ERHA, that I'm not sure about. My impression was that it was owner by a private party who stored it at OERM for many years. I'll see if I can get a more definitive answer--streetcars are not like automobiles, with state-issued registration and title documents (what we call "pink slips" in California). My entirely unofficial thought, not representing any official museum position: OERM already has two H-class cars that need restoration, so bringing 1435 back to Perris is probably not on anyone's "to-do list" at this time.

Thanks, Bob!

Again, just for fun, here's an interesting video of PE operations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4bVQx_8CvA

And another enjoyable (and yet melancholy) video of the PE, from the end of an era: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebboO52In1w. Note at 2:42 in the video the audio clip of the PE red cars used on the ERHA homepage.