Ahhh...the clockwork orange! (I understand that the locals don't call it that, but when we worked on it we certainly did.)


What I find amazing (and rather fun) is that the trains were pulled by cables until 1935. From Wikipedia:

The cable was driven from a steam-powered plant between West Street and Shields Road stations. There was no additional cable to allow trains to reach the depot; instead, they were transferred to and from the running lines by crane operating over a pit at the Govan workshops. This also meant that the two tracks could be completely separate, with no points anywhere. 

The trains gripped the cable when they wanted to move and let go at stations. And it's 4 foot gauge with doors only on one side (I assume they still are?) - I do love a quirky railway...


Good article about it here: http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r048.html

And lovely old article from 1898 here: http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccgds.html



Cheers,


Andy

Ahhh...the clockwork orange! (I understand that the locals don't call it that, but when we worked on it we certainly did.)


What I find amazing (and rather fun) is that the trains were pulled by cables until 1935. From Wikipedia:

The cable was driven from a steam-powered plant between West Street and Shields Road stations. There was no additional cable to allow trains to reach the depot; instead, they were transferred to and from the running lines by crane operating over a pit at the Govan workshops. This also meant that the two tracks could be completely separate, with no points anywhere. 

The trains gripped the cable when they wanted to move and let go at stations. And it's 4 foot gauge with doors only on one side (I assume they still are?) - I do love a quirky railway...


Good article about it here: http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r048.html

And lovely old article from 1898 here: http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccgds.html



Cheers,


Andy