Glasgow Standard Tram

Preserving Glasgow Tram No.488

It's history and restoration progress in the UK

Horse tram services started 19 August 1872
Electric traction from 13 October 1898 until 4 September 1962
Tramway abandonment's started in 1926, with major route closures from 1956 onwards
Trolleybuses introduced 3 April 1949 - Abandoned 27 May 1967


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From Terry Russell:
"I could only scan through London's Last Trams when I initially unpacked it but found I could not put it down and finally had to force myself and get on with building tram bits for customers. I love anecdotes and stories and you have found plenty. This is not just another London Tram book but a history of the demise of a great system without being a morbid tome."


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Books you may like to buy

On this page, your webmaster would be more than happy to include details of any book published on the Glasgow Tramway System that are available to purchase today. Just email the details of such books, in the format shown below, and within a few days your submission will appear here. The email address to use is:


AROUND THE GLASGOW TRAMWAY SYSTEM with Peter Mtchell

AROUND THE GLASGOW TRAMWAY SYSTEM with Peter Mtchell
By Hugh McAulay & Charlie Loarridge

On Tuesday 4th September 1962 an estimated quarter of a million people turned out on the streets of Glasgow, in pouring rain, to bid a fond farewell to a form of transport that had been seen in the city since 1872 when horse trams started to ply their trade. On the 13th October 1898 the first electric routes operated, with some of these trams remaining in services for over sixty years.

All of the photographs in this book were taken by Londoner Peter Mitchell who visited Glasgow on ten occasions between 1951 and 1962 during which time he took more than a thousand images of the city’s trams. The authors have used a new approach when compiling this book, as it details routes by groups rather than singly. All the images are either to half or full-page configuration which allows readers to study the trams and the background in which they worked in great detail.

The book portrays the city streets of Glasgow, its suburbs and the routes beyond its boundary. Standards, Coronations and Cunarders trams are shown to good effect with each picture having the date and time it was taken. Many believe that Glasgow was the greatest tramway city in the United Kingdom; this book illustrates why they think that. The procession of twenty cars from Dalmarnock depot to Coplawhill Works is shown and, despite th inclement weather, the views benefit from someone with a good knowledge of camera settings.

An animated dialogue of a tramway enthusiast driving 488 many miles around the city on the 3rd June 1961 is compelling reading. The opportunity has been taken to include what is a unique photographic record of tram 1282 taking part on a special run from Dalmarnock to Clydebank and back on Thursday 6th September 1962. A loose-leaf map drawn by master cartographer John Gillham is included; this allows the reader to follow each service and complements the way in which the authors describe them in each chapter.

Price: £42 [GBP]   ISBN:
This 228 page book, comprises of 406 monochrome images.
To purchase, please visit: Adam Gordon Publishing.
It is also available through the London Transport Museum and Amazon.
email enquiries to Barney or call 07795 201 502


LONDON TROLLEYBUS DEPOTS -  PART THREE

LONDON TROLLEYBUS DEPOTS - PART THREE
By Hugh Taylor

This volume deals with Stonebridge Park, Colindale, Finchley and Wood Green depots. There are 184 pages which embrace 257 black and white photographs, and 27 colour images spread over 16 pages. Not only are there pictures in the depots but also illustrated are vehicles on each of the main routes that each operated.

Also included are the London trolleybus memories of Acton enthusiast John Carwardine who details trips on red rovers, visits to Colindale scrapyard and his activities on 8th May 1962. The last six pages are snow scenes taken on 31st December 1961. Each depot has full details of destination blinds and there are many paperwork items appertaining to these depots. Also included separately are the overhead diagrams for each depot. The jewel in the crown has to be page 481 where a notebook, a timecard and a picture of the very last ever 627 to show Bruce Castle are illustrated together.

Price: £44 [GBP]   ISBN: 978-1-910654-29-3
To purchase this book, please visit this web site: Adam Gordon Publishing or call 01408 622660. It is also available through London Transport Museum and Amazon.
email enquiries to Adam Gordon.


London Transport Country Buses - Part One South

London Transport Country Buses - Part One South
By Laurie Akehurst

This book is highly recommended and has been compiled by the foremost author of London Transports Country Bus Area - Laurie Akehurst. There are 160 pages with 283 pictures taken between 1949 and 1969 - the story is continued into the London Country regime as many London Transport buses continued to operate with them for many years. All the photographs were taken by Peter Mitchell and none have been published before.

