Trams And Trolley's

I think that this picture was taken around the early 1900's

    The technology in my picture is the tram or the trolley. The tram is a four wheeled open cable car that carries people, like a big car. The tram was first invented in 1807. The tram was invented by Nicholas Brankovic and the first trams were used on the Swansea and Mumbles Railway located in south Wales, UK. The first trams that were used in America were horse drawn. They used he trams for picking up and dropping off passengers and the tram went of a set schedule; the tram was like a modern bus. The tram then developed over time and we still use them today in Gloucester. 

The tram is still used today in modern Gloucester. The are usually used for just sight seeing so people can pay to sit on and see the sights. But the tram was not always used for just joyrides, it started out as a cart that was pulled by horses. That was the best source of power that was available. Then around 1880's European countries started using steam to power the trams and each tram had a small locomotive engine in it, like a train. But in America they tried something different, cables. The first cable car line was testes in 1873 in San Francisco. This had trams being pulled along set cables in the city. These cable systems are still operating today in 2013 but it is not the only type of modern tram. Also in the 1880;s the electric tram was being tested. This tram used a pole attached to a wire that feeds electricity into the tram and that is what powers it. This along with the tram run by a regular engine that is the modern tram of today and we still use them in many major cities around the United States.