Old Tram Balloon Loops

[daodao]

Here's the one in Cardiff in case anyone is interested. In Pontcanna, a nice part of town.

View attachment 158867

End of the 1A, 6, and 13 lines I believe.

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I believe that the turning circle at Pontcanna was only installed for the Cardiff trolleybus system. However, the Roath Park terminus, as shown on the map, was definitely a tram loop.

 

[Cross City]

Cofton/Rednall just south of Birmingham, a mile or two from Longbridge. Some of the old track is still there and what I assume is some sort of small station/waiting room, which is now a decent Chinese restaurant.

 

[Springs Branch]

Although Liverpool's trams were equipped for double-ended operation (and the majority of termini were stub ends), IIRC there were several spots where turning circles / balloon loops were available.

• Pier Head, the main city tram terminus, was laid out as three adjacent balloon loops (imaginatively named North, Central and South) to avoid mass swapping of trolley poles in a very busy location.
• Page Moss terminus on route 40 (from where the last Liverpool tram in regular public service departed). I've read that often the trams would be reversed using the crossover at Page Moss rather than running around the balloon loop. Apparently, the controllers on the Liners had a tendency to overheat, and changing ends to a 'fresh' driving controller minimised chance of problems on the way back to the Pier Head.
• On South Boundary Road close to the end (but not the regular dead-end terminus) of the Kirkby line. Presumably this was to cater for heavy traffic to/from Kirkby Industrial Estate at shift change time (maybe a legacy of the WW2 ordnance factory thereabouts)

Across the Mersey, I think the Wallasey Corporation trams also terminated in a balloon loop at the Seacombe ferry terminal.

 

[Belperpete]

Cofton/Rednall just south of Birmingham, a mile or two from Longbridge. Some of the old track is still there and what I assume is some sort of small station/waiting room, which is now a decent Chinese restaurant.


View attachment 159357

There is something about that piece of dead straight track that doesn't look right to me for a balloon loop to me. Are you sure it is original?

 

[bangor-toad]

There is something about that piece of dead straight track that doesn't look right to me for a balloon loop to me. Are you sure it is original?

Hi,
Modern maps make this hard to spot as you naturally assume the road went over the loop. That's not the case here - the loop was much larger. The straight track looks to be in the original location.
There are hints of the loop on the always excellent NLS site:
1:10000 Map (1949?)
1:10560 Old Aerial Photo

Cheers,
Mr Toad

 

[AndrewE]

There is something about that piece of dead straight track that doesn't look right to me for a balloon loop to me. Are you sure it is original?

Isn't a balloon loop more about the topology than the actual shape? as long as it has just the one junction and trams end up going back without having reversed then I would accept it as a balloon!

 

[edwin_m]

Isn't a balloon loop more about the topology than the actual shape? as long as it has just the one junction and trams end up going back without having reversed then I would accept it as a balloon!

I think I'd argue that if there was more than one stop on it, it would cease to be a balloon loop because its primary purpose is now to serve those stops instead of just to turn the trams round. So for me, Fleetwood Ferry counts but Croydon doesn't.

 

[Belperpete]

Hi,
Modern maps make this hard to spot as you naturally assume the road went over the loop. That's not the case here - the loop was much larger. The straight track looks to be in the original location.
There are hints of the loop on the always excellent NLS site:

Thanks for that. As you say, the current site doesn't give any indication of how large the loop was.

Are there many places where there are lengths of track still in situ from long -defunct tram systems. Probably many where it is buried deep down (I can recall some roadworks in Derby exposing the old tram rail about a foot below the current road surface), but still visible like this?

 

[Ken H]

I believe Roundhay Park in Leeds was a classic - but having failed to find it on any old maps maybe I am thinking of a trolleybus turning circle. https://www.reddit.com/r/TransitDia..._1929_map_modernised_and_colourised/#lightbox does show route 11 terminating in the right place though...
Maybe the trams just reversed at a crossover and the circle had to be put in for the buses?

There was a loop at Oakwood, Leeds. It went before 1921 (as did the lodges). Roundhay park was to the north of the snip. The tramway past the park gates was 3 track for reversals

 

[Ken H]

The Montgomery - Tuvuren tram in Brussels has loops at both ends. the Tuvuren end has a surface baloon. But the Montgomery end the loop is in a cut and cover tunnel. The trams on that route were single ended when I was last in Brussels in 2001.