On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 21:01:30 +0000, Eric wrote:

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 07:00:24 +0000, Ian Jelf
wrote:


It is a great tourist experience, and is essentially "London" from a
foreigners point of view.

They are like the cable cars of San Francisco or the trams of Blackpool,
Melbourne or Hong Kong.

Enjoy your visit.

I don't really see all those as very much alike.

The London heritage routes are a deliberate (and possibly reluctant)
preservation of a few vehicles in service.

San Francisco cable cars are a complete system and a protected
national monument.

Blackpool trams are a 1-route survival helped to survive by having
some heritage value.

Melbourne trams have always been a major part of the city's transport
system - there are currently 450 of them operating on 24 routes.

I don't know about Hong Kong.

I suppose one thing that makes them all different from the London
Routemasters is that as a tourist you can't miss them.

I suspect the point Ian is making is that the trams / cable cars are an
intrinsic part of the "experience" of the town or city they are in. They
are featured in guide books as "a thing you must do" and they feature
prominently on postcards or as souvenirs. Their precise status as
you've defined it hardly matters. In all cases they also form an
important part of the transport network - I've travelled on all of them
and even commuted on a San Francisco cable car and I wasn't the only
person doing it. A red London bus and particularly a Routemaster is
something that is in the guide book, tourists love to ride on them and
you fall over postcards and toy versions of them at every step. See how
money the LT Museum makes out of them!

--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!