Clippies, trams and traffic jams - memories of old Glasgow

Our pictures of Castle Street in the 1950s, and this bashed tram from 1939 are a reminder the city’s streets were once full of the famous ‘caurs’.

Accidents were rare, but they did happen.

And jams - like this one - were a common enough sight once roads around the town started filling up with private cars too.

Times Past reader Ian MacFarlane remembers the trams well, as his dad was a tram driver, and he can also remember the jams too.

“The trams were a great system but as traffic increased they could cause quite a hold up,” explains Ian, who is now in his 80s.

“At the traffic lights at Castle Street, you would sometimes have four or five trams in a row.

“One good thing was the colour-coding. Double decker buses of today have adverts on the upper decks but tram cars had bands of colour which ran all the way round.

“Each colour indicated the route the tram was taking so if you were late and running to catch one, it didn’t matter if you couldn’t see the destination board, you always knew which one was coming.”

Ian lived in Coatbridge when he was growing up, and his father was a tram driver for Glasgow Corporation which had a depot in the town.

“In an area of the town called Langloan, there was a private track for the trams which ran to Baillieston,” he recalls.

“The trams ran on the main road through Langloan to Airdrie.

“My brother and I attended Langloan Primary and the trams ran right past the school – we always knew what time our dad would be passing, so very often we could cut a free ride home.

“We would travel up to Airdrie – and that’s where the fun would begin.”

He smiles: “The seats had a swivel back-rest and it was our job to go up and down reversing them so they would be facing the right way for the tram heading back in the other direction.

“There was no reverse gear on a tram, but it had a driver’s cabin at each end.

“When the tram reached the terminus, the driver would remove part of the controls and make his way to the other end and re-insert them in the other cabin. He would then reverse the roof trolley, which was connected to the main electricity supply and off we’d go….”

Ian remembers the hardworking conductresses, or clippies, with their leather money bags loaded with coins, and ticket machines strapped to their shoulders.”

“Some of their phrases, like ‘c’mon get aff’ and ‘haud on everyone, the caur’s starting to stop’ still get a laugh today,” he smiles.

“After the trams came the trolleybuses, but these were very large and silent so sadly many pedestrians were knocked down and injured or killed.

“Eventually trolleybuses disappeared too.

“Now, of course, many cities are introducing trams again, which is great.”

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Ian adds: “I travelled around Glasgow on the trams and went to many places in the city I would not have otherwise seen.

“Since those days, I have travelled around the world, but Glasgow will always be my favourite city.”

Do you remember the Glasgow trams? Get in touch with Times Past and we can share your stories and photos.