The Last Days of the Old London Trams

[@meterspoor]

I live in Belgium and we used to have trams all over the country, even in remote places (SNCV). They all were abandoned in the 1950s and 1960s due to "cars being the future" (well that's a bit simplified but you get what I mean). Nowadays we only have trams in 5 cities, and no more trolleybuses. Most new tram projects are not realised and instead replaced by bus or "tram bus" (a fancy word for a bi-articulated bus) lines, even though it has been shown multiple times that a tram line is more efficient than a bus line and attracts more passengers due to the higher comfort (under the circumstances in Belgium).

[@timdekleijn8910]

Same to the north of ya', although the town of Arnhem atleast chose to go for trolley busses instead of diesels.

[@juliansadler6263]

Lijn 2 to Mariakerke in Gent is going back to tram service eventually. The junction has already been done. So over 50 years tram>trolleybus>bus>tram

[@nixcails]

You do have the world longest tram route the "Kusttram' though.

[@juliansadler6263]

@@nixcails And whoever designed the Ashton route in Manchester had surely been to Belgium.

[@stickynorth]

I agree! Edmonton, Alberta had a huge streetcar network that was converted to trolley buses. It never saw nearly the same traffic it had when it was converted in 1951... It limped along until 2015 when the city went all in on electric and hybrid buses... I personally still think they should just revive the old streetcar lines, especially when they keep uncovering rails during repaving projects... It's a sign from above if you ask me! ;-)

[@sevenowls7776]

The end of the old trams seemed to be a contentious issue in whichever city. In my home town the suspension poles lasted over twenty years after the last tram before being removed. Still, one of the old tram depôts is to become the city's transport museum. Thanks for a good 'un!

[@CoolAsFreya]

I'm lucky enough to live in Melbourne, one of the few major cities to not tare out our vast tram network! Not to say it wasn't a close call, trams had been replaced with busses during the era everyone else was removing tram networks, but we had the foresight (if not lazyness) to not remove the tracks, and eventually trams resumed and exploded into today's iconic Melbourne tram network. Living next to a tram line I've never felt the need to buy a car (I'm actually watching this video on the tram)

[@420greatestqueen]

@@CoolAsFreya I’m lucky to live in Vancouver. They tore out the trams and built trolley busses instead in my neighbourhood using the old tram routes. Although I’m happy we still have trolley busses, they are very slow and undependable when it snows. I wish Vancouver had kept it them as trams. They would have been faster, perhaps more reliable too

[@juliansadler6263]

The trolleybus overhead in Brighton was used to support street lighting for some 20 years after they were withdrawn.

[@miscbits6399]

My home town had tram rails on one bridge unti lthe bridge was replaced in 1998 - the trams ceased operating in 1939

[@ricktownend9144]

Lovely video - most enjoyable. I can just remember riding on a tram in Streatham as a small child. I can also remember a tram joke which my mother told me (probably from Arthur Askey, Tommy Trinder or such-like) - Old lady: "if I put my foot on the rail, will I get a shock?" Tram conductor: "Not unless you put your other foot on the overhead wire - and then we'd all get a shock".

[@radagastwiz]

My hometown here in Canada scrapped its trams in the 1940s, but put in a new service in the last five years. Rebuilding of part of the roadbed for the new tracks saw them pull up some wooden sleepers from the old system!

[@chrisinnes2128]

In Edinburgh nere my hometown they found the old cable tram line when digging up the road to install the new tramline

[@neilbain8736]

I watched them lay the new tramway from Victoria Station to St. Peter's Square in Manchester a few years ago. There were piles of tram rails at the side of the road. They weren't new. They had rediscovered the old rails from the 1940's which were still in place on the old road surface, currently 2 or more feet below the present road surface, and you had a beautiful archaeological strata of cobbles, rails, rubble, and new surface and new rails.

[@johnturner4400]

Same here in Nottingham. Dug through the asphalt to find the cobblestone and old tram lines…

[@chenyeanmingtakumi9033]

Which city in Canada are you from?

[@neilbain8736]

@@johnturner4400 Was that at the top of Station Street? I used to live in Notts and remember something about it.

[@MrLukealbanese]

I was head of tramway planning at TfL from 2003 till 2009. There's quite a story there as well!!

[@MrGreatplum]

I can imagine - I can think of two unfulfilled tram schemes of that time!

[@MrLukealbanese]

@@MrGreatplum no comment 🤔. At least not in a public forum!!

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

I want ask how close Cross River Tram was from actually going ahead

[@MrLukealbanese]

@@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1 if Ken had remained as Mayor, much closer than it actually got.

[@craigthomson3621]

@@MrLukealbanese yes it was Boris that scrapped the cross river tram.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

The double-decker trams may be gone from London but thankfully the British introduced them to Hong Kong in 1904 where they are still thriving today. An average of 200K people ride them every day! While the original fleet have been retired, if you're a tourist you can book a sightseeing tour of a replica of a 1920s design called the TramOramic Tour! Or better yet, book a private party tram in a replica of the original design!

[@henrytudor8537]

Blackpool still has them

[@tw25rw]

I rode the trams in HK a few years ago. It was both fun and very uncomfortable at the same time.

[@sglenny001]

There's some In Blackpool

[@NotLeafster34]

i was about to comment somthing similar like yours. I've lived in Hong Kong since birth. These trams only exists in the Hong Kong Island Area. Fun fact. They had reserved an old tram (number 120). Still uses it till this day! In the New Territories,in the cities like Siu Hong,Tuen Mun,Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Long has a single decker tram which is actually LRV's

[@keithkilvert]

Like thaTonebanana, I was also born in HK and living in Happy Valley on HK island, as a young kid, (about 8 years old) the trams were my main mode of transit when on my own. Took my fiance on them when we were visiting in 2013.... She was amazed with how good they were for sightseeing...

