The London County Council Tramways was an extensive network of public street tramways operated by the council throughout the County of London , UK , from 1899 to 1933, when they were taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board .
103-495: Sheffield Tramway was an extensive tramway network serving the English city of Sheffield and its suburbs. The first tramway line, horse-drawn, opened in 1873 between Lady's Bridge and Attercliffe , subsequently extended to Brightside and Tinsley . Routes were built to Heeley , where a tram depot was built, Nether Edge and Hillsborough . In 1899, the first electric tram ran between Nether Edge and Tinsley, and by 1902 all
206-516: A streetcar or trolley in the United States) is a type of urban rail transit consisting of either individual railcars or self-propelled multiple unit trains that run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way . The tramlines or tram networks operated as public transport are called tramways or simply trams/streetcars. Because of their close similarities, trams are commonly included in
309-622: A tram engine in the UK) at the head of a line of one or more carriages, similar to a small train. Systems with such steam trams included Christchurch , New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; other city systems in New South Wales ; Munich , Germany (from August 1883 on), British India (from 1885) and the Dublin & Blessington Steam Tramway (from 1888) in Ireland. Steam tramways also were used on
412-520: A Vermont blacksmith, had invented a battery-powered electric motor which he later patented. The following year he used it to operate a small model electric car on a short section of track four feet in diameter. Attempts to use batteries as a source of electricity were made from the 1880s and 1890s, with unsuccessful trials conducted in among other places Bendigo and Adelaide in Australia, and for about 14 years as The Hague accutram of HTM in
515-514: A comprehensive list of Sheffield trams of the tramway see Tramcars of the Sheffield Tramway . Unlike other tram companies, whose trams were often rebuilt and made to last 30 to 40 years, Sheffield Corporation adopted a policy of replacement by new vehicles after a 25-year life. By 1940, only 11 of its 444 trams were older than 26 years, more than half of them were less than ten. Sheffield Corporation operated 884 trams. Its last livery
618-423: A garden shed, it has been restored to original condition by the museum and is operational. The museum also has Standard car 189 (on display), Domed-roof car 264 (on display), and Roberts car 510 (operational). In addition there is also Sheffield works car 330 and early single-deck tram 46 that are not in working condition. The North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish had two preserved Sheffield trams. Number 264
721-479: A handbrake acting on all wheels, an electric brake for emergency use and a hand-wheel operated track brake. Between December 1924 and July 1927 they were rebuilt with a totally enclosed upper deck. Following the production of a prototype at Queens Road works in 1918, between 1919 and 1927 Brush at Loughborough built 100 of these cars, and another 50 at Cravens in Darnall . The prototype Standard car (number 1)
824-726: A similar technology, Pirotsky put into service the first public electric tramway in St. Petersburg, which operated only during September 1880. The second demonstration tramway was presented by Siemens & Halske at the 1879 Berlin Industrial Exposition. The first public electric tramway used for permanent service was the Gross-Lichterfelde tramway in Lichterfelde near Berlin in Germany, which opened in 1881. It
927-946: A well-known tourist attraction . A single cable line also survives in Wellington (rebuilt in 1979 as a funicular but still called the " Wellington Cable Car "). Another system, with two separate cable lines and a shared power station in the middle, operates from the Welsh town of Llandudno up to the top of the Great Orme hill in North Wales , UK. Hastings and some other tramways, for example Stockholms Spårvägar in Sweden and some lines in Karachi , used petrol trams. Galveston Island Trolley in Texas operated diesel trams due to
1030-540: Is a Preston car dating from 1907 and is in service after a major overhaul was completed in 2016, Number 513, a Roberts car dating from 1950, was there also until a few years ago. It first travelled to Blackpool, then Beamish and finally on to the East Anglian Transport Museum near Lowestoft , where it currently resides. 513 was stored for some time on disused railway sidings and lost its control equipment and most of its glass due to vandalism. It
1133-640: Is still in operation in modernised form. The earliest tram system in Canada was built by John Joseph Wright , brother of the famous mining entrepreneur Whitaker Wright , in Toronto in 1883, introducing electric trams in 1892. In the US, multiple experimental electric trams were exhibited at the 1884 World Cotton Centennial World's Fair in New Orleans, Louisiana , but they were not deemed good enough to replace
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#17327975820811236-734: Is the sole survivor of the fleet). In Italy, in Trieste , the Trieste–Opicina tramway was opened in 1902, with the steepest section of the route being negotiated with the help of a funicular and its cables. Cable cars suffered from high infrastructure costs, since an expensive system of cables , pulleys , stationary engines and lengthy underground vault structures beneath the rails had to be provided. They also required physical strength and skill to operate, and alert operators to avoid obstructions and other cable cars. The cable had to be disconnected ("dropped") at designated locations to allow
