Kirkcaldy is a small Scottish town on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, almost opposite Leith on the south bank but some nine miles distant. From the 1870s until the 1960s, the town was a major world producer of linoleum but service industries now predominate. Tramways here had been proposed in 1883 for 3ft 6in gauge steam-operated lines under the Kirkcaldy & District Tramways Act but, as often happened, the required finance could not be raised so the idea collapsed.
Kirkcaldy Corporation was keen on having an electric tramway and, by Act of Parliament in 1899, powers were obtained. A power station was commissioned by the local authority and located in Victoria Road, Kirkcaldy. It was specially built to power the future tramway and construction began in 1899, with the first power produced in December 1902. After some delays, a 3ft 6in gauge municipal tramway opened on 28th February 1903 (also the official opening date of the power station) with a single-track line (the 'Lower Route') operating along the northern shore of the Firth of Forth from the 'Turret Tavern' down to Linktown. On 28th September 1903, a double-track line town section was opened (the 'Upper Route') allowing the main routes to run from Linktown in the south, through the town and on to Gallatown and Dysart in the north. Hence, there were two almost parallel routes in the town centre with the system totalling just over six miles in length.
Eventually, there were 26 trams from three main deliveries. Trams 1-10 were open-top cars with reversed staircases and built by G F Milnes in 1902, with Milnes Girder trucks. Trams 11-22 were similar and built in 1903/04 but with 180° staircases, while trams 23-26 were somewhat similar to 11-22 but with vestibuled ends and built by Hurst Nelson in 1914 on Hurst Nelson 21E trucks. All cars had two BTH GE58-6T 28hp motors and BTH B18 controllers.
Our postcard shows tram 8 of the 1902 batch in its smart dark olive green and cream livery travelling north along Victoria Road on its way to Gallatown. In the view, Alexandra Street is on the immediate right. The houses on the right are all still there and look quite smart and well looked after. The building on the corner is currently a letting agency at 119 Victoria Road. The Victoria Hotel is today just out of shot on the immediate left. The long terraced building on the left in the postcard and the taller building have now gone. The card was published in about 1905 by "T.G.B.K." (a local area publisher) in their 'Ellenslie Series' and posted from Kirkcaldy in March 1906 to Wimbledon with the classic message, "One for your collection".
A few miles to the north-east of Kirkcaldy lay the mining town of Wemyss and a 3ft 6in gauge tramway opened there in 1906 operated by the Wemyss and District Tramways Co. Ltd. This connected with the Kirkcaldy terminus at Gallatown and ran services further north to Leven, about 7½ miles. Wemyss had running powers over 2½ miles of Kirkcaldy track from Gallatown to Kirkcaldy town centre and, from 25th August 1906, ran through services from there to Leven. Interestingly, it was agreed that two Wemyss trams could be kept overnight at the Kirkcaldy Corporation tram depot at Gallatown. (image left)
The Kirkcaldy tramway had an uneventful life but closed on 15th May 1931 with replacement bus services operated by W. Alexander & Sons. At closure, eight of the trams were transferred to the Wemyss system but had their top decks removed; Wemyss only ever operated single-deck cars. However, even this tramway only lasted for a few further months, closing on 31st January 1932. A decision in 2017 to allow the demolition of the former power station marked the end of the line for the building which supplied the first electricity to Kirkcaldy's street lights and for the tram system.
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