

The Great Orme Tramway, Llandudno, Caernarfonshire, Wales

This view is from near the lower station and shows a car just starting it's journey up to the half-way station. This is 'Old Road' - the steepest part of the trip. Two of the poles (dark blue) which used to hold the overhead wires can be seen by the roadside just beyond the red and white No Entry signs.
The limestone rock, of which the Great Orme is made, is visible in the background.
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The tramcar here is nearing the top of Old Road. The steepest part of the tramway is a gradient of 1 in 4 and I can verify that as I've walked up the same hill - it's steep!. You can see, from the view of the bay, that it's quite high at this point.
The cable runs in a conduit below the road surface and because the trams have no motive power, other than the cable, they are very quiet.
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This shows a tramcar arriving at Half Way Station.
Originally a trolley pole contacting an overhead cable was used to keep in contact with the winding engine house but contact is now maintained by radio. You can still see the trolley poles on the tramcars and also the roadside poles which used to hold the overhead wires.
Comment | Second stage of the tramway |