The Eternal Cycle

Sheffield (South Yorkshire) Council electrified their tramway system in 1899. After an enquiry, they decided to go straight from horse power to electric power. Electric trams were designed to be driven from either end, to avoid the need for turntables, and originally had open platforms at each end for passengers to board and alight.

Already, before the First World War, double-decker designs had replaced single, and after The Second War, the streamlined Roberts Tram, seen below on the left, was introduced, though the older models, such as the Standard, introduced in 1927, continued to run on the network because they had been built to last. Notice that the Roberts had folding doors, air-brakes, and upholstered seating for 62 passengers. I rode on both these designs in my youth.

Roberts Tram (left)

In 1951 the Council decided motor buses were the future, and they cost less than trams, although they didn't last nearly as long. The last Sheffield Tram (so everyone thought at the time) ran in 1960, and the one in the picture took part in the final parade. The tracks were dug up or covered over, and the overhead electrics taken down.

The moral of this story is that the Council of 1899 were more forward-thinking than the Council of 1951. By 1994 it was realised that the combustion engine was not the future of public transport, and what the city really needed was electric propulsion. Of course, you could just call the vehicles you needed trams. Nah. Bring on the Super-tram.

Only, if number 513 and her sisters had been just allowed to continue back in 1960, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been still running today. In fact, I travelled on her myself when I visited Beamish open air museum, where I took this picture, although I gather she's now in a museum near Lowestoft.

 
And it would have saved the public purse a fortune.

And it would have been environmentally-friendly.

But, hey! Who knew, eh? Only a century to get back to Square One, give or take a few technical improvements. What odds am I offered on the return of the motor bus in the middle of this century? Running on environmentally-friendly fuel, of course. 

I think we should call the prototype The Hindenburg.