[@juliancripps1580]

Trolley buses yes please. I saw the last in Reading/ Tilehurst. I loved the sound of them.

[@laurieharper1526]

Thanks. I visited the National Tramway Museum yesterday. They had a recently-restored London tram on display. Not running quite yet - it is awaiting final commissioning - but great to see.

[@phaasch]

The east Anglian museum of transport is another good place. They have several London trams, and trolleybuses in operational condition.

[@andycooke6231]

Good to see somebody remembering the trams, if you can get hold of a copy the book "The wheels used to talk to us" is an informative and entertaining reminisance of a former London tram driver from WW1 to the end of the trams.

[@JeMappelleFrikandel]

Thanks, sounded interesting so I just purchased a copy off of Ebay.

[@Schwertsan]

I, too, love a good story about trams or trolleys, so I have a copy from eBay on its way as well.

[@johnjephcote7636]

After the official reception of the 'last car' by Lord Latham late at night, another one came in, much later after the crowds had melted away. Not trying to be the last, but from Abbey Wood, just delayed picking up many passengers and trying to complete the long run back.

[@ktipuss]

There's also "London Tramway Twilight" by Robert J Harley, and "Operation Tramaway" by J.Joyce.

[@ianhelps3749]

My grandfather ( mother's side) drove trams for Glasgow Corporation for about 30 years. In the early 1960s the trams were withdrawn and there was a farewell parade of some current and vintage trams. My grandfather drove one of the trams in the parade, and the tram is now preserved at the Glasgow Transport Museum.

[@johnjephcote7636]

I was there on the last weekend; September '62. I remember the women drivers but they were not allowed to continue as 'bus drivers. Seems crazy now.

[@neilchisholm8376]

Here in Australia, Melbourne never got rid of its trams and now has the largest and most comprehensive tram network in the world. It’s a wonderful thing and has set Melbourne apart from all other cities. Sydney has realised the sense of a good tram network and has started to reestablish one.

[@smitajky]

When it extended from Union Road to Box Hill it still failed to recognise what I believe is essential for the future. Instead of banning parking and putting the rails at the edge of the road, which enables passengers to alight directly to the footpath, it continued to put the rails down the middle of the road. THEN had to move the stops out into the road. Which is very dangerous for me on a pushbike. A road that I have ridden on for sixty years. Simply we could, and should be doing better for the benefit of the future.

[@miscbits6399]

Sydney's original trams were fairly unique inasmuch as they were CABLE drawn like many of those in San Franciso. The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney was literally the power source for most of the inner city tram network and the winding engines for several of the cableways

[@Rogar0]

I remember the trams well tripping down Battersea Rise and up Lavender Hill (don’t you know!) taking me on my way to Clapham Junction to take me further by Southern Rail up to Waterloo to go to work up Ludgate Hill and The Old Baily! Memories Jago, memories! Thank you!

[@JosephusAurelius]

I’m no transport expert but bringing back trolley buses seems like a really good long term eco friendly transport method in comparison to using buses that have batteries or Diesel engines.

[@highpath4776]

Tried at Doncaster (racecourse) but for some reason never progressed

[@sporkafife]

You can even combine the both cables and electric buses and have trolleybuses powered by overhead cables that also have a relatively small onboard energy storage capacity (be it battery, supercapacitor or even mechanical flywheel, all have pros and cons). This means that they don't even need to be connected to the grid 100% of the time, solving a lot of the problems they had back in the day by allowing them to avoid obstacles, take diversions, and even run more diverse routes that don't necessarily need to be fully cabled, reducing the cost of the initial infrastructure investment. I must be missing some huge drawback because it seems like a no-brainer, win-win-win way to reduce greenhouse emissions and increase local air quality at less cost than railed alternatives. Feel free to point out the massive disadvantage that I must be missing 😂

[@patrickpowers5995]

Absolutely. Edinburgh seriously missed a trick there.

[@ktipuss]

It depends on the patronage of the routes. Moderate or lower patronage is OK to service with electric buses, but for heavily patronised routes, trams are better as they can carry a lot more passengers in one vehicle.

[@trueriver1950]

@@sporkafife it's harder than you think. A tram with a pantograph that can be raised and lowered can bridge a gap with an on board battery, because the pan can contact the wire without worrying about sideways movement. That's because the wire only carries one pole of the current. Trolley buses make this a lot harder: the trolley connects both poles of the electric circuit (due to rubber tires and road surfaces not being conductive) and that's why the trolley is there in the first place. Secondly, due to not being on tracks the sideways movement is much more significant. The trolley bus driver could push a button to drop the trolley pole, but would still have to get out to relocate the trolley and pole at the other side of the gap. I'm old enough, just, to remember trolley buses in London, I might have been five or six when the 607 trolleybus was withdrawn. It ran along a former tram route. The current 607 bus follows the same route today (though the number was out of use for decades before they brought it back) Conversion from tram to trolley bus made sense as they could re-use the poles and the electrical substations, though the actual overhead writing had to be changed as explained. When the pole dropped for any reason the staff would have to get our and manually re-locate it. In the middle of a junction this caused traffic chaos and risk to the member of staff from idiot drivers not giving them space. That danger would be much larger now. Pole drops most often happened at junctions of trolley bus routes, where the trolley decided to go a different way to its bus. Naturally trolley bus routes would diverge at the busiest road junctions. Not nice! But fun for a five year old to watch :)

[@ValentineHolbert]

Living in San Francisco, I am glad that the generations before us were able to save our cable cars and streetcars (though highly reduced). Can never imagine SF without them.

