IN 1904, postcard producer G Bannister marketed this homely epitaph “in affectionate remembrance of the Keighley horse-cars which succumbed to an electric shock: gone but not forgotten”.
This photograph illustrates the spartan conditions in which the drivers worked, and the casual dress of the conductor collecting fares on what seems an overcrowded upper deck.
At the time of their demise, Keighley’s tramcars were drawn by a total of 30 horses, in four shifts.
Appealingly, their names have survived.
Fourteen were mares called Star, Janet, Nell, Dot, Bell, Queen, Molly, Kitty, Dinah, Whitelegs, Kendal, Biddy, Susan and Lucy.
The rest were Bob, Major, Billy, Buck, Sweep, Joss, Prince, Sullivan, Briton, Harry, Hawk, Pilot, Jack, Sam, Mick and Tom.
Sentiment apart, within four days of electrification they had all been auctioned off – together with their harness, six tramcars and other equipment – for £804.
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