Around the Glasgow Tramway System with Peter Mitchell

On Tuesday 4th September1962 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 13th October 1898 the first electric routes operated, with some of these trams remaining in service 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 the inclement weather, the views benefit from someone with a good knowledge of camera settings. An animated dialogue of a tramway enthusiast driving tram 488 many miles around the city on 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. 

228 pages, with 406 black & white photographs & maps. HARDBACK