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Books > Sport & Leisure > Transport: general interest > Road & motor vehicles: general interest > General
Philadelphia's Streetcar Heritage is a photographic essay of the
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, streetcar system. The first electric
streetcar line in Philadelphia opened in 1892 and quickly replaced
horsecar service by 1897. Streetcar lines were merged into the
Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRT) in 1902 to achieve a
unified system. There were 1,500 new streetcars purchased by 1913,
which was the largest fleet of standardized streetcars ever
purchased by one transit company. Ridership dropped during the
Depression, and PRT reorganized as the Philadelphia Transportation
Company (PTC) in 1940. After National City Lines (NCL) obtained
control of PTC in 1955, many streetcar lines became bus operated.
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) acquired
PTC in 1968. The overhaul of 112 Presidents' Conference Committee
(PCC) cars began in 1979. Kawasaki Heavy Industries built 112
streetcars (light rail vehicles) for the subway surface lines. With
buses taking over Route 15 (Girard Avenue) in 1992, only five
subway surface lines remained. SEPTA restored Route 15 streetcar
service in 2005 using Brookville Equipment Corporation rebuilt
PCCII cars. Philadelphia's Streetcar Heritage documents the city's
streetcars, including Fairmount Park Trolleys and trackless
trolleys.
Full-time four-wheel drive transformed road cars in the
nineteen-eighties, adding speed, excitement and safety and the
Ferguson Formula was at the heart of that revolution. Though the
Audi quattro made the world sit up and take notice of full-time
four-wheel drive, its technology was not available to any other
maker and indeed Audi came to adopt Ferguson technology in their
next generation of quattro models. Full-time four-wheel drive was
the dream of racing driver Fred Dixon, to make cars safer on the
road. Harry Ferguson, of tractor-making fame, backed the idea and,
under the control of Le Mans winner Tony Rolt the talented
engineering team built some astonishing cars, sometimes behind the
scenes and in secrecy. Traction for Sale is the story of two
companies; Harry Ferguson Research, which did all the backbreaking
development work and FF Developments, who succeeded in delivering
the technology to the world's car makers. In telling the story of
the Ferguson Formula, the book brings life some of the most
remarkable cars of the '60s, '70s and '80s, from the Jensen FF, the
first car in the world with full-time, automatic four-wheel drive,
through the development vehicles like the Ford Zephyr V6 and Ford
Mustang 4x4, the Capri 4x4 and the British Army's top-secret Opel
Senators, to competition cars like the astonishing Lotus 56 turbine
Indy and F1 cars, rally cars like the Ford RS200, MG Metro 6R4 and
Lancia Delta Integrale and on to production cars like the legendary
Sierra XR4x4 and Escort Cosworth Turbo and the original Volvo XC90.
This book is indispensable reading for all Ford and Jensen
enthusiasts, students of the British motor industry and anyone
interested in 80s-era 4x4 road and rally cars.
The Metropolitan counties of South and West Yorkshire have some of
the most intensive bus operations outside Birmingham and London.
The former metropolitan counties include considerable amounts of
rural terrain alongside densely populated urban areas. Author Peter
Tucker takes us on a lively photographic tour of the region’s
transport scene. The journey takes us everywhere from genteel towns
like Horsforth, Ilkley and Wetherby down to areas of heavy industry
such as the Don Valley in Sheffield. In between we visit places as
contrasting as Barnsley, Dewsbury, Pontefract and Rotherham and
Swinton. Yorkshire’s cosmopolitan cities are not forgotten
either, as we explore Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield and Wakefield.
Featuring operators such as Arriva, First and Stagecoach, this
publication also looks back to the 1990s with photographs depicting
buses of the now defunct Yorkshire Rider, Yorkshire Traction and
West Riding.
The aim of this series is to appeal to readers of all ages, perhaps
for different reasons... In this volume: We travel back to the year
1976 with its famous heatwave For the younger reader there are
wonderful pictures of buses and coaches that they will never have
seen. There will, for example, be half-cab single and double
deckers the like of which are no longerin production. Some will be
recognised from models and books, while others will be seen for the
first time. * The Cod Wars * The NEC is opened by The Queen *
Hillman Imp production ends * Seychelles gain independence from UK
* Southend Pier fire * Big Ben takes a rest! * James Hunt - World
Champion For the older reader the books are designed to build into
a collection placing road transport in the context of key events,
thus providing an historical perspective of travel in times past.
For those old enough to remember the years depicted, the series
will, we hope, provide reminders for many of school days, time
perhaps spent bus-spotting, depot visiting and generally visiting
interesting locations! The books also make ideal theme gifts for
the year of birth, marriage, retirement, starting work and other
such
Preston Corporation Tramways was formed in 1904, later becoming
Preston Corporation Transport Department. Electric trams, the
majority of which were built in Preston, were operated until1935.
The first buses entered service in January 1922. The department
bought nothing but Leyland chassis until 1976, when three Bristol
LHS midi-buses entered the fleet. The first 'OPO'-equipped buses
were introduced in December 1968 and consisted of fifteen Leyland
Panthers. Preston was a staunch advocate of the Leyland Titan and
operated an assortment of PD1, PD2 and PD3 models over the years.
Between 1959 and 1967 eight rear-entrance PD2s were famously
rebuilt as front-entrance PD3s. A large fleet of Atlanteans was
assembled between 1974 and 1983 and these formed the backbone of
the fleet for many years. Following bus deregulation in 1986 the
company fought a bitter battle with United Transport (Zippy) as
both operators went toe-to-toe with large fleets of minibuses.
Preston won the day as United Transport was absorbed by Ribble in
March 1988 and what had been a chaotic couple of years eventually
settled down. In April 1993 the company was sold to a management
and employee consortium. Here, rare and previously unpublished
images document the years surrounding deregulation in Preston.
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