Through Streets Broad & Narrow: A History of Dublin Trams
The last major tramway system in these islands to have its history recounted, is that of Dublin. At its peak the system had a fleet of over 300 tramcars running on its unique 5ft 3in gauge tracks. From the 1870s through to the final abandonment of the tramways in Dublin in 1949, the tramcar was a vital part of the life of the city. This book sets out story of the growth and decline of the urban tramways of Dublin from the first horse trams of the 1870s through to the Luxury cars of the 1930s. An additional chapter deals with the famous Hill of Howth line, Ireland's last tramway, which survived until 1959. The other lines in the greater Dublin area, the Dublin & Blessington and the Dublin & Lucan, are also dealt with. Whilst it contains all the detailed information that a tramway enthusiast or historian could wish for, including route maps and fleet lists, this book is much more than just the measured and well researched history of a transportation system, which it is.
It is also a social history of the city and its citizens throughout the era of the trams. The story of the tramways is put in the context of the condition of the city and its people which is revealed in a detailed examination of the public services, housing, policing, living costs and a variety of other measures. These are reviewed at certain key dates throughout the story. The industrial strife which culminated in the famous lockout of 1913, that battle of wills between the larger than life figures of James Larkin and William Martin Murphy, is discussed. How the legacy of bitterness and poor industrial relations from that time rippled through to the late twentieth century is also explored. This trauma was quickly followed by the political turmoil of the period from 1916 to 1922. Despite the great material damage which the Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War, inflicted on Dublin, the trams kept on running, serving the citizens as they always had done. References to the trams in some of the great literature produced in Dublin in the first decades of the last century are also included showing how much a part of the very fabric of Dublin were its trams. There is evidence that James Joyce had more than a passing interest in trams! This is a book which all of those, who know and love Dublin and its people, will enjoy. It is full of anecdotes and stories, some harrowing, many amusing, tales of storms and accidents, strikes and a great tradition of public service. It contains examples of the wit of legendary tramway characters and tales of the 'bona fide' travellers who took the tram to Lucan to slake their thirsts when pubs were closed in the city on Sunday. It is also appropriate that the story of Dublin's tramways is being told for the first time as construction gets under way on a new tramway system for the city, which will make as valuable a contribution to the city in the twenty-first century, as the original system did in the past.
Hardback, 160 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Very Good
ISBN: 9781857801101
Most orders are dispatched within two-three working days of receipt of cleared payment. If there is going to be a significant delay (more than 10 working days), we will contact you and, where possible, give you an estimated dispatch time.
Please be aware that advance orders will be sent as soon as the relevant book has been published.
When placing your order, please ensure that you add the correct full shipping address to your order. This includes house number, street name, zip code/post code. If parcels are returned on account of an incorrect shipping address we will contact you to seek the correct address and also ask that you pay a contribution towards posting the parcel to you a second time. Similarly, if a parcel is returned to us because the local mail service is unable to deliver it (or you do not collect it from the designated collection point), we will contact you and ask you for a contribution towards the cost of shipping to you for a second time.
The journey of a book from our shelves to the reader demands careful handling and the appropriate packaging. We recognise the need to ensure that books arrive at their destination in the same condition that they leave us. Our packaging solutions aim to accommodate books of all shapes and sizes. In a society where so much is thrown away, Rail-Books have a policy of reusing packing materials to pack your order wherever possible. Whilst this may generate a small saving in our packaging costs, the impact to the environment is a much greater saving. We also try to ensure that new packaging, such as boxes, book-wraps and envelopes, is made from recycled materials.
UK
All orders for UK addresses are normally sent via Royal Mail 48 Hour (the business equivalent of 2nd class mail) which is not tracked although Royal Mail do confirm delivery of parcels. Orders of £27.50 and over are sent post free while shipping for orders under £27.50 is charged at £1.85 for orders under 500g or £2.25 for other orders. If you require tracking for your order, tracking & courier options are available for a small fee. The appropriate shipping option can be selected as part of the checkout process. If the service that you require is not shown, please get in touch with us and we can quote for your desired service.
Large, bulky or high value orders may be split in to multiple consignments or sent via courier. There is no additional charge for this and you will be advised at the order fulfillment stage if this happens.
Overseas
Overseas orders are charged based on weight, and postage will be automatically calculated at checkout. For a postage quotation, please add the items you want to your cart and proceed to the checkout. All orders are usually sent via Air Mail - this is not tracked. If you required your order to be tracked or sent by a different service, please contact us, preferably before checkout.
Royal Mail will only accept parcels up to 5kg in weight (2kg for Canada). If you are ordering multiple items that exceed these limits, please contact us first so that we can advise you of the appropriate shipping rate.
Due to the high volume of parcels going missing, we are no longer able to send untracked orders via third party mail handling services such as Parcel Motel. We are able to send untracked parcels to bona fide PO Box addresses, friends and family members and to work addresses.
Some countries charge import taxes and other taxes such as VAT; we suggest that in these cases, you asked for your order to be tracked so the local taxation authorities can trace your parcel.
Please note that courier services are unable to deliver to PO Box addresses. If you usually use a PO Box address, you will need to supply an alternative address if you require shipping by courier.
Shipping to the European Union
From 1 July 2021, all EU countries will be imposing VAT on all imports. In the UK, books are zero-rated for VAT proposes so there is no VAT to deduct from the prices quoted on our website. All of our orders are usually sent "DDU" (Delivered Duty Unpaid) using a courier service and the shipping prices quoted are on a DDU basis. However, we are now able to offer limited "DDP" (Delivered Duty Paid) services to certain EU destinations. If you would like to purchase books on a DDP basis, please contact us before making your purchase and we will give you a DDP price.
Therefore all DDU shipments to EU destinations will be held by the relevant customs authority until the customer pays any VAT that is due. We understand that if no payment is received by the relevant customs authority after 30 days, the package will be either returned or destroyed. Rail-Books will not be liable for any loss resulting from the destruction or return of goods where VAT has not been paid.
We recommend that customers in the EU follow the tracking data supplied to them once we dispatch your parcel and once the parcel is showing as arriving in the destination country, make contact with either the postal or customs authorities to pay the appropriate amounts of tax/duty.
Returned Parcels
On rare occasions, parcels will be returned to us. Where this happens we will refund the customer the cost of their order less any expenses incurred by ourselves (e.g. the initial cost of sending the parcel or costs relating to damage incurred in transit). If a customer requests that a parcel be shipped again for a second time, we request the customer to place a repeat order together with shipping costs. Repeat orders to UK customers will not be eligible for free shipping.
Updated: 2 April 2024