Colinton Tram Terminus, Woodhall Road

Category

Library Item

Item no

13139

Title

Colinton tram terminus, Woodhall Road

Description

An image of the Colinton tram terminus on Woodhall Road, Edinburgh on a wet winter's day. A tram waits at the terminus and the conductor swings the trolley pole to the overhead wires at the rear ready for the return journey. Several people can be seen standing at the side of the road including a man in a trilby hat, smoking a cigarette. Two ladies are standing at the foot of an ornate street light. A bus can just be seen making its way up the hill.

Artist / maker

Jackman, S. G.

Date

1946

Size

14.7 x 21.5 cm

Type

Photograph

When a tram reached its terminus it was prepared for going back in the opposite direction. The driver control handle was carried from one end of the tram to the other and the seat backs were all pushed on hinges so that the seated passengers would all face forward. The trolley pole, which trailed behind the tram, was pulled by a cord out of contact from the overhead wire and the conductor, keeping tension on this cord, walked around the tram and engaged the trolley pole pick up onto the overhead wire to what would now be the rear of the tram. If you look above the conductor in this picture, a vertical line can be seen coming down from near the end of the trolley pole towards the conductor.
This image has been chosen for the Edinburgh - Past and Present Exhibition by Douglas Kinloch Anderson, Director of Kinloch Anderson, Highland Dress & Kilt Manufacturers - "Having been brought up in Colinton - in Barnshot Road, which is just visible in the photograph - the 9 or 10 tram was my means of transport to and from school at George Watson's College. Along with my friends, the favourite seats were upstairs in the 'boxes' at the front and back." Douglas Kinloch Anderson.

Woodhall Road is situated in the north-west of Colinton, Close to the Water of Leith.

Colinton is a residential suburb in the south-west of Edinburgh, about 4 ½ miles from the city centre. It was originally a separate village, notable for its milling industry.

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Related images

Related subjects

People > Adults > Men

Places > Edinburgh areas > Colinton

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Infrastructure > Street lights

Transport > Land > Buses

Transport > Land > Trams

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