[@AaronSmart.online]

Everyone knows about the cable cars in SF, but the F line was a nice surprise when I visited. It was really convenient as a tourist too.

[@JimInRoses]

When I first visited San Francisco in 1975, I was impressed by the diversity of the public transport. Five different types: the iconic cable cars, trams/streetcars, trolley buses, motor buses, and the very new BART. Last time, in 2014, I liked the way the cars on the F line were painted in the liveries of different tram systems around the world.

[@vincentng2392]

@@JimInRoses Did you also take the commuter train (Caltrain) as well?

[@JimInRoses]

@@vincentng2392 No, but in 2014 we arrived in Emeryville having taken the train from New York.

[@MaxMicron]

I always looked at San Francisco PCCs with a lot of jealousy, but also a bit of hope, especially after the tram company in my home city just casually scrapped the largest single type fleet of preserved 50s trams in Europe and nobody even tried to stop them (at least nobody who would have the means to do it). It's always good to see that there are places in the world where this probably wouldn't be allowed to happen

[@jgodfrey546]

Another gem, Jago. Looking forward to more on London's trams & trolley buses, sir.

[@heidirabenau511]

Great explanation of an unforgettable era of London

[@jimfrodsham7938]

I'm still sad all the Trams of my childhood in Hamburg and Birmingham are gone. I quite liked Trolley busses too.

[@Deebz270]

I remember the trolly-busses of Bournmouth. They were all canary yellow! And very quiet. They endured a bit after the last steam rail service on Southern Railways region (BR), which I recall as a wee nipper.

[@rodjones117]

There were often problems going round Cemetry Junction, and not operated on Richmond Hill, if memory serves. Conductors had long poles to put the gantry (or whatever they are really called) back on the wires. I do remember them fondly though - part of my childhood memories. Bournemouth's buses are still yellow, of course.

[@juststeve5542]

I love the trams and trolley buses I come across in Eastern Europe. In Budapest I saw some interesting hybrids, diesel bendy buses with retractable electric pickups. So they can drive like regular buses where there's no power, but hook onto the overhead cables when they're available - brilliant!

[@eattherich9215]

Lisbon has a tram service and some of the gear looks distinctly hold. I saw a youtube video and it looked like a seat of the pants ride.

[@juststeve5542]

@@eattherich9215 I feel the same about the Paris Metro, it feels like it's made of recycled 2CVs, and is quite a culture shock when used to the modern London tube trains. However, probably the "quaintest" is the M1 line in Budapest, the second underground in the world. Cut and (barely) covered, you can see the legs of the people on the street above when standing on the platform, and the trains are tiny. Quite low in height and only a couple of carriages long. Bit noisy too! The rest of the Budapest network is more modern, but I think the M1 tunnels and platforms are just too small for anything bigger!

[@ballyhigh11]

@@eattherich9215 That will be tram 28 which uses historic, wooden vehicles. It is tremendous fun to travel on as it seems to skim buildings with barely centimetres to spare. It's a regular service, but is primarily for tourists I think. The tram museum (in Belém, I think) is very interesting.

[@ballyhigh11]

@@juststeve5542 The communist era 'rest of the Budapest network' rolling stock are rather beautiful imo. I love the light fittings.

[@jiversteve]

Thanks for that, I always enjoy your content.

[@dvdvnr]

Yes, more trams and trolleybuses, please Jago! My father worked in one of the AEC offices in/near Southall back in the 1960s before the family upped sticks and moved to the wilds of Norfolk. There used to be Christmas parties for the staff and their families held in the massive canteens. I remember going to at least one of these (and also being rather peeved that, in having to attend, I would miss that week's episode of Doctor Who - well, this was long before video recorders were a thing!) A few weeks ago, on a trip to the Bure Valley Railway in Norfolk, I picked up a copy of "The Golden Age of Tramways" by Charles Klapper (1974 reprint) in the secondhand bookshop that's part of the Wroxham station. As it's the next book to read on my book pile (and I've just finished the previous book) the timing of this video is rather appropriate! Cheers!

[@warriorj8658]

Becoming more & more interested in theses beautiful old trams. So classy and old fashioned.

[@EngineerLewis]

For anyone who wants to experience old Trams, there is a Tram Museum in Crich Derbyshire where I am sure some old London trams have been restored to full working order. There is a tram track there which runs though the site. Also the Seaton Tramway in Devon is a special place where you can also ride old trams along the beautiful Axe Valley.

[@neilyoungman9814]

The Crich Tramway Museum is definitely worth a visit.

[@grahamwhitworth9454]

The Seaton trams are scaled down replicas, not full size originals, but still certainly worth a visit.

[@samuelfellows6923]

And the Beamish open-air museum - it was once a colliery and has a tram line that goes around its rim, and when on holiday nearby we went to it and got on a vintage tram, and dad said “we used to have these in London” 😀

[@jonathanma2741]

I believe there are double decker trams running in Blackpool and hong kong

[@ronalddevine9587]

Very enjoyable. Brings back memories of when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I remember my mother taking me on a trolley here in New Haven, Connecticut and telling me to remember it. I don't know if I really do remember it, or all the times she spoke of it. Interesting that you call them trams, while we say trolley. But you use the term trolley bus. Ah, the English language, gotta love it. ❤️

[@alanedwards1179]

Thanks - was nice to see. Here in The Netherlands, trams are ubiquitous and we have a wonderful tram museum in Den Haag that runs special services out to the beach and around the city in the summer. Nice to see old shots of London!

