Search results for ""Author Kenneth G. Williamson""
Amberley Publishing Old Edinburgh Trams
Edinburgh did not adopt electric traction until the early 1920s when the Corporation took over from the Edinburgh & District Tramway Co., with the process of converting the city’s cable-operated routes to electric traction following soon after. The first electric trams started in Leith in 1905. At its height Edinburgh ran somewhere in the region of 360 trams throughout the city and possessed one of the most modern tramway systems in the UK. There were proposals to build extensions after the war and new trams were built as late as 1950. However, in 1952 Edinburgh Corporation announced the system would be converted to bus operation. Over the next four years the system was rapidly abandoned, with the last tram operating on 16 November 1956. In 2014 trams returned to the streets of Edinburgh and, although very different from the old trams, are proving to be very popular. With a range of rare and previously unpublished images, Kenneth G. Williamson looks at the history of the city’s system.
£18.59
Amberley Publishing Edinburgh, Granton and Leith Railways
In 1861, the Caledonian Railway, in its efforts to gain a foothold in Granton and Leith, opened a line from Slateford to Granton with a connection to Granton Harbour, where the Edinburgh, Dundee & Perth Railway (NBR) was already established. The CR further built, at great expense, an elevated line to Leith Docks in an effort to establish itself in one of Scotland’s busiest ports. Significant dock traffic never materialised and the CR’s 1903 Leith New Lines failed. The North British Railway meanwhile, in their attempt to keep the CR out of Leith, opened Leith Central station in 1903 – the largest station constructed in Britain from scratch in the twentieth century. The station was much larger than necessary and as such was never used to its full potential. It was converted in 1955 to a Diesel Maintenance Depot and in 1972 closed completely. With a wealth of superb rare and previously unpublished images, Kenneth G. Williamson tells the story of Edinburgh, Granton and Leith railways.
£15.99