Continuing the house style of Adam Gordon Publishing, all photographs are either half or full page with informative and illuminating captions.

Price: £40 [GBP]   ISBN: 978-1-910654-28-6
To purchase this book, please visit this web site: Adam Gordon Publishing or call 01408 622660. It is also available through Amazon.
email enquiries to Adam Gordon.


London's Last Trams

London's Last Trams
By Hugh Taylor

The author has brought together a variety of information on the last years of the capital's first generation tram system, including several interesting individual perspectives from enthusiasts and tram crews. Numerous reproductions of newspaper articles, staff notices and leaflets produced by London Transport enhance the story considerably.

Hardback 184 pages with 16 pages of colour photographs
Price: £28 [GBP] plus £2.80 P&P   ISBN: 978-1-874422-94-5
Available in all good book stores and from the publisher:
Adam Gordon, Kintradwell Farmhouse, Brora, Sutherland, KW9 6LU
Payment by cheque or through the Paypal system.


The Colours of Yesterday's Trams

The Colours of Yesterday's Trams
By Martin Jenkins and Ian Stewart

Virtually all the systems which survived after 1945, and even some pre-war ones, are seen in colour. The systems are featured in order of closure and every effort has been made to include previously unpublished images. The work of the major early colour photographers is also recognise. The authors have selected images depicting the fascinating range of car types in each fleet. They also set out to show trams in a rich variety of settings including bustling city centres, suburban streets, windy hillsides, leafy suburbs, industrial neighbourhoods, rural backwaters, steep gradients and cross-country reserved tracks.

Hardback 176 pages
Price: £25 [GBP]   ISBN: 9781854143563
Please order direct from: Capital Transport Publishing


Model Trolleybus Book

Trolleybus - Miniatures, models and the real things
By Ashley Bruce with Gottfried Kure

After four years of research, acquisition and compiling, collaborators Ashley Bruce and Gottfried Kure have produced a near definitive work on the obscure and yet surprisingly nostalgic subject of the Trolleybus in miniature.

The result is an encyclopedia of the world's trolleybuses through the ages, seen as they once were and how they now exist in miniature.

Printed in full colour, with 416 pages and over 1532 photographs, diagrams and illustrations.
Price: £35 [GBP]   ISBN: 978-0-904235-23-4
Please order direct from: Trolleybooks


Portsmouth Trolleybuses

Portsmouth Trolleybuses
By David R H Bowler

This latest definitive trolleybus system history from the pen of David Bowler, author of the Bournemouth and Nottingham histories, features the UK's only island city - well-known to anyone who served in the Royal Navy or holidayed in Southsea.

Commencing with a brief introduction to the tramway system the book charts the developments of the trolleybus in Portsmouth from the first unfruitful council discussions, to the initial experimental route, the tram to trolleybus conversion programme, the city's baptism by fire in the Second Word War, the post-war recovery and heyday's, through to the rundown of operations in the early 1960s and closure in 1963.

The book is accompanied by 17 appendices covering everything from the vehicles to power supply, and some 50 maps or plans. The many mono and colour photographs show both the vehicles in detail and show how the trolleybuses were an integral part of the "Pompey" scene for almost 29 years. If you are interested in British trolleybuses this book belongs in your personal library.

Hardback A4, 383 pages and profusely illustrated
Price: £48 [GBP] plus £2.80 P&P   ISBN: 978-1-874422-969
Available in all good book stores and from the publisher:
Adam Gordon, Kintradwell Farmhouse, Brora, Sutherland, KW9 6LU
Payment by cheque or through the Paypal system.


Around London by Trolleybus - Part 1

Around London by Trolleybus - Part 1
By Hugh Taylor

This is the first of two volumes using the best of the best London trolleybus photographs available. This part deals with south, west and north-west London in a clockwise direction. It commences at Dartford and concludes at Mornington Crescent. In the main, the text does not use material that has been used before, but details new information that the author has obtained.

This hardback book, with front and back colour covers, has 184 pages of which sixteen are in full-page colour.
Price: £32 [GBP]plus £2.80 P&P   ISBN: 978-1-874422-98-3.
Available at the main transport outlets and from the publisher:
Adam Gordon, Kintradwell Farmhouse, Brora, Sutherland, KW9 6LU
Payment by cheque or through the Paypal system.

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