| Derby Corporation Tramways | |||||||||||||
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 Derby Corporation tram waiting outside Derby railway station | |||||||||||||
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| Locale | Derby, Derbyshire, England | ||||||||||||
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Derby Corporation Tramways was the tram system serving the city of Derby (then a town), England. It opened on 27 July 1904.
The company was formed by the corporation which took over the assets of the Derby Tramways Company, which had provided horse-drawn tramway services since 1880.
The initial lines electrified were the London Road and Osmaston Road routes. Six decorated cars travelled over these routes on 27 July 1904 carrying the Mayor and Corporation with various officials. The electric tramway service was officially opened by the Mayor of Derby in a ceremony at the tramshed on Alvaston Road. [2] The scheme entalied an expenditure of between £80,000 and £90,000 (equivalent to £9,170,000in 2021) [3] to (equivalent to £10,320,000in 2021). [3]
The remaining routes along St Peter’s Street, Babington Land, Normanton Road, Burton Road, and also along Bateman Street, Douglas Street and Dairy House Road were electrified and opened on 8 September 1904 after inspection by Major Pringle of the Board of Trade on 7 September 1904. The same date also saw the opening of the new tramway offices in Victoria Street. [4]
The work to extend the electric tramway at a cost of £4,000 (equivalent to £460,000in 2021) [3] from St Peter’s Street to Market Head commenced on 2 January 1905 [5] with a contract awarded to J.G. White and Co. This was inspected by Major Pringle on 24 February 1905 and opened the same day for traffic. [6]
An extension along Kedleston Road constructed by William Griffiths and Co was opened on 29 July 1905 [7] and the extension along Walbrook Road linking the Pear Tree and Upper Dale routes opened on 5 September. [8]
In January 1907 it was agreed to extend tram routes along Ashbourne Road and Uttoxeter Road. [9] A contract was awarded to Blackwell and Co. with the aim of having the routes opened by the August Bank Holiday but the contractor ran into difficulty and these routes were not opened until 28 November 1907. [10]
An extension along Nottingham Road opened on 8 February 1908 [11] and one on Burton Road opened on 30 July 1908. [12]
The four foot gauge tramways were replaced by Derby trolleybuses. The conversion began in 1932. [13]
As the service was converted to trolley-bus operation, the corporation started disposed of tramcars with the first 27 being sold for scrap at £10 each. Fourteen tramcars were sold in July 1933 to Messrs. Grahamsley’s Ltd of Newcastle for £175. [14] Bodies from tramcars were utilised for summer-houses, and others were turned into week-end bungalows on Derby allotments. Two cars were acquired by Derby Education Committee for dressing rooms at school tennis courts at Homelands, Normanton. Parts of other cars were used to built poultry houses in the Brailsford district.
As the service closed it was reported that £296,000 had been expended on permanent way, cars and electrical equipment. The tramcars had run a total of 36.5 million miles, and 445 million passenger had been carried. This had resulted in £2,396,720 in fares during the 30 year period of operation. [15]
The final passenger service operated on 29 June 1934 and the last tram ran over the system on 2 July 1934 on a ceremonial run when P.W. Bancroft, general manager, chose one of the companies longest serving employees, William Spencer, to drive. As the tram approached the depot, William Spencer surrendered control to the Mayor who drove it into the yard. [16]
There were two depots for the tramcars
Tramcar n°1 is the only Derby tramcar preserved and is located at the National Tramway Museum in Crich, Derbyshire. This tram was used for crew training prior to the opening of the system.
Matlock Cable Tramway was a cable tramway that served the town of Matlock, Derbyshire, UK between 28 March 1893 and 30 September 1927.
Dundee Corporation Tramways formerly served the City of Dundee in Scotland. The corporation had financed the construction of a horse tramway in 1877, but had then leased it to the Dundee and District Tramways Company. They had replaced most of the horse trams with steam tram locomotives pulling trailer cars from 1884, but in 1897 the corporation decided that it would run the tramway system itself. After some negotiation and the payment of compensation, they took over the system in 1899, with a view to electrifying it. Electric trams started running in 1900, and the changeover was completed in 1902.
