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Woodpecker Junction, view of Trams 533 and 541	Add comment Send webcard Add to album


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Description: 6th June 1953. View shows two trams, no.533 on route 20 to Halton, and no.541 on route 15 to Whingate, at Woodpecker Junction. This is by the Woodpecker public house, where Marsh Lane, York Road, New York Road and Burmantofts Street all joined. The cars in the background are on Burmantofts Street. User Comments: Name: Dave Johnson Comment: Car 533 is about to turn right into York Road and car 541 is heading back into town en route to Whingate. This scene has since been obliterated by the construction of the Inner Ring Road flyover in the 1960's and the later remodelling of the road layout. Date: 18-Feb-2010 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: John Drake Comment: The car looks like a Jowett Javelin, a name long gone. Date: 23-Feb-2010 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: B Hallam Comment: Sorry John, the car is not a Jowett Javelin, this car is too old. The Javelin had 'faired-in' front mudguards with integral headlamps. This is a strange photograph on which the perspective is so exaggerated that one tram looks much bigger than other even though they are identical. Does anyone know why there is a crossover track immediately behind car 533? Date: 25-Feb-2010 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Ken Baldwin Comment: I think the car John Drake and B Hallam are trying to identfy is a Standard Flying 12 First made before the war. Date: 01-Mar-2010 Email: kenneth@baldwin1559.freeserve.co.uk ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Dave Johnson Comment: To answer Mr Hallam's question about the crossover track, these were placed at various points along tram-routes in Leeds. In many places, e.g Parkside on the Middleton route, or West Park on the Lawnswood route, some cars would just run to these points and turn back, rather than going the full route to the outer terminus. Such a working was referred to as a 'short working'. This particular crossover in Marsh Lane saw quite a lot of use in September 1950, when a runaway locomotive crashed through the wall of Marsh Lane Goods Yard and fell into the street, blocking the city-bound track. A shuttle tram-service had to be operated either side of the blockage until the loco was removed. Date: 05-Mar-2010 Email: davidwjohnson@tiscali.co.uk ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: B Hallam Comment: Many thanks to Dave Johnson who's knowledge of the tram system can always been relied upon. I remember going with my Dad to see the rail crash on Marsh Lane. Date: 11-Mar-2010 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Graham A. Schofield. Comment: I think that Ken Baldwin has hit the nail on the head. This car could well be a 'Standard Flying Twelve'. I does appear to have the shallow rear bumper with the curled ends, and the headlamp is set proud somewhere between the bonnet and the wing. I am unable to make out the 'stand light', but it should be sitting high on the front wing, much further back from the headlamp. The rear window on the S.F.12 was made up of two panes with a central divider. If only the photographer had opened the camera shutter a split second later, we would have had concrete evidence. Mr. B. Hallam's comment about the headlamps on the Jowett Javelin being integral with the body is totally correct, and thus rules out the car seen here, as being of that ilk. A further point to note is that the Jowet Javelin had a rather large, chromed rear bumper, which curved round at the ends in order to cover part of the rear wings. Date: 25-Mar-2010 Email: GrahamScho@AOL.com ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: B Hallam Comment: I showed this photo to my Dad, and asked him what car he thought this was. He agreed that a 'Flying Standard' - as they were known, was the most likely suggestion. But he was a little reticent about what appears to be a rounded feature on the boot. He said that the Flying Standards' main feature was its smooth 'beaver tail'. It reminded me how - back in the day, cars were often described by one of its style features. One I distinctly remember, was 'crocodile front', where the bonnet lifted from the front rather than from either-side and folding over. The Triumph Renown was called a 'razor edge' due to its flat-sided and sharp cornered coachwork. Whatever the car was, it will most definitely have been a female. I strongly suspect that that the trams here were of the same gender ... is that right Raymond? Date: 27-Mar-2010 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: Dave Johnson Comment: Mr Hallam is quite right when he wonders if the trams were referred to as females. I can remember one old driver describing a particular car and saying "Oh aye, she were a good'un." One of the ex-London cars (No 507, the one written-off in the Oakwood Clock collision in 1952) had "Queen of Telford" painted in one cab. I assume this was from when the car was based at Telford Road Depot in Streatham. Date: 11-May-2010 Email: Not displayed ________________________________________________________________________________
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