26 Nov Stockholm Historic Trams
The Cafe Tram, September 2013
When I was in Stockholm in 2012 I did notice the streetcars going back and forth in front of our hotel on Strandvägen but I didn’t understand their significance. Even this year when I was there (Siblings in Sweden) I didn’t pay that much attention until my brother Bill asked, “Why don’t we take a ride on one of those old streetcars?”
We were doing some shopping at an outdoor market behind Kungsträdgården (the King’s Garden, a wee central park) when Bill pointed to a spot where people were getting on board the trams. A gentleman explained to us that many of the trams were very old. Suddenly it hit me … Our parents rode these, perhaps the very same ones, when they were in Stockholm during World War II!
1940s tram, perhaps one that our parents rode in!
We boarded an old car that was pulling a “Café Tram” behind it. You can recognize the rolling café by the big coffee cup perched on top. Next time that’s what I want to do … have a fika (coffee break) and ride for a while.
The trams began to service Stockholm beginning in 1877 with small horse-drawn carriages. Then in the early 1900s they were run by the electric lines which ran throughout the city. In 1967 when Sweden switched from left to right hand driving all the rails were dug up. Buses were used instead.
In 1991 one route that went from Norrmalmstorg to Djurgården was reopened with support from the Swedish Tramway Society.
When we got on board the vintage tram, we started talking with another passenger, Leif Levon. When he heard that our parents had been there during the war Leif suggested that we get off at Gröna Lund and wait 12 minutes for a carriage which operated during the 1945 period.
We did! Thank you Leif! We waited right across from the new Abba Museum. We thought that most of Stockholm must have been there, it was so crowded.
And then we rode in perhaps one of the very same trams our parents rode in so many years ago. It is probably how they got to Djurgården on the day Herman proposed.
We were there!
Patrik Blom
Posted at 08:49h, 24 JanuaryWhat a wonderful blog!
Talking about wartime trams, Stockholm got a new, modern type of tram in 1943, that was called “Mustang” after the American fighter plane. I believe the name was unofficial at first, but then became official.
The Swedish author Pär Rådström, writing about “his” 1943, points out that “we never got any ‘Stuka’ trams”.
The older type, the one shown on one of your pictures, was called “Jitterbug”.
In my opinion, these names or universally used nicknames are cultural facts that clearly show which side had the sympathies of the general public.
Pat DiGeorge
Posted at 09:00h, 24 JanuaryPatrik, thank you so much for adding these wonderful details about the trams!
Anders W. Beyer
Posted at 17:07h, 18 JuneThe tram-car 76 was built in 1903-1904. I rode on that particular one on the inauguration of the museum line in 1991. The year before I helped hosting a group of USAAF veterans on a visit to Stockholm. Some of them had been working at a meteorologic office/department housed in a building on Norrmalmstorg. Among them was a pilot who flew a P51 Mustang under one of the bridges in Stockholm (on a delivery flight to the Swedish Air Force).