IT has not always been a smooth ride, but despite some rocky patches the Great Orme Tramway has made it to its 100th birthday and is celebrating in style. One of only three tramways of its type in the world - the others being in Lisbon and San Francisco - it is probably Llandudno's best known tourist attraction with most visitors to the resort taking the scenic ride to the summit of the headland. The idea of building a cable-hauled tramway to the top of the 679ft high Orme came from a group of local businessmen, but getting the project offthe ground was not easy. They first had to ask Parliament for permission and in 1898 the Great Orme Tramways Act allowing construction to start was passed. But it was not until 1891 that work on the £25,000 project began. On July 31, 1902, the lower section of track opened amid great celebration. A year later the section from the Halfway Station to the summit was completed. By the end of 1903 more than 77,000 people had ridden on the tramway, although it was not until 1920 that the shareholders received their first profits - 23 years after they bought their shares! Then just as they were beginning to see a reasonable return on their investment, the shareholders received a savage blow when in August, 1932, a fatal accident marred the tramway's hitherto excellent safety record. As car 4 was descending the steepest gradient near Black Gate, the steel drawbar fractured and the tramcar broke loose from the cable. Gathering speed it left the rails at Tabor Hill and hit the stone wall bordering Old Road. The driver Edward Harris was killed by the impact and 12-year-old Margaret Worthington later died of her injuries. | 
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