1339-713: The Bleecker Street Line until its closure in 1917. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , had its Sarah Street line drawn by horses until 1923. The last regular mule-drawn cars in the US ran in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas , until 1926 and were commemorated by a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1983. The last mule tram service in Mexico City ended in 1932, and a mule tram in Celaya, Mexico , survived until 1954. The last horse-drawn tram to be withdrawn from public service in
1442-637: The Hillsborough to be closed in November 1902. The network was basically in place by 1905, further development included extending lines out of the city and connecting lines. In 1905, Rotherham Corporation connected their line to Templeborough to Tinsley and both Sheffield and Rotherham corporations began running services between both towns. Some tensions existed between both councils and services were halted between September 1914 and May 1915 leaving passengers to either walk between both networks or use
1545-933: The Lamm fireless engines then propelling the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar in that city. The first commercial installation of an electric streetcar in the United States was built in 1884 in Cleveland, Ohio , and operated for a period of one year by the East Cleveland Street Railway Company. The first city-wide electric streetcar system was implemented in 1886 in Montgomery, Alabama , by the Capital City Street Railway Company, and ran for 50 years. In 1888,
1648-613: The National Tramway Museum at Crich . The National Tramway Museum at Crich in Derbyshire holds eight Sheffield trams. Sheffield Corporation Tramways car 15 is a horse tram dating from 1874; it was the first tram to be used at the museum in 1963 and still remains serviceable. Car 74 is another Victorian Sheffield tram, sold to the Gateshead tramway and ran until 1951. Although only its lower deck survived, as
1751-715: The Richmond Union Passenger Railway began to operate trams in Richmond, Virginia , that Frank J. Sprague had built. Sprague later developed multiple unit control, first demonstrated in Chicago in 1897, allowing multiple cars to be coupled together and operated by a single motorman. This gave rise to the modern subway train. Following the improvement of an overhead "trolley" system on streetcars for collecting electricity from overhead wires by Sprague, electric tram systems were rapidly adopted across
1854-647: The Tramways Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 78) local authorities were permitted to acquire privately operated tramways in their area after they had been operating for twenty-one years. Accordingly, in October 1891 the LCC decided to exercise its option to take over four and a half miles of route operated by the London Street Tramways Company . The company disagreed with the price offered by
1957-824: The West Midlands Metro in Birmingham , England adopted battery-powered trams on sections through the city centre close to Grade I listed Birmingham Town Hall . Paris and Berne (Switzerland) operated trams that were powered by compressed air using the Mekarski system . Trials on street tramways in Britain, including by the North Metropolitan Tramway Company between Kings Cross and Holloway, London (1883), achieved acceptable results but were found not to be economic because of
2060-1241: The 1850s, after which the "animal railway" became an increasingly common feature in the larger towns. The first permanent tram line in continental Europe was opened in Paris in 1855 by Alphonse Loubat who had previously worked on American streetcar lines. The tram was developed in numerous cities of Europe (some of the most extensive systems were found in Berlin, Budapest , Birmingham , Saint Petersburg , Lisbon , London , Manchester , Paris , Kyiv ). The first tram in South America opened in 1858 in Santiago, Chile . The first trams in Australia opened in 1860 in Sydney . Africa's first tram service started in Alexandria on 8 January 1863. The first trams in Asia opened in 1869 in Batavia (Jakarta), Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) . Limitations of horsecars included
2163-713: The 1894-built horse tram at Victor Harbor in South Australia . New horse-drawn systems have been established at the Hokkaidō Museum in Japan and also in Disneyland . A horse-tram route in Polish gmina Mrozy , first built in 1902, was reopened in 2012. The first mechanical trams were powered by steam . Generally, there were two types of steam tram. The first and most common had a small steam locomotive (called
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#17327975820812266-420: The 1980s. The history of passenger trams, streetcars and trolley systems, began in the early nineteenth century. It can be divided into several distinct periods defined by the principal means of power used. Precursors to the tramway included the wooden or stone wagonways that were used in central Europe to transport mine carts with unflanged wheels since the 1500s, and the paved limestone trackways designed by
2369-481: The Australian state of Queensland between 1909 and 1939. Stockholm , Sweden, had a steam tram line at the island of Södermalm between 1887 and 1901. Tram engines usually had modifications to make them suitable for street running in residential areas. The wheels, and other moving parts of the machinery, were usually enclosed for safety reasons and to make the engines quieter. Measures were often taken to prevent
2472-462: The British newspaper Newcastle Daily Chronicle reported that, "A large number of London's discarded horse tramcars have been sent to Lincolnshire where they are used as sleeping rooms for potato pickers ". Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century, and many large metropolitan lines lasted into the early 20th century. New York City had a regular horsecar service on
