The ideal tram: old, yellow and clattering over points

This blog is devoted to pictures of European trams. Occasionally a bus will also feature, if particularly sleek, elegant or elderly - but as a rule we are concerned here with trams and their place in the urban environment. There will be no discussion of tram types, of wagon numbers or manufacturers; there will be no technical information proffered; and neither will we investigate their operators or municipal regulators. Occasionally some useful travel information will be thrown the tram enthusiast's way - some maps, timetables and ticketing details may be provided in due course. But essentially Trampics will be a gallery of exactly that: tram pictures. And what interests me most is the tram against its city backdrop. Not the tram in the garage or the museum, but the working tram gliding up and down tree-lined avenues and narrow cobbled streets, screeching round corners, stopping at squares, clattering over points and bashing into the occasional car.

Tram in front of Lisbon cathedral - July 2012

The ideal tram? At least 30 years old, well-maintained, with polished wooden seats and large pull-down windows. A roller-blind destination display with crisp black lettering on a white background. A bright - preferably yellow - livery, with maybe an advert for a local newspaper or a fountain pen manufacturer on the side. A couple of ticket validation machines that go "ker-ching!" when you insert the ticket. A real purpose to the line, that doesn't just serve as a silly frippery for tourists. A lot of junctions to clatter over. A frequency of once every 12 minutes (every 20 after 10pm). Posters warning passengers not to lean out of the windows, to use a handkerchief when blowing their nose, and possibly another to report suspicious packages. But no CCTV. If there are to be announcements, then please be crisply rendered - and only once. A sense of calm and order. No litter, and definitely no graffiti. Maps in attractive primary colours. Something like that - or something very close to it - is the ideal tram.