MANY jobs have their ups and downs, but whoever fills a vacancy at Great Orme Tramway is sure to have more than most.
With carriages travelling to the summit of Llandudno's Great Orme at 679 feet above sea level and back down again several times a day; a recently advertised position for a tram attendant has seen a surge in interest.
Applications for the unique position have now closed, but enthusiastic tram-fans keen to ride the rails for a living have been sending in a “substantial” amount of application forms according to manager of the Great Orme Tramway, Neil Jones.
He said: “The advert went out a fortnight ago on the website and in the Job Centre and we have had an excellent response. We only have one vacancy due to retirement.”
The Great Orme Tram is a popular tourist attraction for the town, so the right person for the job is essential.
And although the successful applicant will not be actually driving the carriage - which is controlled at the halfway station - he or she will be acting as the eyes and ears of the winch operator.
Mr Jones said: “You’ve got to be a sociable person. We are a physical presence on the Orme and are faced with a huge amount of questions on a wide range of things: the best places to go, the history and so on.
“You’ve also got to obviously be fit and healthy and constantly vigilant - we can’t move off the track if there are any obstructions. There are cars and pedestrians on the lower section and sheep and goats on the upper section to watch out for - it’s quite diverse!”
Although Mr Jones could not allude as to what kind of questions a potential tram operator may be asked, he confirmed the successful applicant would be provided with full training and assessments of competency.
Mr Jones added: “Each car does about 3,000 trips a year - that’s a huge amount. We run a normal service every 20 minutes, but when we’re busy we run to demand.
“If you like the outdoors and don’t want to work in an office you’ll love it. I may be biased, but it is a great job to do.”