2575-774: The Entertainment Centre, and work is progressing on further extensions. Sydney re-introduced trams (or light rail) on 31 August 1997. A completely new system, known as G:link , was introduced on the Gold Coast, Queensland , on 20 July 2014. The Newcastle Light Rail opened in February 2019, while the Canberra light rail opened on 20 April 2019. This is the first time that there have been trams in Canberra, even though Walter Burley Griffin 's 1914–1920 plans for
2678-583: The Irish coach builder John Stephenson , in New York City which began service in the year 1832. The New York and Harlem Railroad's Fourth Avenue Line ran along the Bowery and Fourth Avenue in New York City. It was followed in 1835 by the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad in New Orleans, Louisiana , which still operates as the St. Charles Streetcar Line . Other American cities did not follow until
2781-599: The LCC Tramways had 167 miles (269 km) of tracks in operation, of which about nine were in Leyton, and a quarter of a mile owned by the City of London . Much of Central London was never served by trams, these being excluded from the area by legislation passed in 1872. LCC trams could also be seen outside the county of London. Apart from operating the Leyton system, there were connections and joint running arrangements with
2884-442: The LCC operating 113 miles (182 km) of tramways. In 1900 a further Act of Parliament gave the council the power to electrify its system. On 15 May 1903 the first electrified section from Westminster to Tooting was opened by The Prince and Princess of Wales who rode the route in a specially decorated tramcar, and paid their fares with halfpenny coins minted for the occasion. The last horse tram ran on 30 April 1915. Much of
2987-521: The Moor; Shoreham Street and Queens Road opened 1904 4 via Shoreham Street and Queens Road 5 via the Moor Eight depots were built throughout the city to service a fleet of about 400 trams. Tinsley depot ( 53°24′28″N 1°24′45″W / 53.40778°N 1.41250°W / 53.40778; -1.41250 ) was built in 1874 and was the first depot built for the "Sheffield Tramways Company". It
3090-545: The Netherlands. The first trams in Bendigo, Australia, in 1892, were battery-powered, but within as little as three months they were replaced with horse-drawn trams. In New York City some minor lines also used storage batteries. Then, more recently during the 1950s, a longer battery-operated tramway line ran from Milan to Bergamo . In China there is a Nanjing battery Tram line and has been running since 2014. In 2019,
3193-643: The North Metropolitan was awarded a fourteen-year lease to operate them. The council succeeded in having the London County Council Act 1896 passed, which gave it powers to operate trams. The next system to be acquired was that of the London Tramways Company in 1899, and from that date all lines taken over were operated by the county council itself. By 1909 most of the tramways in the county had been taken over,
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3296-789: The North Sydney line from 1886 to 1900, and the King Street line from 1892 to 1905. In Dresden , Germany, in 1901 an elevated suspended cable car following the Eugen Langen one-railed floating tram system started operating. Cable cars operated on Highgate Hill in North London and Kennington to Brixton Hill in South London. They also worked around "Upper Douglas" in the Isle of Man from 1897 to 1929 (cable car 72/73
3399-747: The Romans for heavy horse and ox-drawn transportation. By the 1700s, paved plateways with cast iron rails were introduced in England for transporting coal, stone or iron ore from the mines to the urban factories and docks. The world's first passenger train or tram was the Swansea and Mumbles Railway , in Wales , UK. The British Parliament passed the Mumbles Railway Act in 1804, and horse-drawn service started in 1807. The service closed in 1827, but
3502-413: The Second Street Cable Railroad, which operated from 1885 to 1889, and the Temple Street Cable Railway, which operated from 1886 to 1898. From 1885 to 1940, the city of Melbourne , Victoria, Australia operated one of the largest cable systems in the world, at its peak running 592 trams on 75 kilometres (47 mi) of track. There were also two isolated cable lines in Sydney , New South Wales, Australia;
3605-467: The Sheffield Tramways Company, which operated the services. Prior to the inauguration of the horse trams, horse buses had provided a limited public service, but road surfaces were poor and their carrying capacity was low. The new horse trams gave a smoother ride. The fares were too high for the average worker so the horse trams saw little patronage; services began later than when workers began their day so were of little use to most. Running costs were high as
3708-415: The South Yorkshire Transport Trust's 75 vehicle collection - http://www.sytt.webeden.co.uk/ The SYTT announced plans in February 2010 that looks set to see Tinsley Depot restored and opened as a new Museum. Heeley depot ( 53°21′31.5″N 1°28′28″W / 53.358750°N 1.47444°W / 53.358750; -1.47444 ) was for horse trams only: the line to it was never electrified. The depot
3811-562: The UK at Lytham St Annes , Trafford Park , Manchester (1897–1908) and Neath , Wales (1896–1920). Comparatively little has been published about gas trams. However, research on the subject was carried out for an article in the October 2011 edition of "The Times", the historical journal of the Australian Association of Timetable Collectors, later renamed the Australian Timetable Association. The world's first electric tram line operated in Sestroretsk near Saint Petersburg invented and tested by inventor Fyodor Pirotsky in 1875. Later, using
