Blackpool Trams

R embarrasses me when he is asked why we visited Blackpool in England. He tells people that I wanted to see the Blackpool trams. Makes me feel very nerd like. Truth is that I just thought that Blackpool looked to be interesting, plenty to do, well set up for tourists, had a strong gay aspect and yes, ok, the trams too.

Do you want to have a bit of a look at Blacker's trams? Come with me.

I just love this picture. I have posted it twice so better not again.

Blackpool trams are run by Blackpool Transport. The infrastructure is owned by the local council.

There are about eighty trams, and at the height of summer, sixty five are pressed into service. Annual kilometres travelled by the trams is about 1.5 million carrying around 7 million passengers. That is not an insignificant system.

The tramway opened in 1885 and by 1898 had been extended to Fleetwood to no doubt provide transport for Lord Hughes' antecedent's convenience . It travels along the seaside from Fleetwood in the north, through Blackpool to Starr Gate in the south. Time for a photo. This is a double deck balloon tram.


No one could accuse the trams of being of being speedy. They are driven quite slowly. Only a tiny percentage of the track is on normal road way, but there are many street intersections and neither the local motorists nor tram drivers seem to know how to treat each other.

But Blackpool's trams are not resting on their laurels. In spite of a court case in Manchester's High Court, work is underway on a new £20 million tram depot at Starr Gate. Overhead wires are being worked on so that a higher current can be supplied. The balloon cars are being modified for present day running, with cctv and other accessories. Much of the existing track is being replaced including in Fleetwood. Let's see, another photo. This is an open boat car. Your trivia is that they were converted to pantographs from overhead poles, and then quickly changed back when passengers had dirt and grease dropped onto them. Regardless, don't they look like fun.


Here is another photo. A newer tram? Not really. It is a balloon car from the thirties and modified in the seventies and called a Jubilee Car.


Coronation cars were added in 1953, but they often failed to proceed. Some were modified and made more reliable, but by 1975, they were all gone.

The £100 million upgrade to Blackpool's trams means that it shuts down for a couple of winters and even this summer, it will be a late start for operation to Fleetwood as someone nicked the overhead wiring cable. Danger, live wires, did not deter them.

By summer 2012, all work should be finished and sixteen new trams will be operating. I can't find out what trams are being bought, but we can guess it will be French, German or Canadian. Later: Looks like Canada won. An artist's impression indicates it looks like any other sleek modern tram.

This would seem to be the last tram added to the system, the Centenary car, which by its name, would date back to 1985. Look like a bus to me. Once source suggests that this model of tram is the most unreliable tram in the world. They are used mostly in the winter. I guess they have heating then.


Do you want to see a boat tram? These are especially popular when the Blackpool illuminations occur in Autumn. Kilometres of lights are strung along the coast and many buildings are illuminated and decorated and illuminated trams play their part too.


And back to the beginning, a new sea wall has been built, so you probably won't ever see the seas flooding the roadway as you can see in the linked photo at the beginning. Boring!

Statistics and Lies

Now in public housing in Kensington, Barron is longing to return to the side of the city he had always called home.

''I've always lived south of the Yarra, this is the first time I've lived this side of town. I still go back over that way regularly each week because I've still got ties over there. I do voluntary work in Mentone twice a week … but it takes me three or four hours getting there.''

I am not sure what method of transport this person uses. By public transport it may be three hours travelling to Mentone and back, but three to four hours to get to Mentone from Kensington?

Perhaps he should have also added that he used to live a long way south of the Yarra, which is quite different to living south of the Yarra.

I suppose I am at times guilty of exaggeration but really, we do ourselves a disservice when we want people to take what we are saying seriously. Ask anyone in a call centre or someone who deals in customer service about exaggeration by customers. If it is a time based complaint, you can usually halve the waiting time for the truth. I reckon Andy, Cazzie and Fen could tell us something about this.

Then there is the reverse minimising exaggeration. The Bone Doctor tells me that when doctors ask how much alcohol a patient drinks, the doctor then doubles the figure given by the patient to get an accurate picture. Ditto smoking.

When I was a teenager, our household received a television ratings booklet. I took on the task of filling it in. It was simple enough. You marked off what you watched. I marked off what I would have watched if I was home and what I would have watched if I had control of the television. My apologies if you think I am to blame for some crook tele in the seventies.

I suppose we use exaggerations or minimisations to reinforce or negate the impact of events. The problem is that often the person or whatever we are relating to knows the truth and so therefore what we have said is judged by them as worthless now, and in the future.

In the tv ratings booklet, I think I might have marked that I watched two programs at the same time. I liked them both. Being able to view two programs that were on at the same time was impossible in the seventies. My ratings booklet was probably thrown in the bin. And there, you do actually know someone who has rated television for the collectors of such statistics.

City Square

Do we all love Melbourne's City Square? No? Half the time it has some commercial enterprise set up in its space. This time it was something to do with food with a sad and wilted display of plants which I suppose were edible, but don't you take any leaves, the sign warned.

