"Terry Harper" wrote in message
...
"BH Williams" wrote in message
...
The Mumbles Railway had double-decked open-topped vehicles, which I rode
on
as a small child. However, though this was called a 'railway', it was
really
a cross between what the Americans refer to as an 'Interurban' and a
tramway. Almost all the 'main line' was on a reserved track to the side
of
the main road to Mumbles. In the 1840s, some of the French companies used
open-topped double deck stock on Paris suburban services, which were
nicknamed 'Imperiales' as they appeared during the Second Empire- some of
them may have even survived until the 1930s in commercial service, whilst
there was a preserved example at the big SNCF exhibition in Paris last
year.
As for examples on the UK main line railways, I would have thought the
loading gauge was a little restrictive.
I never realised that they had some open-toppers. I only rode it once, in
1951, and it was a fascinating experience, with two cars coupled together,
as I recall. How were the bow collectors mounted?
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
75th Anniversary 2004, see http://www.omnibussoc.org/75th.htm
E-mail:
I was only four or five at the time and much more interested in the seats
which had backs that could be folded according to the direction of travel...
It was a great pity that none were preserved _ I believe one was at the
Middleton Railway, but got burnt. The Slow, Wicked and Terrible bus company
used the last bit of the route into Mumbles as a dedicated bus route
Brian