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There were fantastic scenes as Aberdeen bade farewell to its last trams at the week-end. Waving and cheering and laughing crowds, estimated at between 60,000 and 70,000, lined the funeral route from Bridge of Dee to the King Street depot. It was a turn-out fit for royalty - and the end of an era. Union Street was a solid mass of people. Vehicles travelling westwards were forced to a standstill as the crowds spilled on to the middle of the road. The traffic jam stretched from Crown Street to Castle Street. The mouths of streets leading off Union Street were closed by six-deep ranks of spectators eager to witness the historic procession.
Biggest crush was outside the Town House where the cavalcade of four modern double-bogey trams and two of the older type - led by a sixty-year old horse drawn veteran - halted to allow the official guests to alight. Men, women and children swarmed on to the roadway in an attempt to enter the empty vehicles so that they could complete the journey to the depot. The horse-drawn tram, guarded by two policemen and a transport inspector, was surrounded by curious eyes. Police had to clear the way before the trams could move off again on the last stage of their journey. Hundreds followed them on foot along King Street, and Tib and Bloom, the two white mares from Newton of Durris, Crathes, who had hauled the leading tram from Queens Cross, several times had to be stopped and rested.
But the crowd were well-behaved. Only one person - a woman - tried to jump aboard a moving tram. She hung for a few seconds with her clothes streaming out behind her. The six service trams arrived at Bridge of Dee for the start of their last journey just before 8pm on Saturday. But the crowds had been gathering much earlier. First person to arrive - about 6pm - was ten-year old Marjory Fowlie, 630 Holburn Street, a pupil of the High School for Girls. Marjory headed the queue of several hundred waiting to get on the three trams open to the public. Beside her was ten-year old Wesley de Leurere, 66 Gray Street, who arrived fifteen minutes later. Wesley, a tramcar enthusiast, told 'The Press and Journal' I want to ride on one of the trams because they are better than buses and because I have a friend who drives one. One of the early arrivals was Mrs Isabella Frame (70), 6 Gladstone Place, who remembers travelling on a horse-drawn tram when she was a girl of eleven.
Many of those who queued were unable to get on a tram, but they joined the crowd of some 2000 at the Bridge of Dee in giving them a rousing send-off. The trams that made the trip were nos 108 and 135, of the rigid track type, and nos 32, 33, 37 and 36, which are the modern double-bogey kind. No 36 was Aberdeen's very last tramcar. In it were Lord Provost George Stephen, Mr Hector Hughes MP, members of the Town Council and Corporation officials, with wives and friends. It was driven by sixty-four year old Mr William Hay, 32 Gilcomston Steps, and the conductor was Mr Tom Watson, also sixty-four, of 28 Holburn Road. Mr Hay has thirty-nine years service with the transport department and Mr Watson forty-four. Both are retiring later this year. To mark the occasion, they were presented with inscribed wrist watches by Councillor R A Raffan, transport convener, at the reception which followed in the Town and Country Hall.
The horse-drawn tram joined the 'cortege' at Holburn Junction, and the way was cleared down Union Street by a police car and two police motor- cyclists. Officially, the veteran was supposed to have carried no passengers. But, unofficially, there were three little stowaways, Alison (6), Linda (5) and Alastair (3), grandchildren of farmer James Philip (60), Newton of Durris, who acted as driver. His son - and the children's father - Mr Gerald J Philip (30), 17 Stonehaven Road, Aberdeen, gave him a hand to control the pair of whites. And despite the milling crowds and the wild excitement of the occasion, Bloom and Tib never turned a hair. They might have been hauling tramcars down Union Street all their lives.
During the journey from Bridge of Dee, the tram conductors were busy selling the special souvenir 4d tickets franked Last tram, 3rd May, 1958. Remarkably little damage was done to the trams by souvenir hunters. Two men tried to steal a seat from one vehicle, but failed miserably in their attempt to uproot it. Others picked up or unscrewed little mementoes. People have been writing in to the transport department asking for all manner of items. They include bells, indicator screens, control handles, numbers and picture frames. If the bits wanted could be removed without difficulty, then the department would do what they could to oblige, said Mr F Y Frazer, transport manager, yesterday.
While the procession was in progress, one of the trams being moved into the depot went off the rails and collided with a lamppost, but was cleared in time for the procession's arrival. Bloom and Tib were unharnessed and led into a horsebox. The old tram was pushed inside by a more modern one and the others followed slowly. Their glory-day was over.
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©Andy Taylor. Last updated 28 Nov 2000.