In this painting Bert's deceased friend Ton van der Pennen is behind the wheel of the historic yellow tram in The Hague. Ton gave Bert the idea to make a series of paintings about trams in and around The Hague. Ton writes in one of his blogs about 'Greetings from The Hague - With the tram to the beach' (see: https://tonvandervangen.nl/?p=3432 ).
The Yellow Tram was, especially in Leiden, the name of the Dutch long-distance tram that maintained the service from Leiden via Wassenaar to The Hague between 1925 and 1961. The line was operated by the Haagsche Tramweg-Maatschappij and from 1927 by the N.V. Mixed Company Haagsche Tramweg-Maatschappij, both known as HTM and based in The Hague.
In 1927 the company Allan from Rotterdam built the series 801-815 for the N.V. Haagsche Tramweg-Maatschapij (HTM). The series was ordered to serve on the new tram line 11. On June 15, 1927, the HTM started operating the new line 11, which followed the former route of the Hollandsche Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM) steam tram line to Scheveningen.
The new tram line 11 was a "express tram line" lying completely on the open track. The fast motor vehicles were equipped with a repeating electric bell, which had to warn the public. In addition to running on line 11, the trams also served a large part of the city network.
The HTM 810 was in service with the HTM until 1965 and had the capacity for 23 seats and 44 standing places. Today the motor vehicles are part of the Collection of the HOVM and have been restored as much as possible to the delivery condition of 1927.
