MIKE'S BUS PAGES

TRAMS IN BRITAIN

 

 

Perhaps this is an odd choice for a heading photo 'cos it's not on the road in actual service. Older browsers might recall the occasions in the early 1960s when Bradford Corporation kept restored Tram No.104 (it had been rescued from use as a football spectators stand at Odsal Stadium) at Thornbury Works and allowed it out a few times onto the old tracks there drawing current from the trolleybus overhead to give enthusiasts rides. This was, I think the penultimate occasion on which this occurred, 20th April 1963. This tram now rests in the Bradford Industrial Museum and sadly can't go anywhere. Bradfords non-standard 4-foot guage track means that it cannot operate at anywhere like Blackpool, Crich or Carlton Colville.

 

I'm sad to say that I never got to Sheffield or Glasgow in their tram era, so my home tram experiences in the sixtie

s and seventies were restricted to dear old Blackpool and a one-off visit in 1969 to The Isle of Man, so there won't be much variety on this page, although I hope it will be of interest. There's a separate one for Britains 'new' tramways.

 

BLACKPOOL IN THE 1960s

 

From 1962 to 1966 I made three or four visits to Britain's only remaining real tramway and what appears here is a mix of the photos obtained then. I went on a couple of enthusiasts tours including a ride on Dreadnought 59. Sadly, since 1985 I've not returned apart from a quick stop last year at Fleetwood. I don't much like the horrible disfigurement of the 'balloons' or the various old and newer single-deckers with garish commercial advertising nowadays but I suppose (like Lisbon) it's a necessary evil to be endured so that the system remains on the best possible financial footing.

 

 

Those were the days! - Morecambe & Wise, Matt Monroe, Lena Martell and Frankie Vaughan - all for 6/6 or 8/- (33p/40p) a seat. As for the tram, well it was already over 25 years old when it was snapped in 1962 - incredibly many are still running today. They're getting very close to the age that the Lisbon veterans were when I saw them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A small number of Standards were still operational then - This was one of a pair of illuminated ones and is seen near North Station

 

 

For many years this 'boat' tram was sponsored by Shell Petroleum

 

HERE'S WHAT ELSE PASSED FOR TRAMWAYS IN THE UK BEFORE THE REVOLUTION OF THE 1990s

BASICALLY TOURIST OPERATIONS ONLY

 

 

 

 

The famous Great Orme Tramway at Llandudno in North Wales. This is a cable-hauled operation and the cars are permanently attached so arguably it is a funicular rather than a pure cable tramway. In fact there are two separate lines with a transfer station halfway to the summit. The overhead wire and trolleypole were simply for telephone communication but modern developments mean that they no longer need to use this now. These three views are from 1977 and 1978

 

 

 

Modern Electric Tramways at Eastbourne was a tourist line using scaled down replicas of different types of British Tram. The line was moved lock stock and barrel to Seaton in Devon in 197X. It now operates on a scenic former railway branch line trackbed at a wider gauge. Existing cars were rebuilt for this and many new ones have been added since.Both these still operate and No. 6 now boast a different seating layout on the lower deck. Thes two views are from about 1966. Here's a few at Seaton in 2007 to start the ball rolling..............