Glasgow's Trams
Most of the text below is borrowed from the booklet, 'Glasgow's Trams', published
in 1964 by the Glasgow Museums, & Art Galleries Dept.

1930's map of tram & bus routes.


The Company trams, and before.

< A Menzies tartan omnibus, at Anderston Cross, 1860. The first omnibuses, horse-drawn of course, made their appearance on the 1st of January, 1845. These were introduced by Robert Frame and within five years or so several other operators were in business on the streets of the town. Most of the “ Bus Companies” were soon to be completely eclipsed by the vehicles run by Andrew Menzies. These were the Tartan Buses. The only serious challenger in this field for the next twenty years was Duncan MacGregor. who also painted his buses in tartan, but Menzies made a greater impact, and it is to to him that the city must pay its respects for starting a public transport system. To begin with the Tartan Buses ran on a series of short routes within the confines of the town, but later services were extended to the West-end and the South-side. Fares were a penny and twopence. Menzies began with only about ten buses, but by 1870 he had around fifty, and some services were run quite regularly every few minutes. During the 1860’s, the idea of the tramcar began to catch on quite quickly in many parts of the country. One great advantage of the tram in those days was one of comfort, as compared to the bus bumping its way over the cobbled streets. There were also other advantages, but many towns, Glasgow included, were not anxious to allow trams to be run on their streets. However, the General Tramway Bill was put before Parliament, and in 1870 a private bill was put up to deal with the introduction of tramways in Glasgow. Eventually agreement was reached and after much complicated argument, the seal was set for the introduction of “Glasgow’s Trams.” < Glasgow Tramway and Omnibus Company, horse trams. The conditions under which the trams were to be operated are not altogether easy to understand but the main clause allowed the Corporation to acquire the tramways for its own use after a number of years. There were numerous other clauses also which governed finance, fares and the like. The Glasgow Tramway and Omnibus Company came into being under the management of Andrew Menzies, and the first trams ran on the 19th of August, 1872, on a route from St. George’s Cross to Eglinton Toll. Soon after the inauguration of the service, Menzies died, and his place as Managing Director was taken by John Duncan. To begin with, the company appeared to be in financial trouble due to the stiff conditions agreed upon by the Corporation, but within a few years things improved, and the company ran an efficient and profitable undertaking. Nonetheless, there was always underlying difficulty between the company and the Corporation, and by 1890, when the twenty-one years were drawing to a close, it became clear that no new lease to use the city streets would be obtained. During its short existence the “Company” owned no fewer than 279 trams.

The birth of Glasgow Corporation Tramways.

< A Corporation horse tram. Discussions between the Company and the Corporation were re-opened in the year 1889, as a result of which the company had hoped to renew their lease of the tramway tracks in the city. Little agreement was reached, however, and the long drawn out discussions eventually broke down, having in the meantime been a subject of issue in the Municipal elections in 1890 and 1891. The overall result of the situation was that the Corporation exercised its right to take over the track for its own use in 1894. Meanwhile, the Company, now deprived of its mandate to operate trams, continued in business for a number of years under the management of the redoubtable John Duncan. The business of the Company was nevertheless restricted to the running of a few omnibuses, and the maintenance of an extensive hiring business. The failure of the negotiations with Glasgow Corporation caused much ill feeling within the Company, as a result of which the latter decided to refuse* the Corporation all assistance in setting up the new transport service. The Corporation was then faced with the formidable task of starting almost from scratch. Glasgow’s choice of first manager for the new system was John Young. He was originally a farmer, from Linwood, near Paisley, and had managed the city’s cleansing department for a number of years. John Young had remarkable talents of organisation, and immediately set himself to the task of obtaining a completely new fleet of trams, a new stock of horses, new accommodation, etc. The Glasgow Corporation Trams first appeared on the streets on the 1st of July, 1894, the Company’s vehicles having been withdrawn only the previous day. The takeover was a success, and in spite of misgivings on the part of many, and perhaps wishes to the contrary on the part of a few, the change over took place with a minimum of inconvenience to everyone concerned**. Briefly, the statistics of this period of operation are as follows. The Corporation owned a total of 384 horse-drawn trams. These were introduced from 1894-1898, and continued in service till a few years after electrification took place. The horse-drawn era started with nine depots and approaching 3,000 horses. The Corporation took over approximately 31 miles of track.

