A version of this story was first published in June 2018.

There are certain highlights to the summer season in Wildwood.

It begins with the opening of Sam's Pizza on Presidents Day weekend and then when the rides open Palm Sunday weekend.

Then there is May 3 this year, when the warning of “Watch the tram car, please,” becomes the background noise of the Wildwoods Boardwalk.

"For a lot of people, until they see that tram car and hear that warning on the boardwalk it's not quite summer yet," said Patrick Rosenello, executive director of the Wildwood Boardwalk Special Improvement District.

"It's one of the audible signs that summer is here."

The first weekend in May will begin the tram cars' 71st year of transporting customers up and down the boardwalk.

So what has changed in 71 years of existence?

"Quite frankly one of the iconic things about the tram cars is not much has changed in 71 years," said Rosenello.

Anyone who has paid a visit to the Wildwoods Boardwalk has probably ridden in or narrowly escaped the path of the slow moving yellow and blue metal beast that only talks when provoked.

Since 1949, this boardwalk icon has been shuttling locals and shoobies alike up and down the 2-mile bumpy boulevard of games, food and good times.

Here are a few fun facts about the Wildwoods tram cars.

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Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

1. The tram cars have a unique history

The tram cars were originally built by the Greyhound Bus Company to transport visitors around the 1939 World’s Fair in Flushing, New York. In 1949, local business owner S.B. Ramagosa purchased five of the trams and brought them to Wildwood.

“They began operating on the Wildwoods Boardwalk on June 11, 1949, and the cost to ride one way was 10 cents,” said Patrick Rosenello, executive director of the Wildwood Boardwalk Special Improvement District.

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A 2,400 pound 36-volt battery is charged for one of the eight Boardwalk Sightseer Tram Cars, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

2. How it's powered

Originally powered by diesel engines in 1939, Ramagosa decided to switch them to electric. Under the hood nowadays sits a 2,400-pound, 36-volt battery. Between 4:30 and 5 p.m. every day, fully charged engines replace the engines that ran in the morning. Those passengers that happen to be on the tram at the time of the swap usually wait for the switch to be completed.

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John "Gig" Gigliotti, a West Deptford, drives a tram car on the Wildwoods Boardwalk, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. Gigliotti has been driving trams for 25 years. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

3. The drivers

From 1949 to somewhere in the ‘80s, the tram drivers and conductors were all females. “One of his (Ramagosa) things was he wanted all females to operate the tram cars,” said Rosenello.

Today the drivers include both retired and local people, as well as exchange students from overseas.

The longest tenured driver is John "Gig" Gigliotti, a West Deptford resident, who has been riding the boards for 25 years. The energetic Gigliotti, who didn’t want to divulge his age, is a retired freight and passenger train conductor.

“This is a miniature scale of what I did all my life,” said Gigliotti, who is now the Tram Safety Coordinator.

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Women driving a tram car

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Sunny the tram car runs on the Wildwoods Boardwalk Tuesday, June 5, 2018. Sunny was built as a test engine. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

4. They transport a lot of people

From the first weekend in May to the last weekend in September, the trams carry between 500,000 and 600,000 passengers. According Rosenello, during peak season, the trams may carry as many as 10,000 riders in a day.

The maximum number of trams that run at any one time is eight, with two spare engines in the wings. All five of the original 1939 trains still run. In 1964, Ramagosa built three more engines, and two more were built within the past few years. One was a replica of the 1939 engine and the other was a test engine, Sunny, that looks nothing like a tram, according to Rosenello.

They slightly changed the design and “The public was not happy about that,” said Rosenello.

Since 1949, more than 20 million passengers have taken advantage of the service.

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Photo provided | Patrick Rosenello

5. There was a summer they almost didn't run

“The summer of 2003 was the summer they almost didn't run,” explained Rosenello as he stood outside of the warehouse where the trams are stored on the boardwalk.

The Ramagosa family sold the trams to a group of local business owners in 1994.

In 2002, they decided to sell the trams, and at the end of the summer season, the trams were stored at the Cape May County airport, where other amusement parks around the country began to make offers for them.

