Newcastle A Class Tram 114, 1901 - Part Two

This wonderfully restored Edwardian electric tram has featured previously on the blog here - http://electric-edwardians.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/newcastle-class-tram-114-1901.html , however these photos show it as decorated for the 40th anniversary of the Beamish Open Air Museum's tramway operation. It is decorated with flowers similar to how many Edwardian trams were for, apparently, any occasion they could think of!

Sheffield Tram 264, 1907

Sheffield 264 is one of a batch of fifteen identical Trams delivered to Sheffield Corporation Tramways in 1907 by the United Electric Car Company of Preston, Lancashire. The upper deck was totally enclosed in the 1920's, which I believe means that the current condition of 264, with a 'balcony' top deck, means it is in its original Edwardian 'as built' condition. It was renumbered in the 1930's to become 342 and was only used at peak times, but clinged on until the 1950's when it was retired and entered preservation. After display at a couple of sites, including the Clapham Transport Museum, now long gone, it ended up at Beamish where it was painted in Gateshead fleet colours (although it never served at Gateshead), and was converted to an open top deck Tram owing to the poor condition of the top deck, however this later reinstated. It has been in storage in the Beamish tram depot for a number of years awaiting major restoration work to the body as well as mechanical attention before entering service again. Interestingly, there are two Sheffield 264's in preservation, the other being 264 of 1937, which is at the National Tramway Museum at Crich, Derbyshire 

London United Tramways W Type Tram No 159, 1902

This beautiful, large tram was built in 1902 for London United Tramways. Number 159 is a double bogie, double deck open top W Type Tram built by GF Milnes. London United Tramways, abbreviated to LUT, started services in 1901 in West London with a fleet of similar trams. When built it was very luxurious, especially compared to the normal wooden floor and wooden seated trams, with the lower enclosed deck having carpets, curtains and padded seats, and i'm not aware of any surviving Trams from the Edwardian era having anywhere near as much luxury for the passengers. Another unique feature is the stairs to the upper deck - rather than a constant curve as on other Edwardian Trams, 159 has a straight staircase, a platform where you turn 180 degrees and then up another straight staircase to the top deck. Restoration of Tram 159 was completed in July 2012, but unfortunately a problem with the Tram meant it was not running during the Edwardian Weekend and I am unfortunately yet to see it in action or get the chance to ride it, but hope to soon

 

Darlington Tram 16, 1904

Darlington moved to electric trams in 1904 after having horse drawn trams operate in the city since 1880. A power station was built as early as 1900 in anticipation of the introduction of electric trams, and on June 1 1904 the electric tramway service opened for public use. The system was operated at first by a fleet of 16 single deck trams built by GF Milnes & Co, but they were so popular that in 1912 an additional two 56 seater double deck trams were bought from the United Electric Car Company of Preston, which itself was a combination of the popular tram manufacturer Dick Kerr and GF Milnes. A further 8 second hand trams were bought from the closed Sheerness and District Tramways Company which closed in 1917, with 6 being put into service. The Darlington tramway shut in 1926, and none of the tram cars survive - this large scale model of Tram 16, one of the original 16 GF Milnes single deck tram cars of 1904, is on display at the Crich Tramway Museum in Derbyshire

Manchester Horse Drawn Tower Wagon, 1911

Although most tramways had moved to electric traction in the early 1900's, it didn't mean the complete end of horses employed on the tramways - the new elevated electric power lines meant that tower wagons such as this were needed to maintain and repair them. Some companies used motor wagons (such as Leicester which had Leyland's), and others had horse drawn tower wagons, such as this one used in Manchester and built in 1911. The platform at the top is on a turntable to improve access - in modern terms, the closest equivalent would be a cherry picker

Newcastle Tram 102, 1901

This large tram is a unique survivor of a workmen's tram car, built to carry large numbers of workmen in a single car, not as comfortable as a 'traditional' tram car but able to offer cheaper fares. Most trams of the era were built with four wheels, however to cope with the large capacity, Newcastle 102 was built with eight wheels, arranged in a pair of four wheeled bogies. Newcastle 102 was built as a single deck tram by Hurst Nelson of Motherwell near Glasgow, but was rebuilt in 1903 with an upper deck. The change from single deck to double deck to increase capacity accounts for the rather cramped platforms for the driver and conductor at each end, with a tighter staircase.

