• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
    im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
    we are now using a backup solution

Electric Trams

Bundy clocks have been mentioned a few times. I have found a Bundy clock still in situ! This is a West Bromwich Corporation clock in the bus layby in Spon Lane West Smethwick near the junction where the old pub, the Spon Croft used to be. Not in working condition but has obviously been repainted at some time. This was a tram terminus replaced by buses, I think in 1930.
DSCN3052Small.jpg Front

DSCN3051small.jpg Back
 
Tram routes 73 - 77, which had their terminus in the city in front of Snow Hill station were cchanged to buses, with the same route numbers on 1st. April, 1939. The routes were shared with West Bromwich corporation. West Bromwich has hoped to replace the trams with trolley buses but Birmingham, had other ideas and being the big brother their views won the day.
The Dudley Road routes 80 - 88 were terminated on 30th. September, 1939, replaced by buses with same route numbers but pre-fixed with the letter B.
 
Regarding some previous discussion about having to board trams in the middle of the road and traffic passing on the nearside, another pic of a No 6 tram at the Perry Barr terminus and a lorry passing it. Those Midland Red buses will soon have pass.
perry_barr.JPG
 
Last edited:
An early tram, the driver has no front weather protection, a route board 'Station Street-Bradford Street-Stratford Road-Sparkhill' places it on Stratford Road. Behind the tram is a Photographer's premises and they might have taken this photo. Part of a name 'Lewis' can be seen so perhaps it was Thos. Lewis Photographers who did have premises on Stratford Road.
StratfordRdTram.jpg
 
The car seems to be within the range of cars 71 - 220 (as the first distinguishable digit is 1) which were built 1906/7. They had top covers as built but did not gain enclosed vestibules until after 1923. Most were withdrawn 1937 - 1939 but a few were included in the emergency storage that was done during WW2. Although these cars were some of the first for the Corporation they were, apparently, of a much better standard than those taken over by the Corporation from the City of Birmingham Tramways and the South Staffs system.
 
Last edited:
oldMohawk said:
A No 6 tram in Dale End travelling past the RAF offices on it's way to Martineau Street.
View attachment 118565
Click to expand...
Looks very newly painted and carries the revised type of fleet number. From this it should be possible for anyone who can date when the revised fleet numbers were introduced to date this. Are the big white notices in the windows of the upper and lower saloons the tramline closure notices?
Bob
 
One of a small class of cars ( 1 - 20) built in 1904 as open topped double deckers. They soon acquired a top cover but did not get enclosed vestibules until the late 1920's. Just over half of them were destroyed in 1941/2 air raids but the survivors, which included car 17 above, lasted until December 1949 when the Perry Barr route was abandoned. When rebuilt they were some 9" taller than other cars and as such were always to be found on the 6 Perry Barr route as there were no height restrictions on that route.
Addendum:
The more modern - and consequently probably cost less - were introduced in 1946. It took a while to convert all I guess as the new numerals would be applied on a cars repainting. I guess those which had been painted in overall grey during WW2 would be some of the first to receive them.
 
Last edited:
oldMohawk said:
Regarding some previous discussion about having to board trams in the middle of the road and traffic passing on the nearside, another pic of a No 6 tram at the Perry Barr terminus and a lorry passing it. Those Midland Red buses will soon have pass.
View attachment 118391
Click to expand...
The tram outside Merton House 200 Stratford Rd seems a little cynical as Thomas Lewis the Photographer at that address died in 1913 as a result of falling down the stairs on a tram, J.
 
I remember that the stairs were very steep and curved but I was young and agile when I used them so no problems. I notice in post#2 way back in 2010 I put on a pic which looks down the steep stairs of a tram I rode on at Crich.
 
Six Ways Aston, and two tram routes I would have used. If it was very foggy travelling home from Handsworth Tech I could not use a No 29 bus (trams were better in fog) and would use a No 5 Lozells tram to get from Soho Road to Six Ways. Then a ride on a No 6 to Perry Barr followed by a long walk to Great Barr. I don't remember seeing No 63 trams.
six_ways.jpg
 
Well it seems that car 694, woth post WW2 style numerals, is working the 63 which was a short working from Steelhouse Lane to Holly Lane/Tyburn Road; extended 1930 to Fort Dunlop. I can't the activity on the steps of the bank,, suffice to say it was a branch of the National Provincial which merged, in 1970, with the Westminster Bank to form NatWest.
The last time I was ever in a real fog (as opposed to a heavy mist) was in 1980 driving on the M4 from London to the South West. I followed a coach which had good rear lighting for some distance but it turned off on the M32 to Bristol city , as I guessed it would. For a period I was above the fog after passing Bristol on the higher ground of the Blackdown Hills. Once into Devon it changed to an easier mist. Not a journey I would want to repeat nowadays.
 
I thought that OM. But I couldn't see Sgt. Wilson on his way with the keys. Old Mainwaring would find that beneath his dignity. ;)
 
oldMohawk, I am completely confused by your pic in post #372, I completed a painting of this view (attached) and it is completely different, my painting shows the Bank as a single story building (your pic shows double story) I have shops on the left, yours shows trees and what appears to be a church yard, I show a church tower farther on the right, yours does not ?? Eric6 ways Aston.JPG
 
Thanks oM, I thought I knew 6 ways having lived in Aston 3 separate periods, now you have pointed it out it comes back to me. your pic is looking towards Lichfield Rd (I can just see the baths on the left), and my painting is looking towards Soho Rd. Eric
 
A No 79 tram and a No 78 passing behind it with a young lad standing on the bottom step ready to jump off probably before the tram completely stops. A sign over the window of a shop suggests that it is at 21 Gravelly Hill.
79Tram717.JPG
 
Yes. J.H.Barker, butcher was at 13 Gravelly Hill, so the tram must be going up Tyburn road
 
I think the 79 Pype Hayes tram is on the start of Tyburn Road at the junction with Gravelly Hill.
 
