This month the world's biggest fun run happens in Sydney, called the City2Surf. A friend my age is running, along with the lad he is mentoring.
In 1961 trams disappeared from the streets of Sydney. From my reading and knowledge of the system, it was so huge, I struggle to understand how it was manageable and yet offered such an excellent service.
This rather good photo for its time shows a Sydney R Class tram travelling to the city from Watsons Bay as it descends the steep hill between Vaucluse and Rose Bay. The line was closed and then due to public pressure, reopened but then a final closure happened and as the last tram ran a following truck took down the overhead wiring. That was the end of a wonderfully scenic and very busy tram route. Buses then covered the route. Yuk.
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What a great photo. Love those old cars.
ReplyDeleteThe old cars in the photo were a great addition to the scene, JayCee.
DeleteThat looks like a streetcar. I think they still exist in Toronto, and definitely in San Francisco, but may have vanished elsewhere. I wonder why, really. They're an attraction and modern cars don't get their wheels stuck in the tracks, no horses to fall over them.
ReplyDeleteBoud, yes street car. Indeed they are in Toronto, where I've ridden on them but they are returning to the US.
DeleteRun run is the classic oxymoron isn't it?: I couldn't manage it - even without Heartbreak Hill. That is an excellent photo.
ReplyDeleteDammit I meant FUN run.
DeleteEC, if you see photos of anyone running up Heartbreak Hill, none look like they having fun. Oxymoron indeed.
DeleteLeeds and Bradford had trams and trolley buses. When they threw them away, they branded Leeds as the "Motorway City of the Seventies". Now they complain they are the largest conurbation in the world without a mass transport system.
ReplyDeleteInteresting about Leeds, Tasker. I must investigate. Motorways all went so horribly wrong, although we found the M6 rather good.
DeleteI will keep to a walking pace.
ReplyDeleteMy pace too, Dora.
DeleteThe event is good for health but not for me after the muscle tear.
ReplyDeleteRoentare, maybe not for you even without the muscle tear.
DeleteWhat a great old photo; it must have been a fun ride on those trams.
ReplyDeleteBob, the views that could be seen of Sydney Harbour were truly amazing.
DeleteI have had fun before, but it has never happened while i was running.
ReplyDeleteDebby, the last time I ran, I hurt myself. It is not for me either.
DeleteYes, it was all about the oil companies promoting diesel buses. Now we wish we had those tram systems back all over the world and they are very expensive to rebuild. Interesting post. Thank you
ReplyDeleteCloudia, indeed it was, along with rubber tyre makers etc. So many vested interests happy to see electric public transport disappear.
DeleteAs a former runner I can appreciate this route. And the trams, I've always enjoyed them. My particular favourite were those cable cars in San Francisco, would they be trams?
ReplyDeleteLove that photo.
XO
WWW
WWW, the cable cars are very much trams. Aside from earlier horse drawn trams here, we had a large system of cable cars in Melbourne until the 1920s-30s.
DeleteBetter to run down the hill.
ReplyDeleteOn the face of it yes Kirk, but to run down a hill you have to....
DeleteI can barely remember seeing the trams in Sydney.
ReplyDeleteThe replacement buses were smelly :(
My friend in Sydney Hels remembers them well. Sydney people were really sold a pup, and they knew it as soon as the dreadful buses appeared.
DeleteI think our City2Surf is in September, the first year we were back in Adelaide my ex and the oldest daughter ran while I waited at the other end with the two youngest and I have no clue where #2 child was that day, maybe at a friend's house?
ReplyDeleteI'll join you in wishing all of Australia's tram systems were still in place and running.
River, I think I checked once and you would have had one running near where you live.
DeleteManchester has them, and they are well liked. Keeping cars out of cities is a slow game but there is definitely going to be more investment in them.
ReplyDeleteEdit: investment in trams not cars!
DeleteThelma, yes I've been on the Manchester trams. It's a good system. There will never be the numbers there used to be but they are ideal for very busy areas and carrying lots of people.
DeleteLooks a bit of a steep hill...Andrew.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I think I would avoid walking up it, never mind running.
DeleteMy son took part last year. He is planning to run this year as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat Pradeep. He will know the hill well then. My friend is of Indian heritage, as is the runner he is mentoring.
Deletethats a great photo. It must have been colourised, right?
ReplyDeleteAs a child I remember my neighbour talking about going to "The Terminus" I always knew where she was talking about but didnt know why she called it that. The old tram terminus must have been ripped out just a few years before I was born
I didn't think about that Kylie, but I think you are correct. There is something unnatural about it. There might well still be a Terminus Hotel around here and there too.
DeleteOld cars are so much more interesting than new models. It's a shame the trams disappeared.
ReplyDeleteJB, they are and the different makes and models were so different. Now you almost have to look at a car badge to identify its make.
DeleteAre you sure it's called Heartbreak Hill and not Heartattack Hill?
ReplyDeleteI think that would be its effect on me YP.
DeleteI always hated the hills when I was a runner.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think most people wouldn't like hills.
DeleteYP's comment made me larf 😆
ReplyDeleteInteresting about the trams
Alison in Wales x
He is seldom correct Alison, but I think he is this time.
DeleteIt wouldn't be fun to run up that hill but it is a very pretty hill. We had street cars here in Edmonton up until 1951, then they were phased out because of buses. We still have one line that runs back and forth across the river, but otherwise, they are a thing of the past.
ReplyDeletePixie, when I get time, I will see what the street looks like now. I didn't know you still had one tram running.
DeleteIt seems like every run has a "heartbreak hill" of some type!
ReplyDeleteSteve, deliberately so I think.
DeleteThat is a great old photo. Too bad about the streetcars being removed from those streets since they are so efficient at moving people, Andrew.
ReplyDeletePat, the double decker replacement buses simply could not cope with the passenger numbers, and the slow loading and unloading.
DeleteThat photo is awesome! It reminds me of a 1988 trip to San Francisco when I got to drive on Lombard Street. Back then it wasn't partially closed as these days. Be well, Andrew.
ReplyDeleteAw, it is partly closed now Darla? Damn. What fun though. Thanks.
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