Glasgow Corporation Tramways - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Glasgow Corporation Tramways were formerly one of the largest urban tramway systems in Europe. Over 1000 municipally-owned trams served the city of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

with over 100 route miles by 1922. The system closed in 1962 and was the last city tramway in Great Britain (prior to the construction of new systems in the 1990s).

Creation

The Glasgow Street Tramways Act was enacted by Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

in 1870. This legislation allowed Glasgow Town Council

Politics of Glasgow

Politics in Glasgow, Scotland, is evident in the deliberations and decisions of the city council of Glasgow , in elections to the council, and in elections to the Scottish Parliament and the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom .In the European Parliament, the city area is...

to decide whether or not to have tramways within Glasgow. In 1872, the Town Council laid a 2½-mile route from St George's Cross to Eglinton Toll (via New City Road, Cambridge Street, Sauchiehall Street

Sauchiehall Street

Sauchiehall Street is one of the main shopping/business streets in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. Along with Buchanan Street and Argyle Street, it forms the main shopping area of Glasgow, containing the majority of Glasgow's high street and chain stores.Although commonly associated with the...

, Renfield Street and the Jamaica Bridge).

The Tramways Act prohibited the Town Council from directly operating a tram service over the lines. The act further stipulated that a private company be given the operating lease of the tram-lines for a period of 22 years. The St George's Cross to Eglinton Toll tram line was opened on 19 August 1872 with a horse-drawn service by the Glasgow Tramway and Omnibus Company. The Glasgow Tramway and Omnibus Company operated the tram-line and subsequent extensions to the system until 30 June 1894.

In declining to renew the Glasgow Tramway and Omnibus Company operating lease, Glasgow Town Council formed the Glasgow Corporation Tramways and commenced their own municipal tram service on 1 July 1894.

Track gauge

Glasgow's tramlines had a highly unusual track gauge

Rail gauge

Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...

of 4 foot. This was to permit standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

railway wagons to be operated over parts of the tram system (particularly in the Govan

Govan

Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....

area) using their wheel flanges running in the slots of the tram tracks. This allowed the railway wagons to be drawn along tramway streets to access some shipyards. The shipyards provided their own small electric locomotives, running on the tramway power, to pull these wagons, principally loaded with steel for shipbuilding, from local railway freight yards.

Electrification

The electrification of the tram system was instigated by the Glasgow Tramways Committee, with the route between Springburn

Springburn

Springburn is an inner city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, home to various working and middle-class households.Springburn developed from a small rural hamlet at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Its industrial expansion began with the establishment of a chemical...

and Mitchell Street chosen as an experiment. With a fleet of 21 newly built tramcars, the experimental electric route commenced on 13 October 1898 and was considered a success. The city-wide horse-drawn tram service was withdrawn at the end of April 1902.

An additional 400 new trams were built and fitted with electrical equipment, with the Glasgow Corporation Tramways workshops at Coplawhill, Pollokshields

Pollokshields

Pollokshields is a district in the Southside of Glasgow, Scotland. It is a conservation area which was developed in Victorian times according to a plan promoted by the original landowners, the Stirling-Maxwells of Pollok, whose association with the area goes as far back as...

heavily involved in the construction of the new trams. Following the closure of the tram system, the workshops were converted into the Glasgow Museum of Transport

Glasgow Museum of Transport

The Glasgow Museum of Transport in Glasgow, Scotland was established in 1964 and initially located at a former tram depot in Pollokshields. From 1987 the museum was relocated to the city's Kelvin Hall...

in 1964. Following the Museum's relocation to the Kelvin Hall

Kelvin Hall

The Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland, is a mixed-use arts and sports venue that opened as an exhibition centre in 1927. It has been a music hall, indoor arena and barrage balloon factory, and is currently home to the Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena and from 1987 to 2010, Glasgow's Museum of...

in 1987, the buildings were subsequently adapted to become the Tramway Theatre. In 2007, plans began to relocate Scottish Ballet

Scottish Ballet

Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the four leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet...

to its new location alongside the Tramway Theatre. This entailed knocking down or renovating the five most eastern bays of the Tramway Theatre building and it officially opened on 17 September 2009.