3914-410: The UK took passengers from Fintona railway station to Fintona Junction one mile away on the main Omagh to Enniskillen railway in Northern Ireland. The tram made its last journey on 30 September 1957 when the Omagh to Enniskillen line closed. The "van" is preserved at the Ulster Transport Museum . Horse-drawn trams still operate on the 1876-built Douglas Bay Horse Tramway on the Isle of Man , and at
4017-459: The adoption of electrical propulsion using the overhead current collection system. The National Grid was not as developed as it is now and so the Corporation set out to generate the required current - the Corporation became the local domestic and industrial electricity supplier. A power station was built for Sheffield Corporation Tramways on Kelham Island by the river Don between Mowbray Street and Alma Street. Feeder cables stretched from there to
4120-508: The advantages over earlier forms of transit was the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on steel rails, allowing the trams to haul a greater load for a given effort. Another factor which contributed to the rise of trams was the high total cost of ownership of horses. Electric trams largely replaced animal power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Improvements in other vehicles such as buses led to decline of trams in early to mid 20th century. However, trams have seen resurgence since
4223-419: The builder to that effect, locals woke one morning to find it knocked down. The builder told the council that it was unsafe and fell down in the night. Sheffield City Council instructed the builder that all work on site must stop until the archway was restored; however, work continued regardless. Flats were built in place of the depot and the central rooftop removed to make way for a courtyard. The original archway
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4326-460: The busiest tram line in Europe, with a tram running once per minute at rush hour. Bucharest and Belgrade ran a regular service from 1894. Ljubljana introduced its tram system in 1901 – it closed in 1958. Oslo had the first tramway in Scandinavia , starting operation on 2 March 1894. The first electric tramway in Australia was a Sprague system demonstrated at the 1888 Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in Melbourne ; afterwards, this
4429-439: The capital then in the planning stage did propose a Canberra tram system. In Japan, the Kyoto Electric railroad was the first tram system, starting operation in 1895. By 1932, the network had grown to 82 railway companies in 65 cities, with a total network length of 1,479 km (919 mi). By the 1960s the tram had generally died out in Japan. Two rare but significant alternatives were conduit current collection , which
4532-458: The car up the hill at a steady pace, unlike a low-powered steam or horse-drawn car. Cable cars do have wheel brakes and track brakes , but the cable also helps restrain the car to going downhill at a constant speed. Performance in steep terrain partially explains the survival of cable cars in San Francisco. The San Francisco cable cars , though significantly reduced in number, continue to provide regular transportation service, in addition to being
4635-402: The cars to coast by inertia, for example when crossing another cable line. The cable then had to be "picked up" to resume progress, the whole operation requiring precise timing to avoid damage to the cable and the grip mechanism. Breaks and frays in the cable, which occurred frequently, required the complete cessation of services over a cable route while the cable was repaired. Due to overall wear,
4738-409: The city's hurricane-prone location, which would have resulted in frequent damage to an electrical supply system. Although Portland, Victoria promotes its tourist tram as being a cable car it actually operates using a diesel motor. The tram, which runs on a circular route around the town of Portland, uses dummies and salons formerly used on the Melbourne cable tramway system and since restored. In
4841-446: The classic tramway built in the early 20th century with the tram system operating in mixed traffic, and the later type which is most often associated with the tram system having its own right of way. Tram systems that have their own right of way are often called light rail but this does not always hold true. Though these two systems differ in their operation, their equipment is much the same. London County Council Tramways Under
4944-416: The combined coal consumption of the stationary compressor and the onboard steam boiler. The Trieste–Opicina tramway in Trieste operates a hybrid funicular tramway system. Conventional electric trams are operated in street running and on reserved track for most of their route. However, on one steep segment of track, they are assisted by cable tractors, which push the trams uphill and act as brakes for
5047-410: The council, and the sale did not go through until 1 March 1895. As the LCC had no powers to operate tramways itself, it put the operation of the line out to tender, which the incumbent London Streetways won, being the only applicant. In 1896 the London Street Tramways offered its network for sale to the county council, as did the North Metropolitan Tramways Company. The council purchased the lines, and
5150-426: The decision was taken to eventually close the tramway system and replace it with motor buses. The decision was not unanimous, Councillor R.W. Allott resigned from the ruling Labour Group in protest. The Council compared the price to replace tramcars with that of buses, ignoring the shorter lifespan of motor buses. The first line conversion was the Fulwood to Malin Bridge in 1952. Several protests broke out following
5253-419: The depot as the Sheffield Bus Museum from 1987 until 2007, when it moved to a factory unit at Aldwarke , Rotherham . Since then the Sheffield Bus Museum Trust has been renamed the South Yorkshire Transport Museum. The building was then all but empty, with just a tile dealer left, in the first two bays through the gate. In 2009, the building was once again fully occupied. The rest of the bays are now home to
