Ray's Rants Podcast - History, London trolley buses, diesel engines, trams, trains...

History, whether global or personal, can be either boring or fascinating. In this episode, I discuss the mistakes we've made in our personal histories and whether we've learned from them. I also talk about the history of London trolley buses, trams, diesel engines, trains, the pipeline from the Isle of Wight to France, and much more. Join me for a chat which, hopefully, won’t be boring!
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[@RGC198]

Hi Ray, thanks for another great podcast. Nurses here when giving injections say that we may fee4l a bit of a stinging sensation, which seems to describe it fairly correctly. I gather you don't have compulsory voting there. Here in Australia, voting at elections, or at least attending, is compulsory. I wish they would make our voting non compulsory here, the polling areas can be often very crowded and there is always a chance of catching some lurgy while there. We are not allowed to fly national flags here, due to them causing offense. Very strange. Here in Melbourne, we have a large active tram/light rail system still running. We have never had trolley buses in Melbourne, though they did run in other Australian and even new Zealand cities. The last trolley bus system to close in this area was in Wellington New Zealand, which happened in October 2017. Currently here, some of our buses actually run on sugar. Sydney had trolley buses until 1959. Here is an interesting story. In London, most of the trams used overhead wires, except in the central city, where they used third rail, because the Toffs didn't like the wires. That continued until the system closed in 1952. Now, Sydney has a brand new light rail tram line, heading from the city to the eastern suburbs. Most of it has overhead wires, except in the central city, where they use third rail, due to the Toffs not liking the wires. Methinks something sounds oddly familiar there!!! Talk about not learning from history!!! Incidentally, I have often wondered if Loch Ness contains water dinosaurs. There seems to be something strange there. There used to be a fishing show on TV years ago, where this guy fishes for extremely dangerous fish. At one place, he claimed that it was believed that here was a fish the size of New York City believed to be in this particular river and then he pulls out a fishing pole with a line in the hope of catching it!!!! All I can say is, good luck!!! Incidentally, if you want to experience a ride on an old tram, there is Crich Tram Museum. www.tramway.co.uk/
Currently, Melbourne is gradually removing all their level crossings, where trains cross roads. So far, with the ones that they have done have made it a lot better. Anyway, take care. Rob in Melbourne Australia.

[@raysrants]

I suppose sting is better than prick! Haha! Interesting info, Rob. I'll check out the tram museum. Cheers, Ray.