Robert Rodgers began working for Belfast Tramways in 1872 (the year the tram system began operation) as a tramway conductor. By 1898, he was chief inspector, a position he held until his retirement some time between 1911 and his death in 1918. During that time he had witnessed the conversion of the horse-drawn tram system to an electrified one.

The family connection doesn't end there. Robert's daughter Selina married Robert Nicholl, a tram driver, in 1890. By 1911, Robert was a depot foreman. The family appears to be living at the Mountpottinger depot. Their son, Robert John who was 19, was a tram conductor. Robert John emigrated to Adelaide, Australia in 1914 where he continued working in a tram system for several years.

In 1917, Robert Sr. was a tram foreman. His daughter Florence Selina married in January of that year and her residence was given as the Mountpottinger Tram Depot. When she gave birth to her son, Robert McKeown, in December of 1917, she was still living at the tram depot.