There is a similar looking, but shorter and four wheeled, Newcastle Tram of similar vintage surviving - Newcastle 114 of 1901 at Beamish - http://electric-edwardians.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/newcastle-class-tram-114-1901.html

 

Cardiff Works Tram 131, 1905

Cardiff 131 is a rare survivor of the Edwardian electric tram boom - it was purpose built as a maintenance vehicle, and not designed to carry passengers. The centre of the body contains a large water tank used for cleaning the tracks, and also a rail grinder for ensuring they are of the correct profile. It was also used for driver training before new drivers were let loose on passenger carrying vehicles, which of course were more important and couldn't be spared both in terms of their value and workload for training new drivers

Derby Tram 1, 1904

A typical Dick Kerr of Preston Tram as used in many towns and cities in the UK, Derby 1 was, as the number implies, the first of the new electric trams used by Derby Corporation Tramways. It was the first to be delivered and was used for driver training before the opening of the network on July 27 1904. The Derby tram network was of a slightly different gauge to most tramways - it's tracks were 4 feet wide instead of the standard 4 ft 8.5 inches, as used on the British railways.

The Derby trams operated until 1934, when they were replaced by Trolleybusses which had started to take over their services from 1932. Today, Derby 1 is preserved at the Crich Tramway Museum, Derbyshire, in original open top condition. It is a fine example of an Edwardian tram in original condition

In Affectionate Remembrance of the Derby Horse Cars, 1904

With the retirement of horse drawn trams when electric ones were introduced, the sense of occasion was marked by these postcards - not Derby specific, but issued to many towns and cities which were introducing electric trams almost identically, aside from the change of location and dates, with even the same image being used. The card reads;

'In affectionate remembrance of the Derby Horse Cars (London Road and Osmaston Road Sections) which succumbed to an ELECTRIC SHOCK July 28th 1904 after 25 years of faithful service

"GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN"'

London County Council Tram 106, 1903

 

One of the smallest types of electric trams used in London, LCC 106 was built in 1903 by Dick Kerr in Preston, Lancashire. Dick Kerr trams, which 106 is typical of, were extremely popular and used in a great many of the towns and cities that adoped electric tramways in the 1900's.

 

 

106 was one of 100 Class B Cars ordered by London County Council, and like most of the electric trams used across the country, was built as a double deck, open top car with open platforms at each end - which during service went under many changes. Originally built with 'reversed' stairs, they were changed in 1906 with direct stairs as it has now, and in 1911 106 was rebuilt with a fully enclosed top deck. When built, 106 could seat 22 downstairs on two long benches which face each other, and 34 on seats upstairs

Labels

Giving something a go to try and make it easier to find posts on specific subjects - fairly self explanatory, I try to not to make it too specific, broad enough to cover all items on the subject - for example 'Electric Railways' will also cover the infrastructure, electric passenger stock as well as the locomotives, Trams will cover horse-drawn and electric Trams etc etc. Click the links below and give it a go!

Southampton Corporation Tramways Tram 45, 1903

This is Southampton Tram No 45, built in 1903 by Hurst Nelson for the Southampton Corporation Tramways, and is a typical double deck, open top electric Tram of the Edwardian era as seen in most large towns and cities in the UK. After many years of service, it was retired in 1949, and promptly bought by the Light Railway Transport League after a tour of Southampton's Tramway network. It is slightly lower than most Trams of this type as it had to be able to go under the Bargate arch in Southampton, which restricted the size of the Tram. It also, to cater for this restriction, has the seats on the top deck located down the centre of the Tram facing outwards, this is called 'knifeboard' style. The upper deck placed strain on the Tram's body which, as originally built, the three windows on each side, so within four years Tram 45 and the 11 other Southampton Trams of the same design were rebuilt with four windows on each side as seen today, so Tram 45 now represents it's 1907 (at the latest) condition onwards.