To provide the electrical supply, a generating station was built at Port Dundas

Port Dundas

Port Dundas is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, located to the north of the city centre. It lies to the north of Cowcaddens, and to the west of Sighthill, with Hamiltonhill and Possilpark to the north-west.-History:...

. The Pinkston Power Station opened in 1901. The Pinkston Power Station and substations located at Coplawhill, Dalhousie, Kinning Park

Kinning Park

Kinning Park is a southern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. In 1897 it had a population of 14326.-Political history:Originally a separate police burgh founded in 1871, it became part of Glasgow in 1905. It was the smallest such burgh in Scotland at just...

, Whitevale and Partick

Partick

Partick is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch. Partick was a Police burgh from 1852 until 1912 when it was incorporated into the city.-History:...

also powered the Glasgow Subway

Glasgow Subway

The Glasgow Subway is an underground metro line in Glasgow, Scotland. Opened on 14 December 1896, it is the third-oldest underground metro system in the world after the London Underground and the Budapest Metro. Formerly a cable railway, the Subway was later electrified, but its twin circular lines...

. The power station operated for 57 years, until it was handed over to the South of Scotland Electricity Board

South of Scotland Electricity Board

The South of Scotland Electricity Board , was formed as a result of the Electricity Reorganisation Act 1954. On 1 April 1955, the two southern Scottish Area Electricity Boards were merged into the South of Scotland Electricity Board...

in 1958 and ceased operating in the early 1960s. The plant and its massive cooling tower

Cooling tower

Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...

, which dominated the skyline of the city – was demolished in 1977.

Following electrification, Glasgow trams were initially fitted with trolley pole

Trolley pole

A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" overhead wire to the control and propulsion equipment of a tram or trolley bus. The use of overhead wire in a system of current collection is reputed to be the 1880 invention of Frank J....

s to take electricity from the overhead wires. The trolley poles were later replaced with bow collector

Bow collector

A bow collector is one of the three main devices used on tramcars to transfer electric current from the wires above to the tram below. While once very common in continental Europe, it has now been largely replaced by the pantograph.-Origins:...

"Room and Kitchen" cars

Glasgow's first purpose-built electric trams were 20 single deck vehicles with a central entrance, entering service in 1898.
They were not successful and only lasted 8 years in service. One was converted to a mains testing car and is now preserved in its original condition and number,672.

Standard

These four-wheeled, double-deck tramcars were the mainstay of the Glasgow tram fleet from electrification until the late 1950s (due to the imminent closure of the system). The first versions of these trams had rounded front panels and open tops (later enclosed).
They had "round dash" and "hex dash" appearance. This referred to the front (dash) panels. They were originally round, but in order to accommodate glazing later versions had hexagonal profile dashes.
There were over 1000 built between 1898 and 1924. They were progressively modernised in four phases, although not all went through each phase. The first cars were open top unvestibuled four wheelers (phase one). They then had top covers with open balconies (phase two), platform vestibules and roll-top draught covers (phase three) and finally fully enclosed top covers (phase four). Electrical equipment and running gear was also upgraded at each moderisation phase.
There are examples of these cars preserved in Glasgow, Crich, Paris and the Science Museum.

Ex Horse cars
The electrification of the Glasgow system was rapid and the city needed cars quickly to fill the demand. 120 of the best horse car bodies were placed on new underframes with the same trucks and electrical equipment as the standards. They lasted till around WWI, although one, car 92, survived until the 1930s having operated as a single deck one-man operated car on the Finnieston – Stobcross then Paisley – Abbotsinch services.

Ex-Paisley cars

Glasgow purchased the Paisley tramways in 1923 and inherited its fleet. They were numbered into the Glasgow system by adding 1000 to their Paisley number. Most of the fleet were small open-top double-deckers. Many of them were cut down and used for the Duntocher route in Clydebank. The more modern cars were upgraded to a similar appearance as the Glasgow Standard cars.

