| Gloucester Corporation Tramways | |
|---|---|
 Map of the Gloucester Corporation Tramways | |
| Operation | |
| Locale | Gloucester |
| Open | 7 May 1904 |
| Close | 12 January 1933 |
| Status | Closed |
| Infrastructure | |
| Track gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
| Propulsion system(s) | ???v DC Electric |
| Statistics | |
| Route length | 9.75 miles (15.69 km) |
Gloucester Corporation Tramways operated an electric tramway service in Gloucester between 1904 and 1933. [1]
Gloucester City Council purchased the assets of the horse-drawn Gloucester Tramways Company in 1902, with the intention of electrifying and extending the service. The horse tramway had been built to the 4' gauge, but the replacement electric service was built to the 3'6" gauge.
The contractor for the rebuilding was George Law of Kidderminster. Edgar Allen and Company of the Imperial Steelworks and Yorkshire Steel and Engineering Works, Sheffield, provided the tramlines. [2]
The electric service opened on 7 May 1904. Thirty tramcars were delivered in two batches from Brush Electrical Machines of Loughborough. The livery was crimson lake and cream, but, during World War I, the livery changed to all-grey. This could have been due to a shortage of paint, or because the trams went to Brockworth Aerodrome, a sensitive military area. This all-grey livery lasted until the system's closure.
The tram depot was located off Bristol Road at its junction with Lysons Road at SO 8256 1717 .
The company operated tramways along the six main roads leading out of Gloucester. A portion of the Brockworth via Hucclecote route was owned by Gloucestershire County Council. [3]
An extension from Churchdown Lane, Hucclecote, to the Victoria Inn, Brockworth, and into the new Brockworth Aerodrome took place during 1917, using recovered track from the little-used Westgate Street line. More track was laid into the Great Western Railway (GWR) sidings at Gloucester Docks, where much of the material was unloaded. Some of the trams were fitted out so that they acted as locomotives pulling several railway trucks, taking materials to the aerodrome. In the summers of 1922 to 1924, a passenger service ran to the Victoria Inn, transporting passengers to. what was then, the countryside. After this, the track extension, from Brockworth back to Churchdown Lane, was lifted.
As part of a programme of replacing the tramway services with buses, which had started in 1929, the final trams ran on 12 January 1933. In 1935, Gloucester City Council entered into an agreement with the Bristol Omnibus Co. to lease out its bus services. A joint committee administered these services. Bristol Omnibus and Gloucester Corporation both held their own Road Service Licences for the city (joint) routes. Until Stagecoach West took over the services in 1993, 35 Bristol/NBC/Western Travel buses always showed (CITY OF) GLOUCESTER on their sides, along with the city's Coat of Arms.
In Bristol days, the 1930s bus depot was, and still is, in London Road, almost opposite Great Western Road.
Midland Red was a bus company that operated in The Midlands from 1905 until 1981. It was one of the largest English bus companies, operating over a large area between Gloucester in the south and Derbyshire in the north, and from Northampton to the Welsh border. The company also manufactured buses.
Bristol Tramways operated in the city of Bristol, England from 1875, when the Bristol Tramways Company was formed by Sir George White, until 1941 when a Luftwaffe bomb destroyed the main power supply cables.
Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) was a state-run company that operated trams and buses in and around Kolkata in West Bengal, India. The Kolkata tram is the only operating tramway in India and is the oldest electric tram in India, operating since 1902.
The Kingston upon Hull tramway network was a network of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge tram lines following the five main roads radially out of the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Two of these lines went west, and two east. The fifth went to the north, and branched to include extra lines serving suburban areas. Additionally a short line linked the city centre to the Corporation Pier where a ferry crossed the Humber Estuary to New Holland, Lincolnshire.
Birmingham Corporation Tramways operated a network of tramways in Birmingham from 1904 until 1953. It was the largest narrow-gauge tramway network in the UK, and was built to a gauge of 3 ft 6 in. It was the fourth largest tramway network in the UK behind London, Glasgow and Manchester.
The City of Birmingham Tramways Company Ltd operated trams in Birmingham, England, from 1896 until 1911.
The Bristol Omnibus Company was a dominant bus operator in Bristol, and was one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. It ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties.
Dublin tramways was a system of trams in Dublin, Ireland, which commenced line-laying in 1871, and began service in 1872, following trials in the mid-1860s. Established by a number of companies, the majority of the system was eventually operated by forms of the Dublin United Tramways Company (DUTC), dominated for many years by William Martin Murphy. Most of the services ran within the city centre and near suburbs, with the majority of major suburbs served. Additionally, there were two longer-range services, one reaching the "excursion" destination of Poulaphouca Falls, and two services concerning Howth.
Between 1901 and 1949 Manchester Corporation Tramways was the municipal operator of electric tram services in Manchester, England. At its peak in 1928, the organisation carried 328 million passengers on 953 trams, via 46 routes, along 292 miles (470 km) of track.
Colchester Corporation Tramways served the town of Colchester in Essex from 28 July 1904 until 8 December 1929.
Southend-on-Sea Corporation Transport was the overarching name given to the local municipal transport services provided to the town of Southend-on-Sea by the local council. Initially started as a tramway, although known officially as Southend-on-Sea Corporation Light Railway, the trams started operating on 19 July 1901 until the service was terminated on 8 April 1942. A trolleybus system was introduced in 16 October 1925, gradually replacing the tramway, before it closed on 28 October 1954. Motorbuses were first run by the Corporation in 1914, but two years later they withdrew the services. Buses did not return to the Corporation's service until 1932, eventually replacing the trams and trolleybuses. In 1974, the organisation was renamed Southend Transport, and after the Transport Act of 1985, it became involved in a bus war with rival Thamesway. The council sold Southend Transport to British Bus group in June 1993, which in turn was taken over by the Cowie group. Cowie was renamed Arriva in August 1998, with Southend Transport becoming Arriva serving Southend.
Torquay Tramways operated electric street trams in Torquay, Devon, England, from 1907. They were initially powered by the unusual Dolter stud-contact electrification, but in 1911 was converted to more conventional overhead-line supply. The line was extended into neighbouring Paignton in 1911 but the whole network was closed in 1934.
Gloucester Tramways Company operated a horse-drawn tramway service in Gloucester between 1879 and 1904.
Wrexham and District Electric Tramways was a company that operated an electric tramway service in Wrexham, Wales between 1903 and 1914 when it was renamed Wrexham and District Transport Company Limited. Trams continued to operate until 1927.
The Worcester Electric Traction Company operated a tramway service in Worcester between 1904 and 1928.
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.
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.
At the peak of Britain’s first-generation tramways, it was possible to travel by tram all the way from Pier Head at Liverpool to the Pennines in Rochdale by tram.
The tramways in Plymouth were originally constructed as four independent networks operated by three different companies to serve the adjacent towns of Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport in Devon, England. The merger of the 'Three Towns' into the new borough of Plymouth in 1914 was the catalyst for the three companies to join up under the auspices of the new Plymouth Corporation. The network was closed in 1945, partly as a result of bomb damage during World War II.
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.
Bradford Corporation Tramways were a tramway network in the city of Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England which operated trams from 1882 until 1950 and trolleybuses from 1911 until 1972. The track gauge of the tramways was 4 ft.