Description:This etching captures the quiet authority popularly expected of conductors (see <a href="http://www.search.suburbanbirmingham.org.uk/engine/resource/default.asp?resource=1923">'Transport Workers in South West Birmingham'</a>). Responsible for fare collection, passenger safety and the smooth running of an intensive system, they would soon face new challenges. In 1937 the major Stratford Road group of tram routes closed and network abandonment was implemented from 1947 to 1953, after war-time postponement.<sup><small>1</small></sup>
<font color="#666633"><small><sup>1</sup> Ad hoc route abandonment had periodically been undertaken for operational reasons. For example, in 1922 trams serving Nechells had been replaced by trolleybuses and in 1930, Bolton Road (Small Heath) and Hagley Road services were converted to buses.</small></font>