Ding Ding –

Trams Proving Popular

With the prospect of more traffic regulation and low pollution zones it is heartening to hear that the capital’s new tramway is at long last getting plaudits from residents and attracting ten per cent more users in the last twelve months, but it is still only 16 stops. When Edinburgh Corporation Tramways ran, which was up until 1956, there was city wide coverage and the town was alive to the rattle of trams. Indeed originally Edinburgh had a system which operated on pulleys just like the one in San Francisco. Leith had its own system and both were merged with familiar to us electric trams. The Leith operation was incorporated into the capital wide one in 1904. The capital’s last old style tram operated until 16 November 1956, terminating at the Shrubhill Depot on Leith Walk. If you want you can watch the closure on film and see the Lord Provost bidding farewell to the old beauties.

Back to the Future by Tram

Of course trams are in many ways the story of the pre-car world and it is a little know fact that the most extensive tram system in the world was in the car mad Los Angles. And of course the system was destroyed by a conspiracy and bribery of the municipality’s public servants. Yes it was destroyed by corruption and eventually the motor manufacturers in Detroit were fined heavily for the bribery. It’s all true you can check it out on the web. Meanwhile nearer to home the trams of Edinburgh Trams Ltd have at last made a profit of £1.6m and shortly the company that runs the service is set to take on the responsibility and costs of maintaining the vehicles and infrastructure in 2019, with an £8.5 million annual fee paid to Edinburgh council for use of the trams, track and tram depot. Let us hope all goes well for this much needed piece of Scottish infrastructure in a project that was dogged by a huge overspend. The scheme had an initial estimated cost of £375 million but the final bill came to £776 million.

Bargains Galore

But you don’t need to worry about huge overspends here at James Pirie as we always try and keep our prices keen and service prompt. Just take a gander at our sale pages which are ram packed with great bargains and tremendous offers starting as low as just over a tenner. We have glassware galore and loads of lovely porcelain goodies on special.  Why there is even a bronze sculpture of a Labrador with his lead, just smashing it is. Enjoy.

https://www.jamespirie.com/sale.html#page=1