Roger Farnworth Railways

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: The Cavan and Leitrim Railway again. ....
It has taken me a while to get round to completing this article! ….

Saturday 6th May 2023 was the first time that I had been able to visit the Cavan & Leitrim at Dromod. A planned visit in 2020 was prevented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown which was enforced for our safety.

We were en-route, on 6th May, from Co. Donegal to Dublin after two great weeks following the route of the Burtonport Extension Railway between Burtonport and Letterkenny.

I had been intending to drop in to see the preservation society at Dromod either on the way to Co. Donegal or on the return journey. The second option worked in best with our travel arrangements.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/27/the...mod-again/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: The Historic Tramway Network of Genova (Genoa) - Part 3
The Rest of the Eastern Network

The line running from Piazza Corvetto to Prato will be covered in this article, along with those which ran out of Piazza Raffeale de Ferrari along Via XX Settembre.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/14/gen...world-war/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: Early New South Wales Railmotors.......
Two Experimental New South Wales Railmotors in the Early 20th Century

In April 1920, a couple of paragraphs in The Railway Magazine focussed on a new experimental Railmotor constructed by New South Wales Railways.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/27/two...h-century/

[rogerfarnworth]

Re: The Railway Centenary in 1925
1825-1925: The Railway Centenary Celebrations at Darlington, 1st to 3rd July 1925 – The Railway Magazine, August 1925

In the year that we mark the bicentenary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. I have found a copy of the August 1925 edition of the Railway Magazine which marked the centenary of the opening of that line. .....

A significant proportion of the August 1925 edition of The Railway Magazine was dedicated to coverage of the Centenary celebrations at Darlington. Given the short timescale between the event and the publication date of the August issue of the magazine (?late July?), and given that modern digital techniques were in no way available, the achievement of publication in such a short time is to be admired.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/31/182...-july-1925

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: Early New South Wales Railmotors.......

(16/03/2025 16:24)rogerfarnworth Wrote:  Two Experimental New South Wales Railmotors in the Early 20th Century

In April 1920, a couple of paragraphs in The Railway Magazine focussed on a new experimental Railmotor constructed by New South Wales Railways.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/27/two...h-century/

If you are interested in reading more about the New South Wales Railmotors, an online acquaintance has shared the informative site below, with me.

https://trms.org.au/class-index/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: Genoa (Genova): Railways and Tramways again. ...
Genoa’s Early Tram Network – Part 4 – World War 1 to World War 2

The first three articles in this series about Genova's Early Tram Network covered the network as it was established by the beginning of the First World War.

We have already noted that there were changes to the network which occurred before WW1, particularly the second line to Piazza Sturla in the East, the additional line to Sampierdarena in the West and the Municipal line to Quezzi in the Northeast.

In this article we look at the network from World War 1 to the beginning of World War 2.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/18/gen...rld-war-2/

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: Historic Trams - Shaker Heights, Cleveland, Ohio
Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Lines – Modern Tramway Vol. 12 No. 137, May 1949

Modern Tramway talks, in 1949, of the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit (SHRT) Lines as “A high speed electric light railway entirely on reserved track, connecting a beautiful high class residential district with the centre of a large city. affording such speedy and efficient service that the car-owning suburban residents prefer to use it and park their cars on land provided by the line; a system which makes a handsome profit and has recently taken delivery of 25 of the most modern type of electric rail units in the world [which] are only some of the outstanding facts about Shaker Heights Rapid Transit."

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/01/04/sha...-may-1949/

[rogerfarnworth]

Re: A Lickey Light Railway. .....
Lickey Light Railway – Modern Tramway Vol. 13 No. 146

The mention of ‘Lickey’ in the railway press usually conjures up thoughts of the Lickey Incline and the bankers needed to enable steam-powered trains to make the climb.

In an article written in 1949 (Modern Tramway’s Prize Article of 1949) and published in February 1950, B.J. Pridmore prophetically proposed a Light Rail solution to anticipated traffic issues on the transport corridor centred on the Bristol Road.

Would cities in the UK which already had some reserved tram tracks have benefitted from forward thinking that sustained the use of trams through the latter years of the 20th century on tracks and routes which would be suitable for the current wave of Light Rapid Transit/Modern Tramway provision?

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/01/10/a-l...13-no-146/

[rogerfarnworth]

Re: Genova's Railways and Tramways
Part 5

The Network during World War 2

During the war period, new work was suspended and maintenance was reduced to a minimum; tunnels were used as air raid shelters, and the service schedules were redistributed to avoid the tunnels. Suburban lines acquired considerable importance for the transport of evacuees, especially in the morning and evening. The transport of goods also became important and some older trams were adapted to accommodate the service. Fruit and vegetables were transported to the central market and to the local markets. Building materials for urgent works were carried, as we’re a variety of other goods. Examples of these adapted vehicles can be found close to the end of this article.

After WW2 and the Decline of the Network

The modernization of the tram network, covered in the fourth article in this series, was abruptly interrupted by the Second World War which saw significant damage to the network and rolling stock. After the War the Littorio depot-workshop was renamed for ‘Romeo Guglielmetti’, a tram driver and martyr of the partisan resistance.

The poor condition of much of the network resulted in trams being restricted to main arteries and the introduction of trolleybuses on the rest of the network. Trolleybuses were trailed in 1938 but it was 1949 before planned introduction occurred. obsolescence and degradation of large parts of the network were the reasons that led to the choice of maintaining the tram only on the ‘main lines’, introducing tolleybuses as replacements for the tram on the secondary lines. In reality the project had already begun before the conflict (the first trolleybuses had been activated in 1938), but only in 1949 was the decision planned in detail.

Trams were removed from the central area of the city where trolleybuses were perceived, not being tied to tracks, to be more flexible and better able to negotiate heavy traffic. The lines in the hills were also converted to a trolleybus service (the rubber-wheeled vehicles, having greater grip, guaranteed quicker restarts and with less energy expenditure. The result of these changes was effectively to create two different networks (East and West), linked only by a line along the coast as shown on the map below which shows the tram network as it existed in 1956.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/21/gen...he-network

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: Marseilles Tramways
The Tramways of Marseilles – The Modern Tramway, Vol. 13, No. 150, June 1950

The June 1950 issue of The Modern Tramway carried a report by A. A. Jackson on the tramways in the French port of Marseilles.

Marseilles sits in a natural basin facing West into the Mediterranean and surrounded by hills on three sides. Jackson’s article was based on personal observations in 1945 and later information provided by D. L. Sawyer and N.N. Forbes. He writes:

The suburbs extend to the lower slopes of these surrounding hills and they are connected to the centre of the city by a tramway system that is now the largest in France. The original operator was the Compagnie Genérale Française des Tramways (Réseaux de Marseille) but the tramways have been under sequester since 1946. The route mileage at the present time is kilometres and the gauge is standard (i.e. 1.44 metres).

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2025/01/13/the...june-1950/