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Changing the points at the top of Hounsfield Road


fentonvillain

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How many remember the sentry box at the top of Hounsfield Road where a Sheffield Corporation Tramways employee had to sit and be ready to change the points as the trams ascended the hill to determine whether they went to Walkley or Crookes?  My dad was a conductor in the 50s and like all of them had to do a stint in the box, with just a brazier to keep warm.  My short story in Tramway Tales (Kindle 97p) "Turning Point" illustrates the situation with a dash of imagination. 

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Yes, I’ve seen this. But it’s not my dad!   You’d be hard pressed to pinpoint the exact spot now!

I recall having to take a flask of soup to him when he was on late shifts.  Not a nice job in Winter.

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8 hours ago, fentonvillain said:

You’d be hard pressed to pinpoint the exact spot now!

Here or thereabouts?

A59E3595-44D3-438A-B360-D0AB8379FB7B.jpeg

F28D48E8-EA7E-4C02-A753-9E3FAC48334E.jpeg

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And looking the other way, down Hounsfield Road. In this one the line to Walkley has been lifted so the shelter was presumably no longer in use. I was a bit off with this one as well, as can be seen by the position of the one building in both images.

It has changed a bit around there :o

hounsfield road 252.jpg

https://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/topic/5996-then-amp-now-sheffield-trams/?do=findComment&comment=136346

 

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Well done ! Great contributions, thank you.    It makes me wonder how many tram drivers and conductors are still alive. Some may even have done their turn in the sentry box. They'd have to be in their late 80s or 90s now. My last surviving uncle, who was a career SCT employee, going from conductor to Depot Inspector, died in February aged 87.   And I have another friend in his early 80s who started as an engineering apprentice at Queens Road depot in about 1956/57 when there were still some trams to be maintained. 

 

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