Balloon loops on Australian tramways

[David McLoughlin <davemcl@REMOVEiprolink.co.nz>]

There was a thread a while back about Australian tramways that had
balloon loops rather than shunts at the ends of the lines. I'm not sure
whether it was in aus.rail or mtut.

To recap, most Australian tramways used double-ended trams which shunted
on a Y or a scissors crossover ( X )  at the ends of the lines. This
differed from the common practice in Europe and North America of using a
single-ended tram which turned on a balloon loop at the terminus. There
were a few balloon loops in Australia, at the Ascot Doomben terminus in
Brisbane, eg, and at La Perouse in Sydney.

Anyhow, I have just been reading about the Rockhampton (Queensland)
steam tram system which ran until 1939. The steam trams on this system
were all single-ended, and thus each line (there were four) had balloon
loops at the terminus. The trams were French-built Purrey cars from
Bordeaux. V Purrey was a fairly well known steam tram maker.

David McLoughlin
Auckland New Zealand

"At level crossings, trains always have the right of way."
                --Manitoba Drivers' Handbook (1978)