[@martyonline1957]

I was lucky enough to ride on a trolley bus in the early 60's when we lived in Ealing, most likely along the Uxbridge Road to Acton, they glided along silently, well apart from the rattles and squeaks and road noise, but you catch my drift ? I nearly got run over by a tram in Croydon, you don't expect a silent train to be running along in the road, and they are almost silent. It was good to see the trolley bus at the London Transport museum after so many years. It was like seeing tales from the tube in visual form

[@patrickpowers5995]

I too rode trolleybuses in Newcastle upon Tyne as a student. You certainly never ran after a departing Trolleybus (well not after once doing so!). Their acceleration was phenomenal.

[@sirmeowthelibrarycat]

😊 So did I, on the 607 between Uxbridge and Shepherds Bush. That route still runs as an express service, with the 207 as standard for most of that route to Hayes By-pass.

[@trevorrandom]

Bring back the Trams in London and all major city's I'm going have to watch that Elephant that never forgets film on KZbin 👍

[@heidirabenau511]

London does have trams you know

[@trevorrandom]

Croydon

[@surreygoldprospector576]

It's a good film if you can find it. (The Elephant in question is obviously the Elephant & Castle...)

[@dancedecker]

It is an absolutely fantastic film. I'm sure you will enjoy it immensely . Very well edited and very emotive. Enjoy. Cheers

[@srfurley]

@@dancedecker It was made for London Transport by British Transport Films, one of a series of films under the Cine Gazette name. It was only supposed to be a short item, and the makers got into trouble for spending beyond the allocated budget, but it became one of their best known and most popular films. Years ago I projected it, on 35 mm, at a show for the late John Huntley. Many BTF films were made available on DVD from the British Film Institute.

[@Dave_Sisson]

I'm watching this with bemusement from the city with the largest tram network in the world. Yes, Melbourne did scrap a lot of lines, but we kept most of them. I can't imagine living in a city where you can't just jump on a tram and easily get to almost anywhere.

[@OzzieJayne]

Have a gander at the demise of the trams in Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat (all 3 were under the control of the State Electricity Commission) , similar processions to those in London. Give us a double decker tram in Melbourne, though, please and thank you!

[@DevilishScience]

And very good for trapping non-Melburinans turning right.

[@oc2phish07]

What a memory jogger! I remember, as a four-year-old lad, being taken for rides on the old London Trams. I also use the Croydon Trams now quite regularly. Thanks for this excellent video, Jago.

[@johnjephcote7636]

We are the same age then. I have a super system in Nottingham (partly EU funded) and nearby, in Sheffield. I tried for a long time to get a piece of tramrail when they were building Nottm's system but two super women from Midland Metro/Balfour Beatty presented me with one. I have it with the flattened penny that I placed on the rails at Dalmuir West when Glasgow's 'caurs' were abandoned in September 1962.

[@josephturner4047]

Bordeaux has dual voltage trams. Under the wires mostly but battery running in old parts of the city so that the catenary doesn't disfigure the architecture.

[@davidcronan4072]

So does Birmingham

[@johnbrogan434]

The parts. without overhead wires use a power system called APS. It looks like a strip of metal between the rails and becomes live in the section underneath the tram. A number of surface contact systems were used on Tramways in Britain

[@grahamwhitworth9454]

Thank you Jago for taking up my previous suggestion of more Tales from the Trams!

[@stevemargetts2570]

Great Vlog. The mysterious black box you showed is a former tramway feeder box. This one is post 1933 as it has a roundle cast in to the door. With regards to RM's. These were not introduced until the late 50's. RT's were supplemented by RTL's and RTW's. Both types were built by Leyland. The former to overcome limited supply from AEC of RT's. The RTW's were introduced to prove eight wide buses could run in London without problems. This followed on from a batch of trolley buses destined for South Africa running in East London. These were eight foot wide.

[@surreygoldprospector576]

There were three kinds of electrical feeder box - a big and small London Transport one, and an older ex-tramways one that said "L.C.C Tramways" on the door (London County Council). When the trams and trolleybuses ended in London in the 1940s-1960s it was still a time of austerity in the UK after the war, so a lot of equipment got re-used. Depots became bus garages, the street poles became lamp-posts (lots in Newham which was a relatively poor borough at the time), and the cable ducts under the pavement were even used for cable TV in the 1970s. A few feeder boxes were kept by LT to be used mainly for bus inspectors (remember them?) at key points.

[@marksc111]

Very fortunate to live in a city that retained its trams (Melbourne). How sad that so many cities did not. I can't imagine daily life here without them. It was really just an accident of timing and circumstance that saved our trams... we had just upgraded from the old cable tram system to an electric one between WW1 and WW2, so our infrastructure and rolling stock were relatively new, unlike so many other cities at that time. Great video :)

[@smitajky]

There was a lot more to it. Petrol shortages of ww2, wide roads. Lack of capital for replacement. And just pure conservatism. Yet it worked. We were so much luckier than other places which "modernised" to the detriment of their residents. I used to wonder about "the world's most liveable city" Until I visited Sydney. Badly maintained diesel buses belching their fumes onto the footpath. Clogged streets. Poor air quality. Thank goodness that we did not make that mistake.

[@marksc111]

@@smitajky And a strong union helped too

[@ktipuss]

Victoria's Liberal Party premier Henry Bolte wanted to close Melbourne's tram system, but couldn't, because it was run by an autonomous corporation and not directly by the Victoria government. State Govt did own the Ballarat and Bendigo systems (via the Electricity Board) and he did close those two.