(*Recent research, & articles, have shown the facts to be slightly different. Because the Company was intending to set up a horse bus service in competition, the Corporation had actually refused to buy the Company cars. **In reality, as less than half of the cars they had ordered were available on the first day of service, the Corporation could only operate a greatly reduced service for a time.)

Electrification and the Edwardian era.

< Members of the Corporation inspecting the first GCT electric trams. From the early 1890s, the Transport Committee started to think about the possibilities of mechanical tram-cars. Various systems were examined, including mainly those dependent on steam or electricity. In 1897 the decision was taken to install the overhead electric system, and the following year the first experimental service was established between Springburn and Mitchell Street. This was found to be quite satisfactory, and thereby the seal was set for the extension and electrification of the whole system. It was further decided to complete thesecond great transformation in the history of Glasgow’s trams in time for the “ International Exhibition “ to be held in the town in 1901. Prior to the final decision on electrification, the Transport Manager visited nearly a dozen foreign towns— a fact which was to operate in reverse in future years— to discover the best methods of operation. In 1898 the first electric trams emerged. Twenty-one of these cars were built, somewhat on the North American model, at the Corporation’s own Coplawhill Tramcar Works. From the first, as has been said, they were a success, but the Glasgow public were endeared to double-decked trams and a complete fleet of these, horse-drawn admittedly, was already in use, and was comparatively new. In 1898 and 1899 a few of the first “Standard Cars “ were built, and will be mentioned again later, but meantime it was considered expedient to convert a number of the horse cars to electric traction. Within a short period 120 of them were thus altered, and by 1902 the City had a total of about 500 electric tramcars in service. This was truly the beginning of the era in which Glasgow was to become world renowned for its magnificent transport system. The 21 single-deck cars, together with the converted horse-cars, and the first “Standards,” continued to be augmented for the next ten years by the addition of further vehicles. Little by little all but the standard design of tram were relegated to minor or special routes, and in any case within the first decade of the century, the number of standard trams had risen so quickly that they were the mainstay of the whole undertaking. The prototype “Standard “ was built in 1898 as an electrified and slightly larger version of the traditional horse-propelled machine. The design almost immediately went through a long series of modifications until the ultimate Standard “ of 1928 was evolved. As each innovation was brought about every effort was made to incorporate it in existing vehicles. The complete cost of the original electrification was £500,000, a good deal of which was spent on the magnificent Pinkston power station. This establishment continued to give valiant service to the department right up to the last days of the tramcar. In addition to the electrification, the Corporation had made other advances with the tramway system. For instance, in the initial years after the take over, the length of track in use was more than doubled. The beginning of the century was not wholly a period of gain. In 1904 John Young left Glasgow to take over the management of the Metropolitan District Railway in London. Glasgow was fortunate nonetheless in having another man of great capability and personal courage ready to take command of the transport fleet. This responsibility was confined not only to the carriage of nearly 200 million passengers a year, but furthermore, whilst paying off the capital debt, the system was expected to show a profit. The new manager was James Dalrymple who, starting his career as an accountant, had risen latterly to the position of Deputy to John Young.

An early GCT Standard tramcar, as built.

Standard trams in Sauchiehall Street. 942 is on route to the 1901 Exhibition.

A converted horse tram.

A short lived "Room & Kitchen" car.

Coplawhill workers building Standard trams.

Twelve years of mixed fortunes, 1910-1922.

