Tram model
© Transport for London
Collection of London Transport Museum
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1:8 scale model of garden seat horse tram, car No 21; typical of type operating in the 1880s, made 1884
Garden seat horse tram : This is a typical London horse tram of the 1880s. It has reversible ‘garden seats’ on the top deck and could carry 46 passengers. At the end of the line, the horses had to be unhitched and walked to the other end of the car for the return journey.
Show related storySee this object and other related objects from within the 19th century London gallery
Related story:
Right tram, wrong locationGeorge Train was forced to remove his three short demonstration tramlines from London in 1862. But only eight years later, long-term tramways were authorized in London under the 1870 Tramways Act. Three routes opened in the Capital before the end of the year. These quickly grew into a network of lines along main roads just outside the centre. Unlike Train in the West End, tramway promoters faced little opposition here from wealthy carriage-owning residents. The potential market of local working-class passengers was huge. Horse tramways soon became the first public transport system that most Londoners could afford to use.
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