[@highbury1972]

Cool Video Jago… the final scenes of Trams reminded me of the last day of The Routemaster in London. I think The Croydon Tramlink is fantastic. Ken Livingstone did plan a Tram Route from Ealing to Shepherds Bush that never got off the ground.

[@Blade_Daddy]

Go for it, Jago...

[@eattherich9215]

I watched that film about the last day of the tram only last week. The London Transport Museum has a film archive that has all sorts of footage on any number of subjects.

[@kennethbowry2912]

I went as a child on one the last Trams down whitehall with my Dad, I was five and still remember it to this Day.

[@MarkMcCluney]

Trams are indeed fascinating and engender great affection - I remember the Cologne strassenbahnen very fondly from my student days in the eighties and wondering why we didn't have such a wonderful system in the UK. I also remember the trolleybuses in Belfast. I, as a child, thought they were excellent but they were openly disliked. I look forward very much to your examination of those unsung trolleybuses. Thank you!

[@ballyhigh11]

My dad grew up in Belfast and as far as he was concerned where the tram stopped the country started! I think they were disliked because they were extremely noisy.

[@JeMappelleFrikandel]

I love trams, luckily we still have quite a network for them here in Toronto, though they do call them streetcars here. The Halton Radial Railway museum not far outside the city has some of the older specimens in their collection and you can even ride them there.

[@johnjephcote7636]

At age of four I vividly remember riding the trams in Woolwich (overhead) and on the Embankment (conduit pickup). It sparked something and I built an E3 car (from scratch-no kits!) in 1952 condition a few years ago, 1/16 size that I run in the garden (overhead, not conduit pick up). The Festival of London meant that Hadfields in Sheffield had to manufacture complicated conduit track and pointwork which would last only a year. In the trolleybus days up to ten years later, one could see wonderful pre-war displays of trackwork even outside in the depot yard.

[@kevelliott]

As a far-off north eastern child resident of the early 60s, I was was variously transported about Newcastle either by omnibus or trolley bus. It was the latter I infinitely preferred, with their silent operation, smooth ride and the occasional diversion whereby the cursing conductor would clamber onto the roof to reconnect the disengaged trolley poles. Great days!

[@roboftherock]

Copy that, but in Glasgow - and Belfast when on family holidays.

[@jamesgilbart2672]

xcellent video! It was crazy to get rid of the trams and crazier still to get rid of the trolley buses. Compared with them, diesel buses were not progress

[@TLrtd]

The end of the orginal Birmingham tramways holds a special place in my family's history. The final services ran on July 4th 1953, the day that my Nana Joyce and Granddad Fred got married. They had the ceremony, enjoyed the reception and ended their special day by taking the very last tram service back to the depot. They were happily married for 46 years, raising my Mum and her seven siblings.

[@badatfootball4698]

Fascinating video. In Edmonton, just up the road from me, we have a Tramway Avenue where there once stood the old depot. Although it was closed in about 1986 and subsequently flattened for housing, the name lives on.

[@davidbrazier9246]

I remember the trams in Downham Way, Bromley in outer London. My great aunt lived near the junction at Southover and I could watch the sparks from the pantograph and hear the squeal of the brakes which, I seem to remember ,consisted of steel blocks that contacted the rails. Sometimes the pantograph would come off the wire and have to be replaced with a long wooden pole by the conductor. I seem to recall that you stood at the tram stop on the pavement but when it came, the tram would stop in the middle of the road and you would have to dodge the traffic and get out out to it. My dad was a keen cyclist and often spoke of the danger of getting a bike wheel in the tram tracks.

[@cncshrops]

I'm just too young to have travelled on London's trams (born in '56), but I have a vivid memory of riding a trolley bus up the hill to Ally Pally. It was a quiet Sunday morning and dad and I were almost the only passangers. Highlight of the trip was watching the driver reattach the pick up shoe to the overhead wire with a long pole stored under the bus. Like fishing in the air. And all so quiet: even modern diesel buses are rough and noisy by comparison.

[@trevorelliston1]

I can just recall trolley busses in London.. even rode one.. so looking forward to another video of social history, excellently delivered. It’s videos like this that in my view make Jago more important than some other transport commentators.

[@RadioJonophone]

Just a note about the Routemaster. It was envisaged during the late 1950s but appeared in 1963, well after the demise of the trams. It was seen as a replacement for trolleybuses.

[@sddsddean]

When I was a lad living in SE London, I used to know Marie Kingwell, former Mayor of Greenwich, whose father drove the last tram to New Cross. Tenuous link to a bit of fame!!!

[@Acela2163]

Here in Chicago the trolleybuses were pitched as a modern, efficient replacement for streetcars. They were instrumental in dismantling what was once one of the largest street railways in the world. But, of course, as soon as the last of the streetcars were scrapped, the powers that be set about dismantling the new trolleybus network. The last of the trolleybuses were quietly replaced by diesel buses in 1973. To this day Chicago remains the largest city in North America with no electric streetcars or trolleybuses.

[@roberthill6216]

Trams have always been part of where I grew up and live. At one point it was the only place in the UK where you could ride a tram all year round. I did my school work experience at Blackpool Transport's Rigby Road tram depot in 1997.

[@derekantill3721]

I traveled on the London trams as a kid and was sorry to see them go. But I have since paid the London trams a visit at Crich. Thanks for the video Jago.

[@kimvibk9242]

We had trams in Copenhagen when I grew up, and I was sad to see them go in the early 70's. But lo and behold, they are also making a resurgence, as a tram route called 'Letbanen' (the light rail) will open in a few years. Other Danish cities that have re-opened tram routes are Aarhus and Odense.

