Public transport has now been around for over 150 years in one shape or another and this book takes a nostalgic look at the heritage and story of Buses and Trams. Tramways when operated in the 19th century and beyond formed a large part of the community in towns and cities, helping to get people around in style using steam and electric technology. Trams over time were however up against the might of the internal combustion engine, in the shape of the emerging petrol and diesel powered buses. These newfangled vehicles didn’t require rails or overhead cables and could go just about anywhere. There was also of course the electric trolleybus that sat somewhere between a bus and tram. The tram has thankfully made comebacks over the years and buses have evolved with the times, so join us looking through the early years to more recent times. This book is full of facts, information about the manufacturers, insight about the classic buses and includes some superb archive pictures.

From the horse-drawn trams of the nineteenth century to the larger electric models of the early twentieth, this reliable form of public transport revolutionised town travel by making it affordable enough for working people to use. From the 1930s, the rise of the trolleybus, which also picked up power from overhead cables but ran without expensive tracks, looked set to supersede the tram – but ultimately, by the 1950s, both fell victim to motor buses and private cars. However, since the 1980s the environmental benefits of light rail have encouraged a growing comeback for trams on our crowded and polluted city streets. Using beautiful contemporary photographs, this is the fascinating story of the rise, fall and revival of this everyday, yet sometimes controversial, mode of urban transport.

The coming of the railways signalled the transformation of European society, allowing the quick and cheap mass transportation of people and goods on a previously unimaginable scale. By the early decades of the twentieth century, however, the domination of rail transport was threatened by increased motorised road transport which would quickly surpass and eclipse the trains, only itself to be challenged in the twenty-first century by a renewal of interest in railways. Yet, as the studies in this volume make clear, to view the relationship between road and rail as a simple competition between two rival forms of transportation, is a mistake. Rail transport did not vanish in the twentieth century any more than road transport vanished in the nineteenth with the appearance of the railways. Instead a mutual interdependence has always existed, balancing the strengths and weaknesses of each system. It is that interdependence that forms the major theme of this collection. Divided into two main sections, the first part of the book offers a series of chapters examining how railway companies reacted to increasing competition from road transport, and exploring the degree to which railways depended on road transportation at different times and places. Part two focuses on road mobility, interpreting it as the innovative success story of the twentieth century. Taken together, these essays provide a fascinating reappraisal of the complex and shifting nature of European transportation over the last one hundred years.

The Lost World of Mitchell and Kenyon' contains essays from leading historians covering film history, popular entertainment, the seaside, transport and the social and economic context of Edwardian Britain. Together they provide a vivid commentary on the Peter Worden Mitchell and Kenyon collection of films.

Donnybrook is one of the most iconic areas of South Dublin, a prosperous and peaceful suburb that is well-known as the being the heartland of Leinster Rugby. It derived its name, however, from the violence and carousing that were a regular feature of the area in the 1800s, and this book tells the story of the development and the journey from these inauspicious beginnings to its current form through a series of rare and beautifully produced photographs.

With the twentieth century arrived the first electric tramcars in London. Thirty years later the first trolley buses arrived - along with a fleet of new trams that were the most modern of their day. This era was one of rapid change, rich in achievement adn personalities. Among the more colourful of the undertakings involved was London United, which introduced the first public service of electric tramcars in 1901 adn became one of the predecessors of the present London Transport. This is a study of this eventful period, relating the development of the tramway and trolleybus system to the changing social background. It contains a wealth of hitherto unpublished material, both factual and anecdotal, taken from contemporary newspaper and other accounts, and a remarkable collection of illustrations - 48 pages in all. It should be of interest not only to the transport enthusiast but also to the general reader interested in social history. This book was first published in 1971.