Senile

It was the most common danger on the London tramways - getting smacked by a plough beam was much more serious though. There were no overhead wires in central London (north of the Thames, between the Tower and Hyde Park Corner) instead the positive side current was picked up a plough in a conduit between the rails. When a tramcar reached the stop at the edge of the conduit area the conductor would put up the trolley pole and the driver would accelerate sharply so that the plough shot out from under the tram at high speed - the upright part whizzing along the last bit of conduit that curved away from the running rails. The upright element was some height above the road surface and if travelling fast could take someone's leg off.