Scottish Tramway and Transport Society

The Scottish Tramway and Transport Society was founded on 27th June 1951. Until 1983 it was known as the Scottish Tramway Museum Society. The Society was originally formed by tramway enthusiasts, mainly living in the Glasgow area, with a view to preserve a Glasgow "Room and Kitchen" type single deck tramcar (which is now preserved in the Glasgow Museum of Transport). The Society was less successful in attempting to preserve an Aberdeen tram. Tram 73 was Aberdeen's last double deck tram with an open upstairs balcony; it was stored for two years until lack of resources led to its scrapping in 1956.

The closure of Scotland's last tramway (Glasgow in 1962) led to the Society preserving several tramcars, including some in working order at the National Tramway Museum at Crich, near Matlock, Derbyshire. In 1963 the Society published the first edition of its magazine "Scottish Tramlines" which was later renamed "Scottish Transport" - covering all aspects of public transport in Scotland including tramway preservation. The Society has also published many other books of interest to transport enthusiasts, profits from which have largely been donated to the National Tramway Museum for the upkeep of its fleet of historic Scottish tramcars.

In the 1980s the Society started campaigning for the introduction of modern tram systems in Scotland. Plans to open a new tram system in Edinburgh in 2011 have been approved by the Scottish Parliament, which if realised would mark the achievement of one of the Society's major ambitions.