Dewi's Trains,
Trams & Trolleys

LCBER: Wheels and Trucks/Bogies

The wheels and trucks/bogies of various types of tram in the LCBER fleet, in 1952.
 

This photo shows a  "maximum-traction" truck on an ex-Bournemouth car. One axle is powered: the truck pivot is off-centre towards the powered axle (the one with larger-diameter wheels) so that about 60% of the weight is on that axle.

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The truck on a toastrack This obviously has only one powered axle: you can see that there is no motor on the second axle.

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The toastrack cars were unusual for British trams of that period, as they did not have a "lifeguard" at the front. Most trams had a two-barred or three-barred gate just below the front of the body. If this gate hit something, such as a person that had fallen onto the track, the movement of the gate released an L-shaped "shovel" affair, which scraped along the surface of the street and was supposed to scoop up the person before he/she encountered the wheels.

This is illustrated in the last photo on this page, at the lower right.

The toastrack cars didn't have a lifeguard: they had a steel-bar pilot, which would certainly force any large object
out of the way, but at some cost to the "object"!

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The truck and wheels (and magnetic track brake) of ex-Accrington car no. 3.

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I wasn't the only person interested in wheels and lifeguards. Here is a young tram fan discussing the traction gear
with his father, at the corner of Gloddaeth and Mostyn streets in Llandudno.

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