But I still feel like a bit of a weirdo when I'm out taking photos.
Today was such a lovely day that I really couldn't help myself. I was catching up with a friend for bookshop browsing and dinner, so I left a bit early and spent some time in Royal Park photographing trams on route 55. Unfortunately, while I was there, no trains made an appearance on the Upfield line. Despite feeling a bit out of place, and wondering what people thought of a guy taking photos of seemingly unextraordinary tram-related things, I had a pretty good time and I'll have to head back to complete the park soon. Perhaps not straight away, as the next three days are forecast to be stiflingly hot. Maybe tomorrow morning, if it's cooler then. We'll see.
All of the below photos were taken around 5pm today on route 55 at the northern end of its route through Royal Park, between Park Street and Royal Park Railway Station.
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Z3 tram at Park Street A northbound Z3 class tram for West Coburg stops on the northern edge of Royal Park before crossing Park Street. With the exclusion of the heritage 1930s-1940s trams in use on a handful of routes, these are my favourite trams. |
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Z3 tram entering Grantham Street The same Z3 tram as in the previous photo, heading away from the camera and leaving its dedicated right-of-way to cross Brunswick Street and resume street running on Grantham Street. The photo is taken from beside the Park Street level crossing, the same location as above. |
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Tramway through Royal Park The dedicated tram right-of-way through Royal Park in Melbourne. This allows the route 55 to connect Brunswick West and West Coburg directly with North Melbourne. If it looks more like a railway line than a tram line, then it should - this section is actually laid with railway rails, though not to railway standards. |
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B2 tram in Royal Park A B2 articulated tram in the trees just north of the Poplar Road level crossing, heading north towards Park Street. This is my second favourite class of tram; the extra capacity afforded by its articulation makes up for the fact that aesthetically, it is not as attractive as the Z3 (though Yarra Trams' baffling choice of fog grey as a livery to replace The Met's fantastic green and yellow is not attractive on anything). |
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B2 tram approaching Poplar Road in Royal Park Another B2 class tram, this one southbound for the Domain Road Interchange and about to cross Poplar Road to the new Royal Park Railway Station tram stop. The railway station is out of sight to the right, on the other side of the road. Until late 2007, the tram stop was on the northern side of the road, where the tram is; this photo is taken from the new, raised stop. |
I really, really love Melbourne's trams. They're fantastic, both from the perspective of an enthusiast and from someone who is prohibited from driving and thus finds them to provide a welcome and unparalleled sense of independence. I can't say I ever really want to live in a city without trams.
