TRAINS & TRAMS
Mind the Curve!
John D. Keating
The colourful cable tram, ‘gliding along with its swanlike motion’, remains the nostalgic memory for
Australians that the hansom cab is for the Londoner. Yet it was the major street transport over two
generations for Melbourne, San Francisco, Chicago and other brash and self-confidently expanding great
cities of the late nineteenth century. Immense investment and labour were required to establish the
seventeen radiating routes of Melbourne, and smaller ones of Sydney. Melbourne’s network of forty-six
miles of double track equalled or surpassed those of San Francisco or Chicago in complexity and public importance. The
innovative local technology of Duncan and Clapp was closely studied by transport authorities in the USA and elsewhere.
Only San Francisco’s cable trams, an internationally famous tourist attraction, remain in use. Melbourne’s last tram made
its final quiet journey down Bourke Street on 26 October 1940, ending fifty-five years of public transport. The musical bell
rang no more, and the gripman gave for the last time his traditional warning call to passengers, ‘Mind the curve!’
ISBN: 978-0-90945-919-2
192
pages
$27.45
Tram Images of a Journey through Australia and New Zealand
More Tram Images of a Journey through Australia and New Zealand
Hugh Ballment
When someone mentions a tram, most people would think of the extensive tram
network in Melbourne, or the smaller light rail lines in Sydney, Adelaide and the Gold
Coast. But, in times gone by, there used to be tram networks scattered all over
Australia and New Zealand. From capital cities like Hobart and Brisbane, to smaller regional cities like Geelong and
Maitland, tram systems were important for the transportation of people. These two volumes seek to give the reader an
insight into these tramway systems. Some cities have abolished their networks, some have kept them, while others are
recognising their importance, and are returning them to their streets. As a result, some readers may have never been on
a tram before. This book will allow them to see what their cities and towns use to look like, even those that still have
trams. And for some, this book may be a reminder as to what they used to travel on, before the trams were scrapped, or
replaced by newer ones. The second volume also comes with a DVD.
Vol 1 – ISBN: 978-0-90945-921-5
120
pages
$39.95
Vol 2 – ISBN: 978-0-90945-926-0
140
pages
$59.95
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Page 22
February/March 2015