[@MarceloBenoit-trenes]

The destruction of Copenhaguen tramways was one of those unexplainable things... some of the cars still run in Alexandria, Egypt.

[@kudlok1]

There's also a tram depo in West Norwood (nowadays a self storage place), an another one in Wandsworth (just next to Wandsworth Bridge - now a bus depo) and in Chiswick (also a bus depo). In Cheswick there's also a former tramway power plant.

[@bilburns1313]

I was always so fascinated by the seeming maze of tracks (tram - but in the US we tend to call them "streetcars" or "trolleys") at the former trolley barn near where I lived. It was about a decade after the last trams ran in Chicago (Last one ran in June of 1958) when I took notice of the partially hidden by cheap non-complete re-pavement after abandonment. My great Grandfather was a carpenter for the Chicago tram lines. If one added up all the track in Chicago streets (much of it still there under modern pavement) it would count as the most mileage of any system in the world - but for the fact that not anywhere near all of that track was in actual operation at any one given time...

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

I wonder if there’s a distinction in British English that isn’t in American. Americans use the term “streetcar” for these electrified vehicle, but before that there were horsedrawn streetcars on rails. Can anyone enlighten us as to what Brits called the horsedrawn variety?

[@henrybest4057]

@@donkeysaurusrex7881 In the UK they were called tramways, as were the very early horse drawn mineral lines, which usually had wooden rails. So the horse drawn predecessors of electric (or sometimes steam) trams were also called trams.

[@borderlands6606]

Modern trams seem to have less interaction with other traffic. Tram stops resemble train stations, and wherever possible lights control passage in the tram's favour. This is an observation, not a complaint.

[@adrianthoroughgood1191]

Here in Sheffield a lot of the tram track is segregated and only runs along the road where there is no alternative. There is one section where they built a viaduct for the tram so it could take the steep hill more gradually and another where there is a tunnel to take it across a busy interchange.

[@johnjephcote7636]

It is what London could have done, but Lord Ashfield had already gone over to the trackless camp before the War. When the Great West road was widened, the opportunity to put the trams in the centre reservation was ignored. In Britain there was no law that traffic had to stop to allow passengers alighting from the tracks in the centre of the road. All modern tramways, such as the Polish ones I know, have all these features...central reservations and protected 'stations' for passengers and traffic lights automatically changed by the 'cars'.

[@colincomber8027]

I traveled on a London Tram, just once, I was 4 years old. I am now a big fan of the Croydon Trams.

[@martyonline1957]

The Kingsway tramway tunnel, our very good friends Mr Tim Dunn and le Divine Siddy Holloway featured the tunnel on the excellent Secrets of the London underground. A superb series on Yesterday tv

[@JohnADoe-pg1qk]

Yes. 👍

[@GerardScroogeGoes]

Thx, Jago. I really love these old trams and associate buildings. More of both, please !

[@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus]

I liked the shots of the West Ham car in the LT Museum, my great grandfather was a tram driver for East Ham Corporation Tramways (i have a pic of him im his uniform taken at my old house), East Ham being the other bit of what became Newham. Plus a fun fact, the Croydon trams carried on the LT tram numbering system, their first tram being 2530, 2529 being the highest one back in the 1940s, plus of course the Croydom tarms were red & cream as well rather than their now more garish green.....

[@leeroberts7049]

I am fascinated by the old trams, and would like to see more videos on them and the trolley buses. Loved this video.

[@simonbell2865]

Great to see you look at trams. Look forward to more.

[@MrDavil43]

About the time of the First World War my Great Aunt Dolly who lived in Forest Gate was knocked down and killed by a tram somewhere around that area. Whenever anyone mentioned trams at a family gathering it always brought forth murmurings of "Poor Dolly". My own London tram memory is of my dad taking me on a tram and it descending into the tunnel in Kingsway, Holborn. I must have been 4 years old and I remember being scared but also fascinated by the big brass handles the driver was purposefully pushing and pulling.

[@henrybest4057]

I was 6 when my dad took me on that journey through the Kingsway Subway. I don't remember being scared, only sitting in the front nearside seat on the upper deck and the tiling on the walls. I went back inside the subway a couple of weeks ago, on a very interesting Hidden London conducted tour.

[@crewkerne40]

I too can just about remember travelling through the Kingsway subway when I was a nipper.Pollution free transport should never have been scrapped but then,back in the 1950s,no one was bothered about pollution.

[@Richardincancale]

1:47 I don’t think Trolleybuses could use existing overhead lines - they need a parallel suspended live and return wire whereas trams typically use a single live wire and return via the rails.

[@wclifton968gameplaystutorials]

Some older trolleybuses used a shoe (like a 3rd or 4th rail shoe) connected to the tram tracks to be able to replace the second catenary wire that is normally used by trolleybuses, this would of course only work if both the trams and trolleybuses used the same electrical system i.e. the same voltage and current; this way the trams and trolleybuses can use the same infrastructure...

[@LunaDragofelis]

Old trams used wires similar to trolleybuses, contacted by a pole. So it was possible to just add a parallel wire for the bus.

[@highpath4776]

Correct generally but supports, poles and supply cables would be reuseable

[@henrybest4057]

@@highpath4776 Trolleybuses used the same voltage as the trams, so very little extra infrastructure was needed. Just an extra wire and some insulators.

[@webchimp]

The tram depot in my home town became the bus depot, and now a car park.