< A GCT (2nd phase) Standard tram, with top cover. The period around 1910 witnessed a degree of criticism against the way in which transport within the city was being managed. In the first stages, this revolved around the distance which one could travel for a penny and for a halfpenny. At that time, the department operated routes on approximately 100 miles of track, of which nearly a third was outwith the actual city boundary. Since comparatively few people used the trams for longer journeys, there were those who would point out that the short routes within the centre of the town had to subsidise the extensions to the smaller townships outside Glasgow. Still others wished to see the tram-ways extended further in order to serve the entire Clyde area. The years immediately before the First World War witnessed the beginnings of much congestion on the streets, especially in the area of the bridges. This was certainly before the building of the King George V bridge, but the remarks made about traffic on Jamaica Bridge being reduced to a crawl, could well have belonged to more recent times, This period of tramway history in the town was also a period of strained labour relations. Much of the blame for this was placed at the feet of the transport manager, even though he made up for this failing in other ways. In spite of all these troubles, the trams in Glasgow were enjoying an era of progress and good fortune which was upheld and envied in many a city, in other parts of the world. The services were regular, breakdowns were few, and there was certainly no alternative which could offer a better return. Financially, the Transport Department was doing well. This not only permitted the construction of more “Standard Cars,” but also allowed the Common Good Fund to benefit. By the outbreak of war, the transport fleet was able to boast nearly 1,000 vehicles, all but a few of which were less than fifteen years old. A few weeks after the outbreak of hostilities, the need to recruit more men for the battlefield became clear, and in a period of twenty-four hours in September, 1916, the Fifteenth Battalion, the H.L.I. was formed— entirely by volunteers from the Transport Department. Not only was this a remarkable feat on the part of the men in the department as a whole, but once again it demonstrated the organising powers of James Dalrymple. During the course of the war, well over 3,000 men left the department to join the forces. One in six of these men was never to return. Another innovation of the wartime period was the introduction of women tram crews. Again Glasgow was first, and the idea of women being employed not only as conductresses, but also as drivers was copied in several other parts of the country. The change back to peacetime working was undertaken without undue hardship, perhaps aided by a general sense of good feeling and relief at the end of the war. This, however, was followed by more argument over the fare structure. Taken all over, the finances of the department were in a good state, the capital debt having been wiped out by 1917.

James Dalrymple inspecting the first volunteers for military service.

An all women tramcar crew.

WW1 Conductresses. The tramcar carries recruitment posters.

 

The Inter-war Years.

< Jubilee Celebrations. In 1922 the Tramways celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their introduction to the streets of the city. This was also the completion of twenty-eight years under municipal control. The period certainly had its ups and downs, but all things considered, the undertaking had a most successful history, and was famous throughout the civilised world. The next period in the history of transport within the city started well, with further large scale expansions. The take over of the Paisley District Tramways was carried out in August, 1923, and four months later, in December, the stock of the Airdrie and Coatbridge Tramways also came under Glasgow’s municipal control. By the time these additions had been completed, the Corporation was in control of a system serving one and a quarter million people, employing nearly 10.000, having over 200 miles of track, and owning about 1,100 tramcars. The outlook was bright indeed, and there were many, including the General Manager, who would have extended the undertaking towards becoming a comprehensive transport system for the whole area. This idea was not encouraged by others who argued that it was not the purpose of a municipal venture to have responsibilities outwith its immediate boundaries. Nonetheless, the new housing schemes which were being planned had no tram services, and there were many people who lived beyond the boundary but upon whom the city was dependent for labour. Their interests had to be considered, The cost of laying track across long distances of country road was high, and the controversy about trams occupying the centre of too narrow streets was raised once more.  Consideration was given to the introduction of a new type of tram. This was to be a high speed inter-urban vehicle. One such tram was in fact built; No. 1089. Other arguments were put forward in support of the motor-omnibus, and these were to prevail. Glasgow started to operate its own buses by the middle twenties in order to augment the tramcar system. This was all right, so long as the routes were away from the city, but where the services ran alongside the trams, they added greatly to traffic congestion, and also took would-be passengers away from the trams themselves. From this time on a constant series of crises worried the department, resulting from the difficult economics of running both trams and buses on a profitable basis. It is not the function of this article to discuss the merits of transport economics, but one thing is certain, it is by no means reasonable to suppose that an extended tram system could necessarily have been made to pay. It is equally true that some form of transport had to be provided for those in the outlying areas. The advent once again of private bus companies in the district during the twenties helped the passengers and added competition, but in doing so, it complicated still further the finances of the Corporation Transport Department. In the winter of 1926-27, James Dalrymple became the centre of much controversy over his handling of labour troubles. As a direct result of this, but no doubt also because of criticism he had received over other matters, he resigned. James Dalrymple went to Brazil, and took up an appointment to manage the tramways in Sao-Paulo. Towards the end of Dalrymple’s stay in office, the question of replacing some of the older trams was considered. Almost immediately after his departure, the results of this consideration began to appear on the streets. First it was decided to build about fifty new bogie trams of modern design, officially called the Standard double-bogie tramcars, but which were to become more commonly known as the “Kilmarnock Bogies”, and secondly to modernise completely all the Standard cars. The early thirties witnessed little of importance in tramway history, but one item stands out. In April, 1932, a tram route was withdrawn in Paisley. At the time this was of little significance, but it was no longer the end of the beginning, it was the beginning of the end. Although the previous period of tramway history mentioned the closure of at least one section of track, things were by no means as bad as one might suppose. In the middle thirties, one or two new sections of track were in fact opened. These included the stretch to Milngavie, followed after a few years by sections to the west of Anniesland Cross, and near to the exhibition site at Bellahouston. The same period saw also the continuation and final completion of the modernisation of the Standard cars. It was generally accepted that the “Standards “ had been much improved by their facelift, which had given them a new lease of life. Even so, it must be remembered that by 1937 the youngest of these cars was thirteen years old, and the eldest contained the main structure of trams built at the end of the previous century. They had seen forty years of service. Questions were asked as to how long this refitting could continue, and it was remarked that they would simply carry on till they fell apart. Some were to last for another twenty-five years.

