The tracks in Falkner Street and Hope Street were horse car tracks, never electrified, and I believe never actually used in service.
The Falkner Street tracks were authorised by Liverpool Corporation in 1884 and built in 1885 at the request of the Liverpool United Tramways & Omnibus Co. (who the Corporation then leased the track to) as part of the extension to Princes Park. The idea was the trams would leave the city centre via Mount Pleasant, turn onto Hope Street, then Falkner Street and then Catherine Street and then cross Upper Parliament Street onto Princes Road, For the return, they would cross Upper Parliament Street then run the full length of Catherine Street, turn onto Myrtle Street and down Hardman Street and Leece Street before turning onto Renshaw Street.
Once the tracks were built, the safety issues of running horse trams up the long, sttep gradient of Mount Pleasant became apparent and so the company petitioned the Corporation to change the route to run via the shorter, shallower gradient of Leece Street, Hardman Street and Myrtle Street in both directions, but were denied, and so the Hope Street and Falkner Street tracks were not used (ironic, as one the Company's directors, William Busby, lived on Falkner Street).
However, after the Corporation took over the Liverpool United Tramways & Omnibus Co in 1897, it did run horse trams over the Mount Pleasant-Hope Street-Falkner Street route for a very short time prior to Mount Pleasant being electrified, at which point the Hope Street and Falkner Street tracks were abandoned and eventually lifted.
As for remaining 'ghosts' of the Liverpool tram system, the cobbles in the central reservation where the pointwork of the Utting Avenue East terminus used to be are still
just about visible. The line that carried the 19 route to Kirkby ROF/ Industrial Estate alongside the East Lancs Road crossed over Knowsley Brook on a bridge just before the junction with Moorgate Road, and up until the last 12-18 months the tracks embedded in the concrete were still visible, but they have now been
tarmac'd over to make a cycle path.
The old cast iron and concrete dual-purpose lighting and catenary posts still existed on most of the 1920s expansion era dual carriageway central reservations into the 2000s. these were a massive safety hazard, as unlike more modern lampposts they did not deform in a collision - as a child, I remember seeing the aftermath of a coach crashing into one on Utting Avenue East - it cleaved the body in two as far back as the front axle). On Breck Road, if you look up a the buildings you can still see a few of the old catenary anchors in situ on the walls (such as
here and
here).