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#17327975820815356-430: The downhill run. For safety, the cable tractors are always deployed on the downhill side of the tram vehicle. Similar systems were used elsewhere in the past, notably on the Queen Anne Counterbalance in Seattle and the Darling Street wharf line in Sydney. In the mid-20th century many tram systems were disbanded, replaced by buses, trolleybuses , automobiles or rapid transit . The General Motors streetcar conspiracy
5459-442: The end of Weedon Street. The last route, Beauchief to Vulcan Road, closed on the afternoon of Saturday 8 October 1960. An illuminated car, followed by a procession of fourteen trams, carried passengers and Council dignitaries from Beauchief to the Tinsley depot. Trams then went on to Tinsley or Queens Road, trams led to the Queens Road were destined for preservation. The Sheffield Tramway Company's original horse-drawn tram network
5562-446: The engines from emitting visible smoke or steam. Usually the engines used coke rather than coal as fuel to avoid emitting smoke; condensers or superheating were used to avoid emitting visible steam. A major drawback of this style of tram was the limited space for the engine, so that these trams were usually underpowered. Steam trams faded out around the 1890s to 1900s, being replaced by electric trams. Another motive system for trams
5665-429: The entire length of cable (typically several kilometres) had to be replaced on a regular schedule. After the development of reliable electrically powered trams, the costly high-maintenance cable car systems were rapidly replaced in most locations. Cable cars remained especially effective in hilly cities, since their nondriven wheels did not lose traction as they climbed or descended a steep hill. The moving cable pulled
5768-538: The extremities of the system, covering over 40 miles of route. The horse operated lines were left opened and track replaced with heavier rails. Along with lines opening to Abbeydale , Walkley and Hunter's Bar , the missing link in the centre of the sprawling network between Moorhead and Lady's Bridge was finally laid. Electric lines opened in succession; Nether Edge to Tinsley on 6 September 1899, to Walkley on 18 September 1899 and Pitsmoor on 27 September 1899. The other electric lines opened soon after allowing
5871-439: The fact that any given animal could only work so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure, which the streetcar company was charged with storing and then disposing. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for about a dozen miles a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar. In 1905
5974-444: The late 19th and early 20th centuries a number of systems in various parts of the world employed trams powered by gas, naphtha gas or coal gas in particular. Gas trams are known to have operated between Alphington and Clifton Hill in the northern suburbs of Melbourne , Australia (1886–1888); in Berlin and Dresden , Germany; in Estonia (1921–1951); between Jelenia Góra , Cieplice , and Sobieszów in Poland (from 1897); and in
6077-402: The late 19th and early 20th centuries. There was one particular hazard associated with trams powered from a trolley pole off an overhead line on the early electrified systems. Since the tram relies on contact with the rails for the current return path, a problem arises if the tram is derailed or (more usually) if it halts on a section of track that has been heavily sanded by a previous tram, and
6180-432: The material shortage. This was a rare move but a necessary one to replace single-deck cars. The scarcity of material did not deter the corporation, though, who extended the network to Handsworth , Mansfield Road and to Sheffield Lane Top. In 1927, the Beauchief and Meadowhead lines were joined by the laying of track along Abbey Lane. Prince of Wales Road line was linked to the Handsworth and Intake line. The Nether Edge line
6283-550: The narrowness of the streets, which caused problems and were unsuitable for efficient service. Queens Road works ( 53°22′8″N 1°27′52″W / 53.36889°N 1.46444°W / 53.36889; -1.46444 ) opened in 1905. Many of Sheffield trams were built here. The building survived for many years following abandonment, but was demolished in 1993. Construction of Shoreham Street depot ( 53°22′36″N 1°27′54″W / 53.37667°N 1.46500°W / 53.37667; -1.46500 ) started in about 1910 on
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#17327975820816386-475: The necessity of overhead wire and a trolley pole for street cars and railways. While at the University of Denver he conducted experiments which established that multiple unit powered cars were a better way to operate trains and trolleys. Electric tramways spread to many European cities in the 1890s, such as: Sarajevo built a citywide system of electric trams in 1895. Budapest established its tramway system in 1887, and its ring line has grown to be
6489-486: The neighbouring company and municipal systems. This brought council trams to Purley on the Croydon Corporation system, Barnet and Enfield on that of Metropolitan Electric Tramways , and Hampton Court on London United Tramways metals. The council opened a coal-fired power station for the tramways on the Thames at Greenwich in 1906. As well as 22 tram depots around the county, refurbishment and maintenance works were opened at Charlton in 1909. On 1 July 1933,
6592-421: The oldest operating electric tramway in the world. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram was opened near Vienna in Austria. It was the first tram in the world in regular service that was run with electricity served by an overhead line with pantograph current collectors . The Blackpool Tramway was opened in Blackpool, UK on 29 September 1885 using conduit collection along Blackpool Promenade. This system