GCT (4th phase) Standard tramcar.

The first "Kilmarnock Bogie" tramcar.

The one-off "Bailie Burt" single deck tramcar, No 1089 (aka "Wee Baldie").

The Coronation Trams, and more years of War.

< The official 1938 GCT Guide Book, featuring the new Coronation tram on it's cover. In 1937 all was forgiven, for in that year the first few of the new streamlined trams appeared, and by the following year’s end almost a hundred of them had entered service. The new trams were described in some quarters as the “ Exhibition Cars,” but soon settled to their title of “ Coronation Cars,” later to be widely known as the Mk I. The new trams were at once popular. They were comfortable fast, -and perhaps instilled a feeling of confidence and success into an area which had suffered so much recently during the depression. They not only had doors to keep out the cold, but were fitted also with built-in heating and ventilating systems, modern lighting and leather upholstery. A few of the original cars even had internal loud speaker systems! By the outbreak of war nearly 150 coronation trams had been built or were under construction, and these were all delivered by 1940. One was built in 1941 and a few more were completed after the war. The greatest part played by the Transport Department in World War One was possibly in the recruitment, already described, of men for the forces. This was to be repeated during the Second World War, although perhaps on a slightly smaller scale. In any event, the first conductresses began to arrive on the platforms within the first few months of hostilities and before long nearly every tram had a female crew. The events of the war years were many, but a few stand out above all. There was the blackout, and always the trams, tied to their track, could get through, and even show the wa for others. There was the lack of maintenance whic caused a few breakdowns, but although one grumbled, they certainly were only a few. There was the Blitz in the spring of 1941, with at least one tram receiving a direct hit, Perhaps best remembered are the rush hours, with Glaswegians and American service men fighting to get on from a disorderly but good natured queue. This invariably brought forth the extraordinary expression immortalised in cartoon “cumoangerraff".

A brand new Coronation tram, crossing Glasgow Bridge in 1938.

Newly appointed GCT Conductresses, taking over the duties of male staff.

Two Coronation tramcars wrecked during the Clydebank Blitz. 578 people died during the raids of the 13th & 14th of March, 1941.

The final years.

