How it works, Great Orme Tramway

Look through the window of the control room and you will see me. I am the one facing downwards. I am sitting alongside the electric motor which I control. In front of me is my control panel of buttons and lights.

On this I receive the signals from the tram attendants– start, slow and stop. At my right hand is a lever which controls the speed of the motor and therefore the trams.

When I receive two ready lights from the tram attendants of the ascending and descending trams I take the brake off gently and set the motor in motion, I then slowly raise the speed.

I slow down the ascending tram down as soon as it approaches the traffic lights and the trackpoints, but I must also always be ready for emergency stops. I have to concentrate all the time by keeping an eye on the control panel.

To help me know when the trams are approaching the stations, there are yellow paint markers on the drum and the cable. When the marks meet, I know the tram is approaching Victoria Station so I cut off the motor and apply the drum brake to bring the tram to a gentle stop.

I am the winchman facing upwards. I too watch out for signals on my control panel but I also have a television monitor so I can see the trams on part of the tracks.

The attendants and I have to keep a special look out on the upper section because the track goes over an open hillside. The track is not fenced off and can be crossed by the public and animals. The cables and the rollers they rest on are on the surface and not hidden under the road as on the lower track.

The attendants also have to check the points levers which you can see in cages on the track.The levers have to be in the correct position before the trams can continue. The numbers on the levers are the numbers of the trams.

There is another difference between the upper section and the lower section. On the lower section there are two cables – one cable from the drums to each tram.

On the upper section there are three cables – one cable from the drums to each tram and another cable which connects the trams to each other. This cable goes around a return sheave or pulley at the summit station which means that the tram coming down pulls the tram coming up.

Sometimes, towards the end of the day, more people want to come down from the summit station that want to go up from Halfway Station. This means that the tram coming down is much heavier than the one going up. I check with the attendant on the numbers of passengers and if he has more than those going up I instruct him to apply the brakes on his tram as he comes down. He does this by turning a brake wheel on the front of the tram. If he did not then the descending tram would go faster than the drum and the cable would become slack and difficult to control.

You will see me at the front of each tram. Some people think I am a driver. This is not quite true because the tram has no engine, no gears, no accelerator and no power on board to help to climb the steep tram line.

I am the eyes of the man who controls the motor in the engine house. He cannot see the trams as they go up and down. I tell him when to start the motor, when to slow down and when to stop. I have a control panel that sends signals to the engine house which tells the winchman what I want him to do.

When all the passengers are on board at Victoria Station I insert the key into the control panel. I press the ready button, the winchman sets the motor in motion and up we go, climbing steeply up Old Road. This is a public road so I have to keep an eye out for people and cars. Cars are not supposed to use this road when the trams are running but I have to be careful just the same.

At the top of Old Road at a place called ‘Black Gate’ another public road crosses the track. There are traffic lights here to control traffic at the crossroad. The tram is not expected to stop here because it has priority over other traffic – which means all other traffic has to stop when the tram crosses.