A No 79 tram on the Tyburn Rd crossing the island at the Bromford Lane junction. Interesting street furniture connected with trams such as those unusual shelters and the white posts. The main film on at the Apollo Cinema (advert on right) appears to be 'Over She Goes' which was released in 1938.
Tyburn_79tram.jpg
The pic below shows an aerial view dated 1939 with the island clearly seen and a tram.
1939view_TyburbBromford.JPG
image from 'britainfromabove'
 
In Moor Street a 'Depot Only' tram about to move across to the other track after the man in the pic has changed the points. The overhead pole has already been changed over.
index.php

from https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/for...ur-old-street-pics.41947/page-116#post-601852 only visible if logged in
More information below by Radiorails from the other thread about this pic
Radiorails said:
I suggest car 682 is one of the Miller Street allocation which was withdrawn from service after the cessation of tram services in the city in 1953. That was the end for the Erdington, Short Heath, Pype Hayes routes which were replaced by buses on routes 64, 65 and 66 respectively.
On 4th. July 1953, in the early evening, twenty four tramcars were relocated from Miller Street to Kyotts Lake Road, the destination of the car a DEPOT ONLY I suggest confirms this. To reach The Lake, as it was known, they had to travel through the city centre. From High Street, the trams descended Carrs Lane by gravity as the overhead wiring had been removed on a previous occasion. Most made it into Moor Street but one or two, it is reported need a gentle push by a BCT towing vehicle (a former bus adapted for towing purposes). Carrs Lane was the inbound track for 84 Stechford trams (abandoned October 1948) and the 44 Acocks Green and 17 and 19 Hall Green services (both abandoned January 1937) when they were operational. This most likely explains why car 682, in the picture, is on the left hand track with its trolley pole on the outer line. It will soon move on to the other track. The gentleman operating the track switch is in working attire rather than uniformed. In general circumstances a uniformed person would have carried out the track switching duties.
Incidentally, to the left of the tram, there is one of those metal power supply boxes (discussed previously on this Forum), but this one in Moor Street is not ornate. A control box is mounted on the overhead support pole and the electrical feeders are quite plain to see.
Click to expand...
 
Radiorails said:
Tram routes 73 - 77, which had their terminus in the city in front of Snow Hill station were cchanged to buses, with the same route numbers on 1st. April, 1939. The routes were shared with West Bromwich corporation. West Bromwich has hoped to replace the trams with trolley buses but Birmingham, had other ideas and being the big brother their views won the day.
The Dudley Road routes 80 - 88 were terminated on 30th. September, 1939, replaced by buses with same route numbers but pre-fixed with the letter B.
Click to expand...

Alan, I think your post was in reply to my posting pictures of a West Bromwhich Corporation Bundy clock Post #361. Sorry I am a bit slow in replying these day as for some reason, I no longer get email alerts so I have to go on line when I think about it and find what has been posted in my absence from the forum.

This clock was not on either of the two tram routes that you mention but the terminus of a West Bromwich Corporation tram route. Yes West Brom had its own trams but so far I cannot find any reference to them on line which is why I was not sure of the date of conversion to buses. The route was know as the Lanes Tram as it ran Spon Lane to West Bromwhich then Bromford Lane to Oldbury. I think the bus route which replaced it was West Bromwich Corporation no. 16
 
DavidGrain said:
West Brom had its own trams but so far I cannot find any reference to them on line which is why I was not sure of the date of conversion to buses. The route was know as the Lanes Tram as it ran Spon Lane to West Bromwhich then Bromford Lane to Oldbury. I think the bus route which replaced it was West Bromwich Corporation no. 16
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but you are a little off the mark here David.

West Bromwich Corporation, like quite a number of local authorities up and down the countries, owned the operating rights to tramways within their borough (many also laid and owned the tracks too) but leased the running rights to tramway companies, usually members of the BET (British Electric Traction) group rather than run their own trams.
Leases were occasionally not renewed, allowing the authority to run its own cars (as was the case in Birmingham from 1904), or replaced by buses or trolleybuses operated either by the authority or another operator.

The West Bromwich "Lanes" route was replaced by Corporation buses in 1929, a batch of locally bodied by Dixon Dennis E types being bought for the conversion. Preserved no.32, EA 4181, is one of them.
 
I sympathise David. It is easy to assume what is in records and archives as fact. For instance, looking at a book today - more of a historical picture review than a dedicated subject. I noticed that the author, when showing a photo of a tram in Acocks Green also referred to a bus in the picture. He said the 1A bus route replaced the 44 tram route. It did not! The 44 bus route replaced the tram route in 1937. The 44A bus route was an extension, in 1939, to Lincoln Road North/Clay Lane. It altered in 1962 to be simply 44.
 
A No 70 Rednal tram out in the 'countryside'. I wonder whether it was a favourite run for the drivers?
No70tram.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top