American Reacts to the History of London's Trams

I feel like I am just old enough to remember the concept of trams, and for some reason I do associate them with being something distinctly British. Am I very interested in reacting and learning about the history of trams in London, and the reasoning behind why you might not really see them around anymore. If you enjoyed the video feel free to leave a comment, like, or subscribe for more!

[@addison_reilly5904]

Jay Foreman does some great videos, would definitely recommend more.

[@lindadoswell9396]

I live in Blackpool where we have modern trams but also fancy trams for the tourists, like boats and other lit up old trams

[@gavinhall6040]

Pretty sure San Francisco still has trams🚊

[@AnonEMoose-wj5ob]

Have you not heard that fine old piece of Americana which is Judy Garland singing "clang, clang, clang went the trolley"? (although, by English standards, she's actually riding a tram at the time). In the late 19th/early 20th centuries trams were widespread across the UK. There was no standardised system however, which sometimes caused problems. The neighbouring cities of Leeds and Bradford, for example, only ten miles apart, had an eight inch difference in rail gauge. To travel from one city to the other initially meant changing trams at Stanningley, the mid point, as one City's trams could not run beyond that point on the other's gauge. A solution was found, however, by laying a piece of tapered track at Stanningley and fitting the trams to be used on that line with a specially designed adjustable bogey which was automatically compressed in one direction by the tapered track and expanded in the other to allow the tram to run on both gauges. Trams were before my time but I can remember riding trolley buses in Bradford, the last City in the UK to have them. And contrary to the video, Leeds NOW has a fleet of zero emission, autonomous (no rails or cables), fully electric buses, currently operating on the No. 5 route.

[@abbiecorcoran6006]

This channel you’ve reacted to here does great informative videos on loads of stuff to do with london/ the UK which i think you will enjoy!

[@andycooke6231]

Many US cities had streetcars, LA had over 1000 miles and New York had a substantial system, there are a number of KZbins on the subject. The play A Street Car named Desire refers to a tram route in New Orleans.

[@elemar5]

10:42

[@B-A-L]

A lot of large towns in Britain had trams and trolley buses in the early to mid 20th century and it was a huge mistake getting rid of them in favour of petrol/diesel buses.

[@drivingiron]

You should react to more Jay Foreman videos. And his ads are hilarious too, so don't skip over them.

[@patriciacarter1147]

The Isle of Man has horse trams running up and down the front and electric trams that run from the stables then you can get off one to another which goes up Snaifell to the top.

[@theeccentricmilliner5350]

I've been on trams in the USA, I'm pretty sure Baltimore has a streetcar network, New Orleans certainly does, as well as Toronto in Canada. Also trams don't burn hydrocarbons in the centre of towns and cities which helps air quality and if the electricity is generated using renewable energy it can reduce the carbon emissions.

[@stevelknievel4183]

Trams run on rails and are electrically powered from overhead wires. Trolleybuses run on rubber tyres and like trams, draw their power from overhead wires. Buses run on rubber tyres like trolleybuses but do not need overhead wires. They can run on either diesel or battery power. Also, there were trams in the USA but they were generally called streetcars. Also, I've just watched a video where someone takes a trolleybus in Dayton, Ohio.

[@alantentevier4018]

Tyler, take a visit to San Francisco where you will see trolleybuses, trams (two of which are ex-Blackpool) and, of course, cable cars.

[@Chris_GY1]

The photo of the tram you looked at was taken at Crich Tramway Museum Derbyshire, I have visited the museum many times over the years since it opened. There were trams and trolley buses here in Grimsby, there is a tram from Grimsby at The Crich Tramway Museum. There are still traces of trams in Grimsby for example at the bus depot which is which what was the tram depot also a post in one street which was used for trolley buses.

[@GroupAmalgams]

Jay Forman is increadibly funny and informative - this video is typical. You should definitely watch more of his work!

[@lorraine4195]

Toronto has streetcars (trams) and trolley busses. (Electric). Lots of European cities have them as well. (Ie Amsterdam.

[@Paul-hl8yg]

The difference between a tram & a trolley bus is, a tram ran on tracks & a trolley bus had tyres, like a modern bus. Britain invented many things for the road. Double yellow lines, cats eyes & even traffic lights. The first traffic lights were gas powered & removed for safety reasons. America followed, later inventing the electric traffic lights.

[@wackojacko0295]

You can't get more British than riding on a tram.

[@chaalmos]

I remember watching the old Rice A Roni commercials when I was a kid. The San Francisco treat was always shown with SF streetcars (trolleys). Also, one of my favorite MGM Musicals was Meet Me in St. Louis with the famous Trolley Song sung by Judy Garland. So, I grew up thinking trolleys were quite common in the USA.

[@jorgedasilva2054]

Trams in the UK are the same as streetcars in the US