Group photo of tram drivers and conductresses

Category

Library Item

Item no

21168

Title

Group photo of tram drivers and conductresses outside depot. (Hugh Cairns is standing in the centre).

Description

This tram depot was in West Tollcross, long since demolished to make way for the fire station. The buildings in the background are the end of Earl Grey Street, also demolished.
A group of tram drivers and conductresses pose for a photograph. They wear smart dark uniforms consisting of trouser suits, and peaked caps. Most of the staff members carry shoulder bags or ticket machines with leather straps. The group are standing on the middle of a cobbled street above a tram track. Some children walking along the pavement have turned to look at the group being photographed.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1953

Size

6.4 x 9.0 cm

Type

Photograph

This item was digitised as part of the Whose Town? project, an educational resource for schools. Unique archival material was gathered together to create a snapshot of a person's life at a particular point in Edinburgh's history.

In June 1922, the first electric trams came up from Leith, which had come within the Edinburgh boundary in 1920, and by 1924 routes extended to most of the city. From then on plans were made to extend the tramways and by February 1937, when the Corstorphine route reached Maybury Road, this proved unexpectedly to be the last extension opened, as the outbreak of World War II caused plans to be put aside.

There were 28 routes, all of which ran along or touched Princes Street, and 4 depots, and the system worked well until new housing areas appeared beyond the tram routes in1950, when bus services began for those areas. In the same year, it was proposed that 25% of the system be scrapped in favour of buses and there began a gradual withdrawal of routes.

The last trams ran on 16th November 1956, with a procession making the final journey south to the depot at Shrubhill. They carried local dignitaries and members of the public, many of whom were tram enthusiasts. Presentations were made at the Mound by the Lord Provost to the last crews. Local people lined the routes to see the passing of the last trams and there was a large number of police present at the Shrubhill Depot to maintain order. As the final tramcar passed through, the gates were closed after them, thus ending the era of Edinburgh's trams.

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Related subjects

Clothing and dress > Accessories > Hats

Clothing and dress > Garments > Uniforms

Homes > Residential buildings > Tenements

People > Adults > Men

People > Adults > Women

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh

Transport > Land > Trams