FREAK TRAMCARS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 121, 25 May 1931, Page 12

FREAK TRAMCARS

“WORST IN THE WORLD.” FRENCH CAL’S 'I'HAT BEND. The old open end traincars of Leeds, which have frequently been described by facetious passengers as “rockmg horses.” aie to be replaced by a hundred new cais, which will make the Leeds tramway system one of the (in est in the country. Even at then worst, nowever. says the Yorkshire Weekly Post, the old veil ivies have never been as bad as some of the rainshucklc i rams of the Continent. Toulouse boasts a single decker tram service, which lakes the palm for decrepitude, while the tracks are equally worn out. These w omen-conducted cars have a. chain across the entrance, which is let down and replaced at each stopping place, even in the busiest parts of the town, where stops are made at short intervals. Avignon runs a number of diminutive electric trams, which have, awkward cross-corner entrances. Only twelve passengers may be caried inside the car, although fourteen may stand on either platform! In Havre, where women acted as drivers during the war, the cars—with accommodation for first and secondclass passengers —are sometimes so • rowded that the weight of the passengers on the platforms, ami those on the steps, causes them to bend, or sag visibly; while the conductor’s task of vol lecting fares through a. little pigeonhole in the door becomes almost imFor ti long iime Melbourne clung—in more sense than one—to her antiquated open cable cars, with jaunting-car’* seats: while Sydney, which has one ot the finest tramway services Sn the world, contents herself with enclosed toast racks with sliding doors. The conductor collect fares from Ylio running boards. Evon in San Francisco, horse cars still ran long after the main train tracks of the city had been electrified Probably the smallest trains in Europe are those which clang their way over the cobbled streets of Get'ce, that old-world Mediterranean port. Holland possesses cars in a variety of designs. Ln some of the Amsterdam trains, access is gained from the roar, front, and sometimes centre. Occasionally the driver acts as conductor, opening and closing the doors with a lever. Hence nne cannot enter or leave the car without his aid. Tn Haarlam the windows of the trams are frequently decorated with little flower vases filled with daffodils.