6695-399: The operator had to keep a large number of horses and could not offer low fares. Sheffield Corporation (Sheffield City Council) took over the tramway system in July 1896. The corporation's goal was to expand and mechanise the system. Almost immediately a committee was formed to inspect other tramway systems to look at the improved systems of traction. Upon their return the committee recommended
6798-415: The poor paving of the streets in American cities which made them unsuitable for horsebuses , which were then common on the well-paved streets of European cities. Running the horsecars on rails allowed for a much smoother ride. There are records of a street railway running in Baltimore as early as 1828, however the first authenticated streetcar in America, was the New York and Harlem Railroad developed by
6901-446: The publishing of the news. "Sheffield folk were fond of their trams and did not take kindly to the prospect of losing them". An unsuccessful petition was handed over to the council by the Holme Lane residents and traders. The second conversion occurred in 1954 and was the Ecclesall to Middlewood line. Thos. W. Ward received most of the trams for scrapping via a track connection into their scrap-yard on Attercliffe Common, almost opposite
7004-463: The railways. Sheffield Corporation introduced motor bus services from the termini to outlying districts in 1918. The First World War made material scarce and progress in bus technology which meant that many cities abandoned their tram networks. Sheffield considered trolleybuses, but found no favours in the Council who preferred motor buses. Twenty second-hand double-deck tramcars were purchased from London County Council Tramways in 1917 and 1918, due to
7107-435: The routes were electrified. As of 1910 the network covered 39 miles (62.7 km) and as of 1951 48 miles (77.2 km). The last trams ran between Leopold Street to Beauchief and Tinsley on 8 October 1960—three Sheffield trams were subsequently preserved at the National Tramway Museum in Crich . 34 years later trams returned to the streets of Sheffield under a new network called Supertram . The Sheffield horse tramway
7210-416: The site of an 18th-century lead mill. Following the abandonment of the tramway the depot was used as a bus garage until the 1990s. Much of the building has since been demolished and redeveloped as student flats. Those parts that surround the entrance at the junction of Shoreham Street and Leadmill Road are still standing and in good condition, though a new use for them has yet to be found. Crookes depot, which
7313-419: The suburban tramway lines around Milan and Padua ; the last Gamba de Legn ("Peg-Leg") tramway ran on the Milan- Magenta -Castano Primo route in late 1957. The other style of steam tram had the steam engine in the body of the tram, referred to as a tram engine (UK) or steam dummy (US). The most notable system to adopt such trams was in Paris. French-designed steam trams also operated in Rockhampton , in
7416-660: The system used overhead power pickup, but also the conduit system of electric current , as the metropolitan boroughs had the power of veto on the installation of overhead wires . The tramways north and south of the River Thames were almost completely separate until the opening of the Kingsway Subway in 1908. From 1 July 1921 the LCC Tramways assumed operation of the Leyton Urban District Council Tramways trams. In 1933,
7519-558: The tracks. Siemens later designed his own version of overhead current collection, called the bow collector . One of the first systems to use it was in Thorold, Ontario , opened in 1887, and it was considered quite successful. While this line proved quite versatile as one of the earliest fully functional electric streetcar installations, it required horse-drawn support while climbing the Niagara Escarpment and for two months of
7622-416: The tram and completing the earth return circuit with their body could receive a serious electric shock. If "grounded", the driver was required to jump off the tram (avoiding simultaneous contact with the tram and the ground) and pull down the trolley pole, before allowing passengers off the tram. Unless derailed, the tram could usually be recovered by running water down the running rails from a point higher than
7725-466: The tram loses electrical contact with the rails. In this event, the underframe of the tram, by virtue of a circuit path through ancillary loads (such as interior lighting), is live at the full supply voltage, typically 600 volts DC. In British terminology, such a tram was said to be 'grounded'—not to be confused with the US English use of the term, which means the exact opposite. Any person stepping off
7828-427: The tram, the water providing a conducting bridge between the tram and the rails. With improved technology, this ceased to be an problem. In the 2000s, several companies introduced catenary-free designs: Alstom's Citadis line uses a third rail, Bombardier's PRIMOVE LRV is charged by contactless induction plates embedded in the trackway and CAF URBOS tram uses ultracaps technology As early as 1834, Thomas Davenport ,
7931-804: The wider term light rail , which also includes systems separated from other traffic. Tram vehicles are usually lighter and shorter than main line and rapid transit trains. Most trams use electrical power, usually fed by a pantograph sliding on an overhead line ; older systems may use a trolley pole or a bow collector . In some cases, a contact shoe on a third rail is used. If necessary, they may have dual power systems—electricity in city streets and diesel in more rural environments. Occasionally, trams also carry freight . Some trams, known as tram-trains , may have segments that run on mainline railway tracks, similar to interurban systems. The differences between these modes of rail transport are often indistinct, and systems may combine multiple features. One of