[@douglasthompson296]

Hi Jago, Manchester based here and the Metro (tram) system in Greater Manchester is a godsend for me. No need to own a car as they cover all areas now. Apart from Blackpool's sea front trams I think Manchester was the first (?) City to reintroduce trams. Due to the first routes being on old railway lines the stations platform's are raised. This has ment the newer expanded lines have kept platform height tram cars, it was much cheaper than having to build low entry tram stops. Now of course many cities have reintroduced tram systems. As a kid going to big cities like Leeds, Bradford and riding on trams and trolley buses were a special treat. Ah, memories. Cheers

[@JagoHazzard]

I have a video on the Metrolink in the queue, as it happens…

[@Sim0nTrains]

Well I had fun fun fun watching this tram tram tram video. Great video Jago.

[@caileanshields4545]

Cracking vid once more, Jago. Nice to see this occasion being marked. It'll be 60 years this September (4th September 1962) since Glasgow's last trams (known locally as 'caurs') ran, the last route (the 9) was actually fairly local to where I live now (it ran from Auchenshuggle in the East to Dalmuir West in the, well, West in the town of Clydebank). Like London, trolleybuses were intitally considered to be the future here, with the first route opening in April 1949 (Glasgow actually ran a not-insignificant number of single-deck 'trolleys', something of a rarity in the UK), but this was short-lived to say the least, with them outliving the trams by a mere 5 years, if that (the last were withdrawn in March 1967); diesel-powered motor buses replaced them too in the end. In fact, the very last all-new, full-size*, double deck tram car built in the UK was built by Glasgow (this being 'Cunarder' No.1392 in early 1952; this actually spent some time in the old transport museum at Clapham after retirement in 1962 before moving back north to Glasgow). Glasgow was the last town/city in the UK to get rid of it's trams during this time, leaving just Blackpool until Metrolink in Manchester opened in 1992. There have been various proposals/schemes to revive trams in Glasgow much in the same manner in the decades since, but so far nothing has come to fruition. Oh, and the footage at 4:07 reminds me of what Aberdeen did with it's last trams after services ended in May 1958: they were taken en-masse to a local beach and burned. *Seaton, am looking at you here. ;)

[@williamadams7865]

2:29 - Looks like an electrical ‘feeder pillar’. These were placed around the network to allow for various sections of overhead to be “switched out/isolated” from the power for routine maintenance or repair.

[@RoccondilRinon]

The ever irreverent, highly esteemed Goon Show did an episode called The Last Tram in 1954, about a tram driver who decides to hole up in the Kingsway subway to make sure his tram is the last into the depot - not because he’s losing his job or out of sentiment, but because he’s jealous of all the fuss being made over the last tram and wants the attention for himself. It’s one of the most violent episodes of the show, which is saying quite a lot - the last couple of minutes basically devolve into the entire cast (and the announcer) belting each other over the head with shovels. Highly recommended.

[@eattherich9215]

I'll have to seek out that episode.

[@tommilton5753]

In Edinburgh, in 1956, I was in the Cubs and usually would get the tram afterwards from Granton to Leith to stay with my aunt. But the service had been withdrawn months earlier and it was now the bus. However, one night there were no buses either: the last tram ceremony was happening “up the town” and all the buses were delayed. So a long walk for an 11 year old.

[@chrispayne523]

I used to work out of Thornton Heath Garage and while I was there they had the forecourt at the side resurfaced. There was still tram tracks under the surface and as far as I know they are still there under all the bricks.

[@RebMordechaiReviews]

Excellent video. Trolly buses have always fascinated me. Not a tram and not a bus.

[@olly5764]

Jago, I know you normally do London stuff, but if trams are currently floating your boat, the system in Wolverhampton may be of interest to you, as in the early days they used the Lorain System of surface stud contacts for power (equivlent of having third rail in the road...well...nearly)

[@johnjephcote7636]

The conduit system was buried deep under the tracks but f the studs of the Lorain or Doulter systems did not spring back into the 'dead' position (owing to filth on the surface) after a 'car's' passing, then one's horse would definitely no longer be in the 'live' position.

[@JagoHazzard]

Well, I do have at least one non-London tram video in the queue - and there was a little preview of it in this video…

[@olly5764]

@@johnjephcote7636 part of the problem was that the iron in the shoes of a stationary horse could also pull the studs of the Lorain system in too, frying the horse!

[@terrybailey2769]

Nice one Jago. The story of the Trolley Bus would definitely be interesting too.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

London Transport: We're replacing them with a more modern and attractive form of transport Also London Transport: *Diesel buses, take it or leave it* Trolleybuses and trams are very much still thriving here in Pyongyang, in fact this past Day of the Sun (a holiday celebrating the birth of my grandpa) we opened a new trolleybus line from Songyo to Songhwa. Glad we have them

[@mushroomcrepes]

thank you mr kim

[@RichardFelstead1949]

Melbourne Australia, where I grew up, has an extensive tram network.Sydney Australia got rid of their trams in the 50's but in recent years they have started bringing them back.

[@paulkemnater9216]

very nice movie ! great thanks for posting !

[@KarlAdamsAudio]

The opening night shot has some impressive halation around the lights - perfect illustration of why film generally incorporated an anti-halation backing.

[@hyperdistortion2]

Hindsight, wonderful as it is, makes it clear that swapping trams and trolleybuses for buses wasn’t the best move. A shame, but there we are. Great video as always; keen to see the London’s trolleybuses (maybe other places’ too?) video in the future!

[@HROM1908]

My Dad (Hackney, Dalston etc.) remembers when the trolley buses appeared. When he first hopped on he said that the acceleration nearly pulled his arm out of his shoulder socket !

[@colin.d]

Perhaps in a future video you could go in to how the London trams were powered not by overhead cable (like most other UK tram systems) but by a centre rail pickup.