The "Kilmarnock Bogies"

After the Corporation constructed a prototype, an order for 50 new trams was placed in the mid 1920s; they were delivered in 1927-1929. They were fairly similar in appearance to the later Standard trams, but with eight wheels (two four-wheeled bogies)and four windowed saloons. The tramcars was constructed by four different manufacturers to a common design, but all used bogies made by the Kilmarnock Engineering Company (hence the nickname). These eight-wheeled trams were restricted to several comparatively straight routes to avoid the risk of derailing on tight curves.

Coronation Trams

By the mid-1930s, the Glasgow tram fleet was becoming increasingly dated and unattractive. Other British cities had taken decisions to either abandon or modernise their tramway systems. The Empire Exhibition

Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938

Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938 was an international exposition held at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, from May to December 1938....

at Bellahouston Park

Bellahouston Park

Bellahouston Park is a public park in the South Side of Glasgow, Scotland, between the areas of Mosspark, Craigton, Ibrox, and Dumbreck, covering an area of . It is based around Ibrox hill in the centre, with commanding views over most of the city, exceptions being views to the east that are...

in 1938 would also require additional vehicles to transport the expected visitors. Glasgow Corporation built 2 prototype streamlined cars with different bodies, bogies and interiors. A four windowed car with the interior of the five windoed car with EMB bogies was chosen and it was decided to construct a fleet of 100 new double-deck trams, the first of which were delivered in 1937 - the year of the Coronation

Coronation

A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...

of King George VI.
A total of 150 production cars were built and were described as the finest short stage carriage vehicles in Europe.
A further six were constructed in 1954 with slightly modified bodies, on bogies salvaged from a Liverpool depot fire.

Cunarders

The Cunarder trams were a post-war development of the Coronation trams and, as such, were the last new double-deck trams to be built in the UK. The last all new double deck car built in the UK, 1392, is preserved in Glasgow. Though comfortable, they were not regarded as being as reliable or capable as the Coronation trams. The Cunarders' were fairly similar in design to the Coronations, a notable difference being the route number indicator being above the side window of the cab (rather than on the front of the tram) which made it easier to read in a line of trams.

The Green Goddesses: ex-Liverpool trams

In 1954, with the impending closure of Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

's tram system (in 1957), 46 of that city's most modern streamlined trams were purchased by Glasgow Corporation. These tramcars, built in 1936, were intended to replace some of the ageing Standard tramcars. They did not prove wholly successful in Glasgow and were mostly withdrawn within a few years. At 36 feet, they were two feet longer than the Coronation trams; accordingly they were normally confined to only two routes (15 and 29 - with relatively few sharp curves). The last to be withdrawn was number 891 in July 1960, more than two years before the final closure of the tramway system.

Glasgow rejected an offer from Liverpool to purchase more Green Goddesses or the four-wheeled version, known as "Baby Grands". Glasgow also rejected an offer from London Transport

London Transport Executive

The London Transport Executive was the organisation responsible for public transport in the Greater London area, UK, between 1948-1962. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.-Creation:On 1...

for its surplus E3 type tramcars.

Closure

The tram system was gradually phased out between 1956 and 1962 (in favour of diesel-powered buses), with the final trams operating on 4 September 1962. Apart from the Blackpool tramway

Blackpool tramway

The Blackpool tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England, and is the only surviving first-generation tramway in the United Kingdom. The tramway dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is run by Blackpool Transport as...

, Glasgow became the last city or town in the UK to operate trams until the opening of the Manchester Metrolink

Manchester Metrolink

Metrolink is a light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. It consists of four lines which converge in Manchester city centre and terminate in Bury, Altrincham, Eccles and Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The system is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester and operated under contract by RATP Group...

in 1992.

In 1949 one tram line was converted to trolleybus

Trolleybus

A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...

operation. Thereafter Glasgow developed several trolleybus routes, but these were all replaced by diesel buses by 1967.

External links

Glasgow Transport Memorabilia - A website displaying many different items from the Glasgow trams, buses and Subway