8034-409: The winter when hydroelectricity was not available. It continued in service in its original form into the 1950s. Sidney Howe Short designed and produced the first electric motor that operated a streetcar without gears. The motor had its armature direct-connected to the streetcar 's axle for the driving force. Short pioneered "use of a conduit system of concealed feed" thereby eliminating
8137-532: The world's first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle tramcar at an assembly facility in Qingdao . The chief engineer of the CSR subsidiary CSR Sifang Co Ltd. , Liang Jianying, said that the company is studying how to reduce the running costs of the tram. Trams have been used for two main purposes: for carrying passengers and for carrying cargo. There are several types of passenger tram: There are two main types of tramways,
8240-401: The world. Earlier electric trains proved difficult or unreliable and experienced limited success until the second half of the 1880s, when new types of current collectors were developed. Siemens' line, for example, provided power through a live rail and a return rail, like a model train , limiting the voltage that could be used, and delivering electric shocks to people and animals crossing
8343-522: Was 9 1 ⁄ 2 miles long and radiated from the city centre to Tinsley , Brightside , Hillsborough , Nether Edge and Heeley . A few years after Sheffield Corporation took over horse tramways were gradually replaced first by single-deck, then double-deck electric trams. It extended routes to Beauchief and Woodseats in 1927 and to Darnall and Intake in 1928. Adjacent lines were converted into circular route by sleeper-track connecting links. The line along Abbey Lane linking Beauchief to Woodseats
8446-682: Was a case study of the decline of trams in the United States. In the 21st century, trams have been re-introduced in cities where they had been closed down for decades (such as Tramlink in London), or kept in heritage use (such as Spårväg City in Stockholm). Most trams made since the 1990s (such as the Bombardier Flexity series and Alstom Citadis ) are articulated low-floor trams with features such as regenerative braking . In March 2015, China South Rail Corporation (CSR) demonstrated
8549-422: Was available for emergency use. Car 536, which entered service on 11 April 1952, was the last tram to be constructed for Sheffield. Representing the ultimate development of the traditional British four-wheel tram, the class worked for only 10 years, as Sheffield tramway closed in 1960. On 8 October of that year, car 513, ran specially decorated in the final procession; so too did sister tram 510, now preserved by
8652-451: Was blue and cream, worn on the preserved trams at Crich and Beamish. The United Electric Car Company of Preston built 15 double deck balcony cars for Sheffield Corporation Tramways in 1907. Initially numbered 258–272 they had wooden seats for 59 passengers, and were mounted on a four-wheel Peckham P22 truck with two Metrovick 102DR 60 hp motors operated by British Thomson-Houston B510 controllers. The braking systems consisted of
8755-491: Was built by Werner von Siemens who contacted Pirotsky. This was the world's first commercially successful electric tram. It drew current from the rails at first, with overhead wire being installed in 1883. In Britain, Volk's Electric Railway was opened in 1883 in Brighton. This two kilometer line along the seafront, re-gauged to 2 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 825 mm ) in 1884, remains in service as
8858-574: Was built by Cravens at Darnall, and entered service in 1927. Subsequently, about 150 were built at Queens Road works and 25 by W.E. Hill & Sons in South Shields . From 1936 to 1939 Queens Road works built redesigned Standard cars, known as the 'Domed-roof' class, which had improved lighting and seats. The prototype for this series, number 501, was built at Queens Road works in August 1946. With comfortable upholstered seating for 62 passengers, it
8961-496: Was built by the Sheffield Tramways company in 1878. When the building was no longer required it was sold off and used as a motor vehicle repair shop until 2005, when it was purchased to become part of a block of flats. The building had listed status, as part of which the builder was told that the archway, which included the carved stone "Sheffield Tramways" legend, had to remain in place. Although promises were made by
9064-583: Was closed in 1934, in face of line renewal costs, the Nether Green via Broomhill line suffering the same fate. The Prussian blue with cream bands with gold leaf lining livery gave way to the Cream with azure blue bands. After the Second World War, the railway bridge on Sheffield Road was replaced and the through-tram service to Rotherham temporarily suspended. It was never reinstated. In 1951,
9167-532: Was created under the Tramways Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 78), with powers granted in July 1872. The first routes, to Attercliffe and Carbrook , Brightside , Heeley , Nether Edge and Owlerton opened between 1873 and 1877. Under the legislation at that time, local authorities were precluded from operating tramways but were empowered to construct them and lease the lines to an individual operating company. Tracks were constructed by contractors and leased to
9270-668: Was finally rebuilt, partly with original material but noticeably different and with a lot of new material. Slate from the original roof was replaced. The arch looks 'new' and some locals have said it has lost its originality. It is far higher that it was before as it has been lifted to comply with regulations to allow access by the fire service. A small tram shed was built at the Nether Edge terminus ( 53°21′35″N 1°29′18″W / 53.35972°N 1.48833°W / 53.35972; -1.48833 ), opened in 1899. The Nether Edge line and two other small sections were abandoned due to
