Just stumbled across a wonderful silent 1946 Swansea & Mumbles Railway film
(link below). Apart from the sight of these magnificent
trams---interior footage as well as exterior---there is a glimpse at 2:08 of
an AEC Q s/d bus, a Dennis Lancet ditto and an AEC decker (S Wales
Transport?), all stationary. At 2:32 a very brief rear-end view of another s/d
bus, also stationary.
I wonder how many staff and passengers could have guessed that the S&M
had only another 15 years to run. How I wish I'd made the effort to hitch down
there... www.youtube.com/
Ian Thompson
12/11/15 - 12:00
Thank you so much for alerting us to this splendid film - I have also regretted never seeing these enormous majestic trams, and the scenery of the area is fascinating also.
Chris Youhill
13/11/15 - 06:28
An interesting clip, Ian. The Swansea & Mumbles features in an online video "Trams By The Seaside", which may or may not still be available. I bought mine over 20 years ago. I believe - no doubt someone will correct me if I'm wrong - that the operation was a subsidiary of the South Wales company.
Pete Davies
13/11/15 - 09:53
This is an absolutely fascinating clip. I was aware of this system, as it's closure was recorded in one of the first Buses Illustrated magazines I ever owned. Weren't these that largest trams operated on British soil? I was surprised to see that a pair of trams was in use. Was this always the case on this system? It would mean that just over 200 seats were available for each journey - I think they were 106 seat cars - no doubt someone will correct me on that.
Michael Hampton
13/11/15 - 11:50
Double car running can't have been what always happened as there are also
clips of a single car.
I would think it was something done at times when demand was know
to be high.
Does anyone know what pathway allocation system was used for the
single track section/s?
Would it have been something like the railways staff or token
systems?
John Lomas
13/11/15 - 15:27
I have found another film, it is of the last run and the aftermath. http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-mumbles-railway-1804-1960-last-journey-1960/
John Lomas
The film only works if you are in the UK I am afraid, maybe BFI is connected to the BBC.
15/11/15 - 07:52
The film of the closure can also be found on YouTube.
It can be found here https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=5jDBgM0FOYo
Perhaps that will work for everybody.
Stephen Howarth
Does not work for me I'm afraid, I just get a You Tube home page the film is restricted to UK viewing I think.
15/11/15 - 07:54
There's a lot of confused information about the ownership of the SMR on the
internet - I'm assuming my copy of "Great British Tramway
Networks" by the Light Railway Transport League ("32s
net" when published in 1962, but �12.50 when purchased at Barter
Books, Alnwick in 2014) might be correct.
The line was owned jointly by the Swansea & Mumbles Railway
Limited ("Swansea end") and the Mumbles Pier & Railway Co
("Mumbles end"). Would the Mumbles company have owned the
section from Southend/Oystermouth down to the pier (and hotel) that was
a later construction, associated with the pier/hotel development?
A 999y lease of the line was obtained by the Swansea Improvements
& Tramways Co in 1899. This was transferred to the associated South
Wales Transport Co Ltd in 1927. In 1958/59 SWT purchased the owning
companies and then promoted an Act of Parliament to dissolve the owning
companies, and ultimately abandon the line.
Now in doing so I think SWT must have acquired freehold of the
Mumbles pier and hotel - one of the first annual reports of the NBC
refers to the disposal of the Mumbles pier/hotel complex.
The section of line from Southend/Oystermouth to Mumbles Pier was
the first to be closed (11.10.59), to allow construction of a
(barrier-controlled? - read that in an edition of "Omnibus"
from years ago) bus-only road to the pier. Full closure came on 05.01.60
- I read somewhere that a small section of the reserved way was retained
as a dedicated busway to allow the replacing SWT buses to by-pass a
particularly difficult traffic junction.
Note how the cars only have doors one side - the landward side,
this was to avoid sea-spray entering the cars.
Also note at 1:20(ish) the tram passing under the "Slip
Bridge": this was removed in 2004 (although the, now derelict,
abutments remain). Its removal is a bit of an issue with residents
("Google" "Slip Bridge").
It was originally planned that the vacated SMR depot would replace
Neath & Cardiff's cramped facilities - but in the end this didn't
happen, and N&C built a brand new garage.
Philip Rushworth
18/11/15 - 11:39
Further to the 'Any Other Thing' on the Swansea and Mumbles Railway posted by Ian T, I have these 2 items in my collection.
One is a picture of a double car set, which I think shows off the impressive size of them, and, I am sure they could carry more than the 200+ passengers mentioned by Michael Hampton, with ease.
Stephen Howarth
18/11/15 - 15:06
Stephen, assuming it was not a long run, �1 13 4d doesn't seem impossibly cheap for 1937 - exact 400 old pence, or 51 x slightly less than 8d each.
Stephen Ford
09/12/15 - 17:06
Today's value of the 1937 �1/13/4d is �105.14p!
Chris Hebbron
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