If we turn back the clock a little bit, you will find that around the country, trams have been up some very steep hills and Syndey was a prime example back when it had a tram system just under 250kms long and a tram fleet of 1500 trams (including 600 of just the one tram type, the O class).urban wrote:Personally I hope it goes through Light Sq to make it easy for a North Adelaide loop to be added (can the tram make it up montefiore hill?)
For the unitiated, I need to teach you some of the lingo when talking about gradients on railways/tramways. Using the average gradient on the Belair line of 1 in 45 as an example. For every 45 feet forward you go, you will rise one foot. The average maximum gradient for a tramline in the 1900s was a very steep 1 in 11 and if you have seen some of the streets in Sydney, you will get an idea of how steep this is! On a couple of lines near the coast (such as the Balmain line), the gradient was even steeper at a scary 1 in 8.5! You must remeber that they were using basic trams with timber bodies and somewhat crude electrics up this hills during the 1900s onwards. I think the Flexis will climb up any hill in Adelaide with ease! If Montefiore Hill is that uphill stretch in King William Road past the Women's and Childrens Hospital, I don't think we will see any problems.
You must also remember that back in the day, we had trams running up that hill and at one point, we even had a line running through the hills to Mitcham!