9373-633: Was fitted with replacement controllers from a different vehicle, and is therefore no longer the same as when it was built. The SYTM owns Sheffield Corporation tramcar 460. The tramcar was built by Cravens in Darnall, Sheffield and was part of a batch of fifty cars, all numbered between 451 and 500. The car was equipped with upholstered seats in April 1939 and survived the Blitz on Sheffield in December 1940. She
9476-487: Was installed as a commercial venture operating between the outer Melbourne suburb of Box Hill and the then tourist-oriented country town Doncaster from 1889 to 1896. Electric systems were also built in Adelaide , Ballarat , Bendigo , Brisbane , Fremantle , Geelong , Hobart , Kalgoorlie , Launceston , Leonora , Newcastle , Perth , and Sydney . By the 1970s, the only full tramway system remaining in Australia
9579-540: Was mostly reserved track . The last extensions were opened in 1934 and extended the network to Lane Top, via Firth Park. Three small sections, Fulwood Road, Nether Edge and Petre St, were closed between 1925 and 1936. In 1952 the Corporation closed two sections followed by the rest of the network between 1954 and 1960. The sortable table below shows opening and closing dates of routes - 1 via Newhall Road 2 Owlerton via Penistone Road opened 12 February 1902 3 via
9682-427: Was on Pickmere Road ( 53°23′1″N 1°30′25″W / 53.38361°N 1.50694°W / 53.38361; -1.50694 ), was started in 1914 but not completed until 1919. It closed on 5 May 1957 and has since been demolished and a church now stands on the site. Tenter Street depot ( 53°23′2″N 1°28′21″W / 53.38389°N 1.47250°W / 53.38389; -1.47250 ) opened in 1928 and
9785-420: Was originally built for horse trams but was converted for electric trams in 1898–99, after which it was capable of accommodating 95 trams. Following the abandonment of the tramway system in 1960, it was sold and was subsequently used as a warehouse. Much of the original 1874 building still exists and the entire depot is listed as a historically significant building. The Sheffield Bus Museum Trust used part of
9888-621: Was restarted in 1860, again using horses. It was worked by steam from 1877, and then, from 1929, by very large (106-seat) electric tramcars, until closure in 1960. The Swansea and Mumbles Railway was something of a one-off however, and no street tramway appeared in Britain until 1860 when one was built in Birkenhead by the American George Francis Train . Street railways developed in America before Europe, due to
9991-628: Was tested in San Francisco , in 1873. Part of its success is attributed to the development of an effective and reliable cable grip mechanism, to grab and release the moving cable without damage. The second city to operate cable trams was Dunedin , from 1881 to 1957. The most extensive cable system in the US was built in Chicago in stages between 1859 and 1892. New York City developed multiple cable car lines, that operated from 1883 to 1909. Los Angeles also had several cable car lines, including
10094-635: Was the Melbourne tram system. However, there were also a few single lines remaining elsewhere: the Glenelg tram line , connecting Adelaide to the beachside suburb of Glenelg , and tourist trams in the Victorian Goldfields cities of Bendigo and Ballarat. In recent years the Melbourne system, generally recognised as the largest urban tram network in the world, has been considerably modernised and expanded. The Adelaide line has been extended to
10197-411: Was the cable car, which was pulled along a fixed track by a moving steel cable, the cable usually running in a slot below the street level. The power to move the cable was normally provided at a "powerhouse" site a distance away from the actual vehicle. The London and Blackwall Railway , which opened for passengers in east London, England, in 1840 used such a system. The first practical cable car line
10300-407: Was the last car to be built at the works. From 1950 to 1952 35 more, numbered 502–536, were constructed by Charles Roberts & Co. of Horbury near Wakefield. They were carried on a four-wheel Maley & Taunton hornless type 588 truck with rubber and leaf spring suspension, powered by two Metrovick 101 DR3 65 hp motors. Air brakes were fitted, acting on all wheels, and electric braking
10403-414: Was the last operational tram depot. There was a bus garage on the upper level, accessed from Hawley Street. The depot at Holme Lane ( 53°24′7″N 1°30′12″W / 53.40194°N 1.50333°W / 53.40194; -1.50333 ) closed on 23 April 1954. The facade of the building still stands, although the rest of the building has been demolished and a medical centre built in its place. For
10506-878: Was widely used in London, Washington, D.C., and New York City, and the surface contact collection method, used in Wolverhampton (the Lorain system), Torquay and Hastings in the UK (the Dolter stud system), and in Bordeaux , France (the ground-level power supply system). The convenience and economy of electricity resulted in its rapid adoption once the technical problems of production and transmission of electricity were solved. Electric trams largely replaced animal power and other forms of motive power including cable and steam, in
10609-533: Was withdrawn in February 1950 and stored at Tinsley Tram Sheds until 1951 when the car was dismantled with the lower and upper saloon bodies being disposed of separately. The lower saloon of No 460 fetched £25 and was used on a farm in Lincolnshire. The lower body was generously donated by Mr and Mrs K.S. Jacklin of Susworth near Scunthorpe and returned to Tinsley in May 1987. Tram A tram (also known as
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