[@JohnADoe-pg1qk]

As far as I know, the rail pickup was used only in central London, because ... some ... people didn't like the overhead cables. And this rail pickup system needed more maintenance.

[@robtyman4281]

Colin D - only in Central London was this the case, because the city authorities didn't want 'unsightly' wires obscuring buildings and making the centre look untidy. They used a 'shoe'.....similar to third rail trains, but more concealed to prevent people being electrocuted. But outside central London, the London trams were powered by overhead wires. I don't know where they decided central London ended and greater London started, but that's why they would stop for a prolonged period in certain places in London (boundary between central and greater) - to allow for power to be transferred from overhead to underneath.....and vice versa.

[@roberthuron9160]

An addendum; two cities in the US used conduit[i.e. center slot,former cable car conduit],and they were New York,and Washington,DC! The Manhattan lines were also extended into Brooklyn and Queens,as they used the Brooklyn Bridge,and 59th Street Bridge,and the network of trolleys was huge! Now it's only a faint memory,and as with London,the state and suburbs are far worse off,for it! Thank you,Jago,your explorations,and side trips,just add to the history of an interesting town!! Thanks again 😊!

[@henrybest4057]

@@robtyman4281 The boundaries were set by the local councils. Westminster was against overhead wires and I believe Kensington was also against them. Therefore, the change over points were in convenient places just outside the boroughs that rejected overhead wires. Remember that the boroughs were much smaller then and much of what we now call London was Middlesex and Essex.

[@andrewpinner3181]

Thanks Jago ! Yes trolley bus history would be good too !

[@bd4_l]

Such a sad lil story. Glad some where brought back!

[@neilbain8736]

What a beautifully unexpected video. I totally recommend, nay insist, that you track down the Giles' cartoon of the last tram. It is wonderfully evocative, and he absolutely loved drawing trams. It'll be in the Daily Express of or near the 5th of July 1952, in that year's annual, and turns up every so often in annuals of celebrities' chosen favourite Giles cartoons. Trams are amazing. This is a study you really must take up. The biggest network outside London was Glasgow's tram network, generally reckoned to be one of the most extensive in Europe, where at one time you could travel all the way from Balloch on Loch Lomond to Airdrie on various networks, or Milgavie to Paisley, and all points inbetween.

[@CoolAsFreya]

I'm lucky enough to live in Melbourne, one of the few major cities to not tare out our vast tram network! Not to say it wasn't a close call, trams had been replaced with busses during the era everyone else was removing tram networks, but we had the foresight (if not lazyness) to not remove the tracks, and eventually trams resumed and exploded into today's iconic Melbourne tram network. Living next to a tram line I've never felt the need to buy a car (I'm actually watching this video on the tram)

[@eattherich9215]

I loved seeing and riding the trams in Toronto. I even rode one of the old ones that was gradually being replaced by the new model. I would love to see street running trams, lightrail, whatever, reintroduced to the streets of London. I discount the Croydon Tramlink because that is only an out surburban service.

[@lawrencelewis2592]

Here in Toronto we still have trams- there is a stop right across the street from my apartment.

[@ritchiehenshaw9075]

The numbering of the trams continued from that in the 50s, the last 'new' tram was number 2529. So when the croydon tramlink opened they started at 2530 as a unit designation (you can see 2531 in this video).

[@mycroft1905]

As a resident of Melbourne and having ridden along the front at Blackpool as a child, I will forever hail the trams as a splendid form of public transport. TFP

[@isashax]

Here in Valencia we just got a new tram line last month that goes close to my home. Seems that they are going back everywhere!

[@PopeLando]

It's funny as a middle-aged man myself to think that trolleybuses were the equivalent of fax machines today: new fangled technology sweeping the old ways aside, that became (apparently) obsolete after merely 30 years. DVDs anyone?

[@quirkygreece]

That cabinet looks like some form of Lucy Box - to house the electrical relays for the tram network. Named after the company that made them, the Lucy Foundry, in Oxford.

[@adrianrutterford762]

Wonderful stuff Mr H!!

[@CarolineFord1]

I need to do some tramway exploring in south London. I'm not convinced about that church near the Oval, but there are certainly lots of manholes on the pavement connected to the old tram network. I think I read that one of the Camberwell bus garages had been for trams at some point. There's also a tram close near Loughborough Junction, which has to be connected, somehow!

[@rogerkearns8094]

I remember! Those were the days: trams, steam locomotives, trolly buses... er... school canings... er... smog, polio, TB and... er... yeah, well. ;) Seriously though, I loved the red London trams; I was there, they were great. Thanks for the memory! Cheers :)

[@captaincodpiece3263]

I encountered trams when I used to visit relatives up near black pool where they ran all the way to fleetwood.

[@colinmorgan6733]

My Grandparents who lived just off the Old Kent Road told me all about the Trams and the last day. They were there.

[@chrisedwards4917]

I live close to Birkenhead were the first trams in the UK were run! You can still catch one for a short ride from the Birkenhead Transport Museum on weekends!

[@henrybest4057]

Maybe the first ELECTRIC trams, but definitely not the first trams.

[@Jwm367t]

I never actually paid a second thought as to why the small theatre in Woolwich was called the Tramshed before this. Seeing the building in your video now makes me realise how obvious the reason was. Thank you for enlightening me. Almost crazy to think that there was a tram route as long as New Cross to Woolwich. To me Trams have always meant short inner city trips.

[@garycross228]

One of my uncles (sadly no longer with us) was lucky to ride on the very last tram to New Cross Depot.