However, the Boardwalk Special Improvement District (SID) — a private nonprofit corporation made up of all the property owners on the boardwalk — stepped up to the plate and entered into a leasing arrangement with the old owners in the spring of 2003.

“The property owners realized that losing the tram cars on the Wildwoods Boardwalk would be really damaging to the image of the boardwalk,” said Rosenello. “As well as losing really the icon of the Wildwoods, which is the tram cars.”

SID purchased the trams in 2004.

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6. The infamous voice

In 1971, Floss Stingel's boyfriend, an employee of Ramagosa, asked her to utter a few words into a home recorder.

That phrase — “Watch the tram car, please,” — will forever resonate in the minds of anyone that has set foot on the Wildwoods Boardwalk.

It became the voice of the beast, and it only took two or three tries.

The North Wildwood resident often walks the boardwalk and admitted that when she hears those words, she still smiles.

"I hear it so much, I just smile and keep walking."

Even when she isn't walking on the famous boardwalk, she can't get away from the voice.

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Two trams pass each other on the Wildwood Boardwalk, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

7. Tram race for charity, was it rigged?

Sitting comfortably behind the wheel of a tram, Gigliotti explained that for years Al Alberts, of the Four Aces, and Cozy Morley, owner of Club Avalon, used to race trams for charity.

For $5 people would ride in the passenger cars as they raced from 16th street to 23rd street. Funny thing about the races, Al Alberts always won.

“Cozy Morley came to me one year and said why don’t I ever win? I said, ‘maybe you’re not a good driver,’ but in reality I gave Al Alberts the fastest engine,” said Gigliotti with a hearty laugh. “I feel bad because now Cozy Morley’s gone and I gave him the shaft all the time.”

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The Woodland String Band's "Jest Jokin'" performance at the 2018 Philadelphia Mummers Parade on New Year's Day. Julia Hatmaker | jhatmaker@pennlive.com

8. Up for an Oscar, an Emmy and the Mummers Strut

It might not have been an Oscar-winning performance, but a tram was once on the big screen.

The movie was “Virginia” — originally titled “What's Wrong with Virginia” — starring Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly. A tram and Gigliotti were shipped to Michigan, where he spent a week training both actors how to operate it.

“They did alright but Jennifer Connelly, she didn't like to listen too much,” said Gigliotti.

A tram was also shipped to Atlantic City for the taping of an episode of “Sex and the City,” and appeared in the Mummers Parade for a Wildwood-themed production.

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie rides on a tram along the boardwalk in North Wildwood on Saturday, September 5, 2009.

9. Governors, the Harlem Globetrotters, weddings but no funerals

Trams have transported brides, grooms and wedding parties, but as far as Rosenello remembers a tram has yet to be in a funeral.

Every year Gigliotti drives the Harlem Globetrotters up and down the boardwalk when they make their yearly appearance in Wildwood. He also has driven the past two governors around when they were on the campaign trail.

It was pouring rain when now Gov. Phil Murphy visited Wildwood. He tried to keep dry by staying in the center of the passenger car he rode in.

Gigliotti recalled that former Gov. Chris Christie, who we all know loves the beach, made a stop at Sam’s Pizza during his visit. Unfortunately, Gigliotti did not accompany the governor into the restaurant, so there is no information on what was ordered.

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Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Riding a tram car is a tradition that has been handed down from generation to generation, said Rosenello. “In millions of people's minds, if you say ‘watch the tram car’ then next word out of their mouth is going to be Wildwoods Boardwalk.”

"There is really nothing like the boardwalk tram cars anywhere.”

The fare for the 2019 season is $3.50 one-way and $7 for the day until 5 p.m. After 5 p.m. the fare is $3.50 each way until the rides close.

For those yearning for that 2-mile bumpy ride, there is a pre-season special where you can ride the tram all day and all night for $5 before Memorial Day and then after Labor Day.

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Tim Hawk may be reached at thawk@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Tim on Instagram@photog_hawk and Twitter @photogthawk.

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