Records of Grampian Regional Transport

Scope and Content

Records of Grampian Regional Transport and its predecessors, Grampian Transport, Aberdeen Corporation Transport Department, Aberdeen Corporation Tramways, Aberdeen Suburban Tramways Company, Aberdeen District Tramways Company, c 1890 - 1993. The survival of the business records of the organisation has been very piecemeal, and as a result most of the records deposited here are ephemeral, comprising principally printed papers such as posters, plans, timetables, newspaper cuttings, medals, tickets, travel passes, bus view cards, repair manuals, catalogues, etc. A comprehensive collection of printed acts and proceedings provides a framework for understanding the development of the local public transport network in Aberdeen from the 1870s - 1980s, and this is complemented by several printed and typescript histories, and public transport surveys, dating from the 1960s - 1990s. There is also a large photographic collection, comprising 300 - 400 images of horse cars, trams, buses, staff, and local views of the city, late 19th c - late 20th c.

Records relating to the running and organisation of the business include list of directors, Aberdeen District Tramways Company, 1872 and 1879; diaries of occurrences maintained by traffic control inspectors, 1926 - 1982; operational diaries, 1990 - 1993; private hire diaries, 1980 - 1982; accident book for tramcars, 1936 - 1939; general manager's report book, 1962 - 1963; minutes of inspectors' meetings with general manager, 1927 - 1977; order book, 1913 - 1914; stores books, 1925 - 1929; weekly performance graphs for trams and buses, 1952 - 1964 and 1974 - 1978.

Administrative / Biographical History

For details of the company's history see Michael J R Mitchell, Fae Dee to Don and Back Again: 100 years of Public Transport in Aberdeen (Aberdeen: First Aberdeen Ltd., 1998)

Arrangement

Listing in progress

Access Information

Open, subject to signature accepting conditions of use at reader registration sheet

Acquisition Information

Deposited in the University in May 1995, by Dr M.J.R. Mitchell, managing director, Grampian Regional Transport Ltd. Several additional deposits received, 1995 - 1998.

Other Finding Aids

Very brief collection level description available on Aberdeen University Library Catalogue, accessible online http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/library/

Alternative Form Available

No copies known

Conditions Governing Use

Subject to the condition of the original, copies may be supplied for private research use only on receipt of a signed undertaking to comply with current copyright legislation.

Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Head of Special Libraries and Archives (e-mail: speclib@abdn.ac.uk) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. Where possible, assistance will be given in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Appraisal Information

This material has been appraised in line with normal procedures

Accruals

No accruals expected

Related Material

The O'Dell library collection (shelfmark ref OD) consists mainly of printed material relating to transport history. Its particular strength lies in the field of railway history, but it also contains much of a more general nature on the transport history of the North of Scotland. A collection level description is available from the Historic Collections home page http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/historic/collects/stiqcgi/prelim01.html.

Bibliography

Michael J R Mitchell, Fae Dee to Don and Back Again: 100 years of Public Transport in Aberdeen (Aberdeen: First Aberdeen Ltd., 1998)

Additional Information

This material is original