January 2004

Stanley King
Trams And Trolleys Other Than Bradford's
Report - Unknown

Three family holidays in Blackpool in 1937 — 1939 gave him the opportunity of sampling the then brand new streamlined trams — the open “boats”, the single deck railcoaches and the magnificent streamlined double-deckers, which he said were never called “Balloons” until a few enthusiasts dreamed up the name in recent years. In 1938, the Circular Tour (from Talbot Square), along the Promenade, up Squire’s Gate Lane, along Lytham Road to Royal Oak and thence round the Marton route back to Talbot Square) was worked by the toast racks, but in 1939 the “boats” took over for the season.

A brief glimpse of a Cleethorpes tram in 1937 was followed by an even briefer glimpse of a red and white Bolton tram from the window of a Blackpool train in 1942. Shortly after “D-Day” in 1944, a week’s stay at Redcar provided the opportunity of seeing Teeside Railless’s first double- deck trolleybuses newly in service, with the discarded single-deckers huddled forlornly in the depot yard — their trolleys pointing skywards.

Before being “called up’ for National Service in 1951, Stanley took part in several memorable outings. First was a railway excursion to Sunderland (via Harrogate, Ripon and Northallerton) to sample the delights of the varied tram fleet — modern streamlined four-wheelers as well as secondhand bargains from Huddersfield, Manchester, Accrington and Ilford. Another North-Eastern journey took him to Gateshead for the last day of the trams, when he was photographed with his namesake Mr. J.W King, the tramways manager. The third memorable outing of the year was to Stockport on the last day of the trams. Stockport’s trams were not unlike Bradford’s, so it was natural that Stanley, John Pitts and no doubt others found themselves sampling the delights of tram driving, under the watchful eye of the real driver of course!

The splendidly maintained Dundee trams were a source of much pleasure and the object of many photographs, and a ride on the last tram in 1956 was memorable not only for the vast crowds and wild enthusiasm, but also for the unnerving fact that all the time the tram was making its final journey, sounds of sawing could be heard from the lower saloon.

Fortunately, Stanley survived to take part in other closures — Grimsby/Cleethorpes in 1959, Doncaster in 1962 and Teeside in 1971, having for once “pulled rank” to obtain an official invitation to ride on Teeside’s last trolleybuses, a privilege not extended to the manager of Teeside’s neighbour at West Hartlepool, much to the surprise and envy of the latter!