< A Standard tram about to pass "Paisley's Corner". Although the war finished in 1945, the influence of the war years was to be felt for some time to come, This was true not only in everyday walks of life, but also in the story of the tramcars. If there was a failure, it could always be blamed on the war for several more years to come. Women continued to crew the trams for another ten years or more, and the scourges of the war years had to be made good. More new trams were needed. At first a few new experimental vehicles were built, they were followed by the Mk II Coronation (Cunarder) trams, which were not unlike the Mk I version, except in the eyes of the enthusiasts, who said they were not as good. Perhaps not, but they were fine cars, and one hundred of them were built between 1948 and 1952. The City at this time added to the fleet by the purchase of nearly fifty ex-Liverpool trams, the “Green Goddesses “. Again, they were not popular with some enthusiasts, but the purchase price was only a fraction of the cost of completely new vehicles. As things turned out, with the end of the trams only a few years off, these cars appear to have been a good buy, although maintenance expenditure was indeed very high and caused considerable difficulties in the depots. Another feature of the immediate post-war years was the introduction of trolley buses. These had little influence on the tramways and were only employed on limited routes. Their introduction, however, drew attention to the approaching demise of the tram itself. In spite of the recent introduction of the new Mk II cars, and of the Green Goddesses all was not well with the tramway fleet in the early 1950s. In common with every other walk of life in the country, the problem of increasing expenditure overtaking revenue meant that regular increases in the tram fares became necessary. These seldom provided more than a temporary cure, and each time the fares went up a proportion of the passengers fell away. Also the pattern of transport in the city was changing due to the movement of population to nev housing schemes, coupled with the movement also, of much industry. By 1950 approximately three-quarters of the tram cars in the city were over thirty-five years old, and much of the plant and equipment was equally far from new. Congestion in the streets, while not a new thing, was rapidly reaching saturation point. This was, in itself, not the fault of the trams, but they certainly came in for their share of blame. About this time various reports were publishe advocating amongst other things the closing of GIasgow’s tram services, or at least their considerable reduction. Decisions of this type, it must be remembered, were by no means confined to the tram services in Glasgow. In April, 1951, the Corporation agreed to stop tramway routes in the High Street. This was truly the beginning of the end. By the middle of the decade it had been decided to scrap over a third of the oldest cars. A couple of years later the future of this form of transport was made even more clear, the last trams would be off the road by “about 1970.” As the months went by the end hove more nearly in sight. With each ensuing month a year was lopped off the life expectancy of the once proud fleet. In 1958 it was anticipated that the death would occur towards the end of 1963. Many citizens, though not all, were unmoved at the though of Glasgow without its trams, while others openly rejoiced at the idea. Nonetheless, the end did not come quietly. The last route to survive was the No. 9, and the service was crowded each day for a week. The final closure took place on September 4th, 1962.

Experimental lightweight tram, No6.

Cunarder tramcars.

Ex-Liverpool "Green Goddess" tramcar.

The last tram parade, 4th September, 1962.


The Liveries of Glasgow Corporation Trams.

In 1894 the first lower deck livery was dark red on the lower panels, with cream window surrounds & lower concave panel. With the introduction of electric trams, the lower panels became a deep yellow, originally this was to warn other road users of the electric trams greater speed.  Over the years the yellow was applied in darker shades eventually becoming more distinctly orange, this became the standard colour for the lower deck panels on all trams & buses. The "modesty panels" (the exterior panels between the lower & upper deck windows) were painted one of five colours - white, red, green, blue, & yellow.  The colour related to the service the tram was assigned to. With the introduction of tram service numbers in 1938 this system was abolished over time, and the modesty panels on all trams were painted "bus green", the route neutral colour which had been applied to the first GCT double decker buses.  Thereafter (with the exception of a few experimental liveries) the livery for all trams & buses was orange, cream, & green, with a dark red underframe. The Standard trams (including the Standard double bogie types) also had dark brown upper deck window frames, & vestibule frames.

Further reading...
The Glasgow Tramcar, by Ian G McM Stewart.
The Glasgow Horse Tramways, by Struan Jno. T. Robertson.
See the book list for more titles.

< Back to the 'Trams, & Buses' main page.

(Photo Credits)