How many incarnations of the City Square have I seen? Maybe four and none were loved and I don't ever expect anywhere covered in gravel will be loved. At the southern end there are some raised areas with grass and you should see the people swarm to that section, as they do the grassed area are outside the State Library. People are so easily satisfied. Grass, deciduous trees for shade and sun in the winter and some seats. Instead we must endure the exact opposite when designers and whoever briefs them get to work.

I think this was just an area on the City Square site before any City Square was envisaged. We have come a long way, not!

Balaclava Station, the bad

About three weeks ago I looked and after much searching managed to find Connex, nay Metro's train update sms system. It was just to amuse me and as no one sends me sms, I must create a 'friend' to send me sms. I rarely use trains now, but I used to be a frequent user of the Sandringham line. Sadly the Sandringham line has been running very well and I have only received one sms. I was alarmed when I received it. Who would sms just after 7am? Ok, the 7.57 at Balaclava has been cancelled.

You can only specify a 45 minute period to cover with each addition to the system. I added Balaclava to Flinders Street and Flinders Street to Balaclava. One sms in the three or so weeks. What a great train line to live on.

I have never thought about it, but I have just learnt that Balaclava Station is the only train station within the City of Port Phillip.

Reports in the media say that Balaclava Station is one of Melbourne's worst. I never liked it much for aesthetic reasons. Maybe in the future pebble-dash will be fashionable but it is not quite yet. Among blogmates I think we concluded Rockbank railway station was the worst and also that the original Balaclava Station burnt down.

Apart from the aesthetics, the complaints about Balaclava Station seem to be that the ramp up to the station is too steep and the platform is too shallow and becomes dangerously crowded.

The ramp is probably too steep for the less than hale, but platforms too crowded? I occasionally caught peak hour trains when we lived in Balaclava. Platform dangerously crowded? Not when I used to catch the train. Obviously things have changed.

Might I suggest that there are not enough trains to move the people, rather than a lack of platform area to store the people?

The Public Transport Users Association is pushing for at least a ten minute service on all lines during the day for Melbourne's train system to almost resemble a Metro train system. This is very sensible. But uneven service intervals in peak time services troubles me more. How that situation was ever allowed to arise, I don't know.

It should be a five minute peak hour service on all train lines, but how will this go with motorists who use train/car level crossings? Road level crossings on the Pakenham and Cranbourne line will almost be permanently closed.

I used to enjoy going to Sister's in Murrumbeena on the train and meeting R who came directly from work by car and then taking Little Jo out. Then we went home and did battle with the road crossing over the train line at Murrumbeena. A good bit of our time travelling home time was spent at the Murrumbeena level crossing. Train after train and yet a not a great service for the train travelling public.

I can't see a great increase in the train service happening until level crossings in congested areas are removed. But much could be done by evening out the service intervals and some increase in service could happen by having traffic light control of level crossings work smarter.

It seems our new train operating company Metro is not doing so well. I don't really understand how anyone thought they would. Same trains, same tracks, same wires and same signals. Ho hum.

Sitting on a Hydrant

The group Walking Melbourne has been having a discussion about old fire hydrants with some members posting photos of various hydrants. This model in the picture is not so old, but it was around when I was a kid (slap to anyone saying how very old the hydrant looks). Hydrants are all slowly going underground now. No more geysers in the sky when they are mown down by a wildly careering motorcar.

As a youngun, I thought these hydrant covers were seats. Maybe I thought the council provided them. They looked to be very tall, too tall for me and quite uncomfortable.

I did reach an age where I could use them as a seat, and as I thought, they were not comfortable. I am not quite sure when I realised they were not a seat for tired passer-bys.

The one I took this snap of looks a bit wonky and perhaps it is unlocked, but its right under a police station security camera, so probably quite safe.

Volcano

Since my Tradie Brother and Sis in Law separated, we have made an effort to keep in touch with Sis in Law. Toady, Good Friday, we arranged a picnic at the Royal Botanic Gardens for whoever in the family who could attend. There was myself and R, Mother, ABI Brother, Sis in Law and Dreaded Nephew. Parking is always hard at RBG on weekends, but we managed to find spaces. Mother can't walk too far, so we planned to picnic at the ornamental lake near Domain Road. It was a good choice.

After lunch we left Mother alone and walked down to the large lake and tea rooms and then up up up to the just renovated Volcano.

From afar I think we spied three generations from Our Great Southern Land. Small world.

The weather was mild, the sun disappearing and reappearing and a gentle breeze. The gardens were packed with people, doing what people do in the RBG. On a downer, it is hard to imagine that this is the same city where there is violence on the streets and angry youth rioting and stabbing each other and kicking victims on the ground. Mother initiated an interesting chat with Dreaded Nephew about violence in Glasgow where he spent a year or so. I follow Glasgow Daily Photo and Glasgow is a very attractive place, but it has and always has had a big problem with violence.

Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon at the Gardens. We picnicked above this ornamental pond.


I like the glimpses of Melbourne's tallest building, Eureka, often to be seen when out and about. Sis in Law asked about the old house peering down. Government House, where Governor de Kretser lives. The flag is flying, so he is home. He normally says yes, but he can so no on the Queen's behalf to any law enacted by the democratically elected government of Victoria.


