Wasn’t sure where to put this really so figured it was thread-worthy.
Skate Nottingham have done a great thing here in transforming what was once one of the most iconic banked street spots in the UK (Broadmarsh banks) into a skateable ‘Tram Line Spot’ following its demolition. Back story and talking heads from those involved, plus a few randoms like myself below. Big up this kind of thing.
It was used often in late 80s/early 90s to describe contest runs (mainly) where skaters either repeated the same runs or only performed on-trend tricks.
I.E. “Big John’s run was solid but he trammed it up with all the one-foot variations”
So not deviating from an established route or line in the same way that a tram’s progress is predetermined by the tramline beneath.
We used tramline initially to describe someone who wasn’t using the full width of a mini ramp and was just skating back and forth on a tiny section, as if on rails. It then extended to describe trick selection, where skaters would just do a handful of the flavour of the month tricks and nothing else - ‘tramline runs’, ‘tramlining it’ or ‘that guy’s a tramliner’.We also used it to describe clothes and shoes, usually those worn by the general public, (as opposed to skateboarders who have always been immune to the lure of following any sort of fashion), you know, whatever was ‘on trend’ at the time would be called tramline. Hairstyles, music choices, anything popular, mainstream or played out really, ended up being labelled by us as tramline.