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Peter Waller

A history of London’s horse, steam, cable, and electric tramways, and the operation that ended an era. Includes photos.

The final volume in the Regional Tramways series focuses on the history of tram operation in the London area. Starting the story with the pioneering horse tramways operated by George Francis Train in the 1860s, the book narrates how the various horse, steam, cable, and electric tramways evolved in the period leading up to the creation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933.

The primary focus of the book is the period immediately after World War II when, following the retention of the tramways for longer than anticipated, the process of conversion—codenamed Operation Tramaway—saw almost 1,000 trams eliminated from the streets of London in less than two years. Also covered are the two second-generation tramways—the Docklands Light Railway and Croydon Tramlink—which now serve parts of the Greater London area. The book concludes with an overview of those London trams that survive into preservation.

Pen & Sword Transport

Regional Tramways

London Transport

This volume is the latest in a series of tramway books covering Britain's post-war tram networks. The book covers the systems that survived the Second World War, in the Midlands and Southern England, except London which will have a separate book. This extensive volume covers all the post-war systems from their inception through to closure, with a superb range of images - many of which are previously unpublished - depicting each operation, from horse tram days through to the end. In addition, the comprehensive introduction provides an overview of the myriad other systems that once operated in the region but which did not survive after 1945, featuring such notable towns and cities as Bristol, Coventry and Norwich. Also included in the volume are accounts of the two second-generation systems to operate in the area: Midland Metro and Nottingham Express Transit.

Midlands & Southern England

This is the fourth book in a series that covers the history of the tram systems of the British Isles post-war. It covers the networks in Wales, the Isle of Man and Ireland.Peter Waller examines the history of the tramways in Ireland, Wales and on the Isle of Man. With three different legislative frameworks, the history of the systems covered are very different from the surviving horse tramway at Douglas on the Isle of Man through to the new Luas system operating in Dublin.With an overview that provides the background to all of the tramways that once operated plus the only tramway in the Channel Islands alongside a comprehensive account of those systems that survived after 1945, the book is a fascinating portrait of the changing streetscapes of cities like Belfast and Cardiff as well as the remarkable survivor post-war, such as the Bessbrook & Newry and the Llandudno & Colwyn Bay.Fully illustrated throughout with mono and colour illustrations many of which have never been published before as well as system maps, the book will be of interest to all with a history of trams past and present in the British Isles.

Wales, Isle of Man & Ireland, Post 1945

This is the second of a new series of books that will cover the history of tramway operation in the British Isles. Focusing on Yorkshire and the North-East of England, this book provides an overview of the history of tramways in the region from the 1860s, when one of the pioneering horse trams that predated the Tramways Act of 1870 operated for a brief period in Darlington, through to the closures of the last traditional tramways – Leeds and Sheffield – in 1959 and 1960, respectively. Concentrating on the systems that survived into 1945 – Bradford, Gateshead, Hull, Leeds, Newcastle, Rotherham, Sheffield, South Shields and Sunderland – the book provides a comprehensive narrative, detailing the history of these operations from 1945 onwards, with full fleet lists, maps and details of route openings and closures. The story is supported by some 200 illustrations, both colour and black and white, many of which have never been published before, that portray the trams that operated in these towns and cities and the routes on which they operated. Bringing the story up-to-date, the book also examines the two second-generation tramways built in the region – the Tyne & Wear Metro and Sheffield Supertram – as well as informing readers where it is still possible to see surviving first-generation trams from the region in preservation.

Yorkshire and North East of England

“Waller dips successfully into the social history north of the border during the first half of the twentieth century, when trams were the urban transport kings.” —Evergreen
 
 Focusing on Scotland, this book provides an overview of the history of tramways north of the border from the 1940s, when the first horse-drawn service linking Inchture village to Inchture station opened, through to the closure of the last traditional tramway—Glasgow—in 1962.
 
 Concentrating on the big city systems that survived the Second World War—Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow—the book provides a comprehensive narrative, detailing the history of these operations from 1945 onwards, with full fleet lists, maps, and details of route openings and closures.
 
 The story is supported by some 200 illustrations, both colour and black and white, many of which have never been published before, that portray the trams that operated in these cities and the routes on which they operated. Bringing the story up-to-date, the book also examines the only second-generation tramway yet to be built in Scotland—the controversial system recently constructed in Edinburgh—as well as informing readers where it is still possible to see Scotland’s surviving first-generation trams in preservation.
 
“An outstanding book . . . To leaf through the pages of this book is therefore to take a journey back in time, to an era that can now be remembered by a diminishing number of people. To see that era brought to life in such a vivid and immediate way is a real joy . . . a superbly researched history of trams in Scotland.” —Undiscovered Scotland