This was the first Tram to be privately preserved in the UK and kick-started the preservation of Trams. The Wikipedia page for the Southampton Tram network has a good description and images of the problems faced by the Bargate arch, and how they were overcome - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southampton_Corporation_Tramways

Crich Tramway Village Edwardian Weekend 2012

This weekend saw the Crich Tramway Village's annual Edwardian Weekend. The Tramway Village is the home of the National Tram Museum. Fourteen of the museum's Trams were built in the Edwardian era, and they also have many Victorian Trams which were also just as fitting to be running over the weekend as of course they would be in use during the era. It's the only two days of the year that you can see, and ride on, a horse-drawn Tram, which were still in use at the beginning of the Edwardian era despite rapidly being taken over by electric Trams. For more information on the event, here is the webpage for it - http://www.tramway.co.uk/events/edwardian-weekend

 

 Old and the new - 1874 built Sheffield Horse Tram 15, hauled over the weekend by Joseph the Shire Horse, overtaking a 1914 built Saxon Model A Roadster

   

 A street dung collector protests about the new form of electric traction taking over Sheffield's tram system - meaning less work for him!

   

 Albert 'Ampstead, one of the Edwardian Music Hall stars, entertaining the crowd with 'The Man That Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo'

   

 Suffragette demonstration

   

   

 Sheffield Tram 74 of 1900

 

Southampton Tram 45 of 1903

Sunderland Tram, 1916

Although built in 1900, Sunderland Tram number 16 currently shows the condition that most of the Sunderland Trams looked in 1916 when they'd been modified with top covers to the original open top deck. Number 16 itself wasn't given top covers until the 1920's however, but this is a fine example of a late Edwardian tram

Leicester Tram 76, 1904

Leicester upgraded their Tramway system in 1904 from horse-drawn trams to electric trams in 1904, buying them from Dick Kerr in Preston, a very popular manufacturer of electric trams. When built, Tram 76, like all of the electric Leicester trams introduced in 1904, were double deck with an open top. Although this was great in good weather and very popular, in bad weather, and especially in winter, they were unpopular and resulted in lack of passengers, so from 1913 onwards top deck covers were introduced to the fleet, as seen on Leicester tram 76 as preserved here. This was a similar development to the tramway fleet in all cities which originally bought open top trams. In the 1930's, the Leicester trams were further modified by enclosing the open platforms at both ends, and enclosing the open verandahs on the top deck.

Decency flap open

Decency flap closed

One interesting feature of Leicester 76 is the reversed stairs, which had the disadvantage of blocking the view over the driver's left shoulder. To partially solve this, one step was perforated to give a better view - but this had the problem of showing ladies ankles when in use to gain access to and from the top deck, which would be at the conductor's end (although the trams work both ways, only one set of stairs would be used at a time, the set at the rear where the conductor would stand). To solve this problem, a simple 'decency flap' was incorporated - lowered when the driver was in that end of the tram, and closed shut when those stairs were used. If the decency flap was found to be down when it should have been shut, the conductor could be seriously fined to avoid them opening it. Tram 76 is seen preserved at the Crich Tramway Museum, Derbyshire

Submarine Tram, circa 1914

A Hartlepool Tram mocked up to look like a submarine (it works very well actually) - certainly dating from the First World War, but I don't know what year. Photograph source unknown, possibly Beamish Collections

Wolverhampton Tram 49, 1909

Surviving into preservation after being used as a timber store by a coffin maker in Shropshire, Wolverhampton Tram Number 49 was built in 1909 for use on Wolverhampton Corporation Tramways. Like most Edwardian trams, it was built with an open top deck, but within a few years was modified with a top cover for all-weather protection for the passengers.