I’m on holiday on the North Yorkshire Coast this weekend, and of course no coastal holiday is complete without a trip to the beach. In Scarborough, I found the most unusual way to get to the beach I’ve ever seen!

Bottom Station of the Tram

The town centre is high above the beach, and when the town was in its heyday as an Edwardian holiday resort, some bright spark had the idea of saving people from the steep walk up and down to the beach by building a tram.

One Tram Car

It’s called a tram, but it looks more like a funicular railway to me.

There are two carriages, one goes up and one down so the weights cancel each other out, overlapping halfway down the track.

Counter Balanced Cars

The carriages are pretty basic inside, with wooden bench seats and hanging straps. It was also noisy and juddery, but must have seemed revolutionary to the Edwardians who used it:

Car interior

But it certainly saved the effort of climbing the hill.

View to the beach from the top station

You can find more details at: http://www.transportheritage.com/find-heritage-locations.html?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=831