On May 25, 8:54 pm, "Nightjar \"cpb\"@" "insertmysurnamehere wrote:
On 25/05/2011 01:02, Matty F wrote:

On May 25, 11:13 am, wrote:
...
Care to tell us what this nightmare of complicated design is? A lot of
us would be very interested.

This typical design appears to be a horse-drawn vehicle converted to
electric power.
http://i56.tinypic.com/11gj8qw.jpg

The roof has lots of tiny windows so it's not strong.
When that humungous pole with springs is added to the roof, it gets
very complicated. It has long pieces of wood held on by 18 bolts.

AIUI the main value of the clerestory roof was to provide extra
clearance for oil lamps, so there really was no need to retain it after
conversion. Indeed, as they conversion also seems to have involved
adding new ends and running gear, I am surprised anyone thought it worth
while converting rather building new.

I think the tram was built new, but the design of the body dated from
horse tram days. e.g. the driver stood at the front in the wet with no
window to keep him dry, because for a horse tram he would need to hold
the reins and crack the whip and shout whoa etc.
It seemed to take a few years for the front of electric trams to be
enclosed.