Aberdeen Corporation Tramways formerly served the City of Aberdeen, Scotland.
The Fremantle tramway network linked the central business district of Fremantle, the port city for Perth, Western Australia, with nearby suburbs. Small but comprehensive, it operated between 1905 and 1952. It was not connected with the larger Perth tramway system.
The Derby Tramways Company operated horse-drawn tramway services in Derby from 1880 to 1904.
The Burton and Ashby Light Railway was a tramway system operating between Burton upon Trent and Ashby-de-la-Zouch between 1906 and 1927.
Northampton Corporation Tramways operated an electric tramway service in Northampton between 1904 and 1934.
Burnley Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Burnley between 1901 and 1935.
Coventry Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Coventry, England, between 1912 and 1940.
The Cheltenham and District Light Railway operated an electric tramway service in Cheltenham between 1901 and 1930.
Tramways in Exeter were operated between 1882 and 1931. The first horse-drawn trams were operated by the Exeter Tramway Company but in 1904 the Exeter Corporation took over. They closed the old network and replaced it with a new one powered by electricity.
Walsall Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Walsall between 1904 and 1930.
The Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Tramways Company operated an electric tramway service between Dudley and Stourbridge and also other lines in the neighbourhood between 1899 and 1930.
The Aberdeen District Tramways operated a horse-drawn tramway services in Aberdeen between 1874 and 1898.
Wigan Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Wigan, England, between 1901 and 1931. The first tramway service in the town was run by the Wigan Tramways Company, whose horse trams began carrying passengers in 1880. They began replacing horses with steam tram locomotives from 1882, but the company failed in 1890 when a Receiver was appointed to manage it. The Wigan & District Tramways Company took over the system in 1893 and ran it until 1902. Meanwhile, Wigan Corporation were planning their own tramway system, obtaining an authorising Act of Parliament in 1893, and a second one in 1898. This enabled them to build electric tramways, and in 1902, they took over the lines of the Wigan & District Tramways Company.
Bath Tramways Company and its successors operated a 4 ft horse drawn tramway service in Bath between 1880 and 1902. From 1903 until its closure in 1939 an expanded route carried electric trams operated by Bath Electric Tramways Company.
Llanelly and District Electric Tramways operated a standard gauge tramway service in Llanelli, Wales, between 1908 and 1933. It was the successor to a 3 ft gauge horse tramway, which ran from 1882 until 1908. A complex series of negotiations took place in the early 1900s, resulting in the horse tramway being converted to an electric tramway. Standard gauge horse trams were run initially, until the company completed North Dock power station, which supplied electricity to the tramway. Two of the employees who worked on the construction went on to found Balfour Beatty.
Huddersfield Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Huddersfield, England, between 1883 and 1940. It initially used steam locomotives pulling unpowered tramcars, but as the system was expanded, a decision was taken to change to electric traction in 1900, and the first electric trams began operating in February 1901. The system was built to the unusual gauge of 4 ft 7+3⁄4 in, in the hope that coal wagon from neighbouring coal tramways, which used that gauge, could be moved around the system. This did not occur, but two coal trams were used to delivered coal to three mills.
The Great Grimsby Street Tramways Company was a tramway serving Grimsby and Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire, England. It was a subsidiary of The Provincial Tramways Company. They opened a horse tramway in 1881, running from the Wheatsheaf Inn in Bargate to the border with Cleethorpes, with a branch along Freeman Street, and extended the line into Cleethorpes in 1887. It followed the trend of many British systems, and was converted to an electric tramway in December 1901. Small extensions were made to the system at both ends, but the basic plan of the system remained the same throughout its life.
Stockport Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Stockport, England, between 1901 and 1951. It was preceded by a horse tramway from Levenshulme to Stockport, which opened in 1880, and was ultimately run by the Manchester Carriage and Tramways Company. A second independent horse tramway opened in 1890, running to Hazel Grove. In 1899 the Corporation bought the first line, electrified it, and leased it back to the operating company. Their powers to buy the Stockport and Hazel Grove Tramway, authorised by the same Act of Parliament, were not exercised until 1905.
Tramways in Derbyshire | |
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(Closed systems) | |
