04/09/2026
On this day in September 4th 1962, Glaswegians turned out in their tens of thousands to pay a fond farewell to the city's trams, the 'caurs', the 'shooglies'.
Tram parade passes Glasgow Cross Station, with one man putting an old penny on the track to keep as a souvenir.
The rain falls soft on the gathered throngs,
To hum the last of the streetcar songs.
Along the cobbles, through Glasgow Cross,
A city turning to count its loss.
The shooglies roll in a grand parade,
Orange and cream where the sparks were made,
Clanging their bells to the cheer and sigh
As eighty proud years of the caurs roll by.
A quiet hand bends to the glistening rail,
Before the iron writes the end of the tale
He sets down a penny, heavy and round,
And waits for the rattle to shake the ground.
Steel meets copper with a sudden groan;
The wheels roll onward; the crowd drifts home.
He plucks up the token, still hot from the track:
A flattened keepsake to carry it back.
Poem by Michael Francis.