We spotted a couple of eels in the big lake. There used to be a seething mass of them. The water level is still quite low, barely covering the bottom in places.


Dreaded Nephew is planning to give Mother, Nanna Fud, an almighty fright. She grabbed for her hat with one hand and her heart with the other.


The rest of the photos are of the renovated and just opened Guilfoyle's Volcano. Nice views from the apartment block.

Queensland bottle trees, I believe.


Floating islands in the waters of the volcano.


Later edit: As I suspected, Jayne and her lad and her dad were there. Check out her post here.

April Fool Shrine

There is not a car park cut into the side of the hill at the Shrine, as I said on the 1st of April. Some significant earthworks were underway for the installation of water storage tanks. I must have taken the photo last winter as the poplar tree in the photo is bare. The area has now been returned to normal and new grass is sprouting.

The lemon scented gum replacement of the poplar trees is true though. Just as water restrictions are eased and they can possibly be watered again.

Matters of the politic

I hasn't all washed up yet, but the Labor South Australian government has been re-elected with a much reduced margin. A new tram line extension has been opened in Adelaide and there are plans for more, along with electrification of Adelaide's suburban trains. We are to believe that this will happen under a returned South Australian Labor Government. While only anecdotally, it seems the Liberal Party opposition was against both. I am very much for public transport improvement, so I am happy with the result.

The jury is still out on the Tasmanian election. Ten Labor, ten Liberal and it looks like five Greens. What a great result. Tasmania had turned around from being one of our most backward states to one of our most socially progressive. Tassie does have a unique electoral system, one that gives good representation of how people vote, but by golly it is complicated. If you can understand it, you are a better man than I Gunga Din.

There are many adjectives I could use for the Tasmanian Labor government, but I am not up for being sued. I shan't repeat what others say about it being so corrupt. In case you did not hear, the Labor party generated an auto phone message to dial people's home phones and state that the Greens wanted to legalise heroin for your teenagers.

The Greens and Labor absolutely hate each other and can you believe, they are much more distant from each other than the Liberal and Labor parties? What I initially thought was such a good result for the Greens, and it is really, but the tweedle dee and tweedle dum Labor and Liberal parties will gang up on the Greens, leaving them impotent.

Never mind, I still like Tassie. While Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, has grown to 4 million (too big Missy) , there are only half a million in the whole State of Tassie. I must apply for my visa soon.

Zionists

Did some mention political correctness? Oh yeah, I did.

It is sad that Nacy Cato was dismissed from Chapel off Chapel theatre a few years ago. However, Chapel off Chapel does very well and is popular. We used to see quite a few things there. C off C is under the control of City of Stonnington and I am quite sure they do not want to offend any of their constituents, especially the Jewish, although I hardly think City of Stonnington is responsible for what is shown or performed at C off C.

Still, I was a bit surprised to see this,The Zionist Story - The Land speaks Arabic, about the expulsion of Palestinians by Zionists and then to ice the cake, an art exhibition called Painting blue skies in Gaza, showing works by imprisoned muslim and christians in Gaza.

Is Chapel off Chapel becoming a good old lefty theatre in the very non lefty City of Stonnington?

Terrace Houses

Below is the last remaining terrace house in Albert Road, Melbourne. It is a bit shabby but would scrub up nicely.


This one is in Kingsway, South Melbourne. Surely that metal roof can't be original. It just ruins the building. Any ideas what the roof should look like?

For lots more pictures of terrace houses from all over Australia, see the blog Australian Terrace Houses.

Madden at it again?

This is one that slipped past me. It wasn't until I saw the earthworks and made enquiries that I knew anything about. The photo is of a machine levelling an area into the hill on the St Kilda Road side of the hill upon which the Shrine of Remembrance sits. The levelled area has had asphalt applied and some lines marked on it and it will be ready for this year's Anzac Day as a parking area for diggers who are too frail to walk up the hill to the Shrine. Dignitaries cars will also allowed to use the parking facility on Anzac Day and at other times when they are visiting in an official capacity. Access will be along a slightly widened gravel driveway leading up from Domain Road.

While it can barely be seen from St Kilda Road, and I really feel for the diggers who struggle to walk up the hill, it looks awful when you are at the Shrine looking down on it. The Shrine is surrounded by beautiful green parkland but now with this horrible levelled car parking area. I did enquire at City of Melbourne, but they have no jurisdiction over the Shrine and its parklands. The Shrine can really do what it likes. One of the Shrine's committee of management even suggested that one tour bus at a time could be allowed to park there when ceremonies weren't in progress. I am not sure if that was put up as an official motion or not. I will get back to the Shrine soon and get some snaps of the finished product. It really troubles me that while I have bothering about Lonsdale House and The Windsor, that an asphalted car park for tour buses has been cut into the hill at the Shrine.

Other news from the Shrine, and you can just see one in the photo of the earthworks for the Shrine capark, the poplars are to be removed and replaced by lemon scented gums. I am not sure what a lemon scented gum looks like as a specimen tree, but I doubt it could compare to a Lombardy Poplar. Such is a result of lack of water for the trees, read a lack of planning for droughts.

More details of both projects at the Shrine website.