Keighley Tramways | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Keighley Tramways Company | |
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Operation | |
Locale | Keighley |
Open | 8 May 1889 |
Close | 21 September 1901 |
Status | Closed |
Infrastructure | |
Track gauge | 4 ft (1,219 mm) |
Propulsion system(s) | Horse |
Depot(s) | South Street/Arcadia Street |
Statistics | |
Route length | 2.28 miles (3.67 km) |
Keighley Corporation Tramways | |
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Operation | |
Locale | Keighley |
Open | 21 September 1901 |
Close | 17 December 1924 |
Status | Closed |
Infrastructure | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Propulsion system(s) | Electric |
Depot(s) | South Street/Arcadia Street |
Statistics | |
Route length | 3.44 miles (5.54 km) |
Keighley Tramways Company operated a tramway service in Keighley between 1889 and 1901 [1] with horse power. The system re-opened three days later as Keighley Corporation Tramways and stayed in service until 1924 when it closed for good.
Keighley Tramways Company constructed a horse-drawn tramway from Ingrow through Keighley to Utley. Services started on 8 May 1889 and were extended into Stockbridge. The company also plied a route from Coney Lane (where the successor company would build a power station) onto Marley Street via East Parade in the town. All services cost 1d (1 pence) and the interval of services was every 10 minutes stretching to 14 minutes on a Saturday." [2] This service was originally single track, but after electrification, double track was installed. [3]
The service was never financially successful. The only dividend ever paid by the company was when it was wound up in 1901.
The company sold out to Keighley Corporation and the 30 horses and 6 tramcars and other equipment were sold at auction for £804. [4] The service continued as Keighley Corporation Tramways but electric tramcar operations did not begin until 12 October 1904, with trial runs to Ingrow taking place the week before. [5] The hub of the system was opposite the Mechanics Institute in the town where a triangular junction was in operation to allow trams to access all three destinations from any of the routes that they were originating from. [6] [7]
The system from Ingrow to Utley was electrified and a branch was added to connect Keighley railway station, Victoria Park and Stockbridge some 1.2 miles (2 km) east of the town. [8] The extension to Stockbridge was in response to the Mid Yorkshire Tramways company who had obtained powers to install a tramway between Shipley and Keighley. The Keighley company exercised their right to build the section between Stockbridge and the town and this duly opened in February 1905. During 1921, another extension was added between Ingrow and Oxenhope. [7] This service would run on single track and pass at a designated loop for the tracks but without a passing loop in the overhead cables, which necessitated having to transfer a small receiver car between trams travelling to and from Oxenhope. [7]
Other extensions were added to Sutton-in-Craven and Oakworth; with all the three extension branches (Sutton, Oakworth and Oxenhope) the trams were of a trackless trolleybus type that allowed extension to those towns without resorting to tracks. These employed a special system created by an Austrian company named Cedes-Stoll. The winding up of the Cedes-Stoll company during the First World War accelerated the demise of the special trackless trolleybuses, and they were withdrawn in 1926. [9]
The new system took power from the Corporation Power Station in Coney Lane and was operated with electric trams until December 1924 when the system closed to trams. However, trolleybuses continued using the overhead wires until 1932, with trackless cars. [10]
The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (KWVR) is a 5-mile-long (8 km) heritage railway in the Worth Valley, West Yorkshire, England, which runs from Keighley to Oxenhope. It connects to the National Rail network at Keighley railway station.
Keighley is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
The River Worth is a river in West Yorkshire, England. It flows from minor tributaries on the moors above Watersheddles Reservoir down the Worth Valley to Haworth, where it is joined by Bridgehouse Beck which flows from Oxenhope. The River Worth is itself a tributary of the River Aire, which it joins at the end of the Worth Valley in Keighley.
Ingrow is a suburb of Keighley, West Yorkshire, England that lies on the River Worth. The name Ingrow comes from Old Scandinavian which means 'corner of land in the meadow.' The suburb is located on the A629 road and is 0.93 miles (1.5 km) south west of Keighley town centre.
The Chesterfield and District Tramways Company and its successors ran a tramway system in the Derbyshire town of Chesterfield, England. The first horse-drawn line opened in 1882, and in 1897, the system was taken over by Chesterfield Corporation, who extended and electrified it in 1904 and 1905. Additional tramcars were purchased, but two had to be scrapped after a disastrous fire at the depot in 1916. The system suffered from a lack of maintenance as a result of reduced staffing levels during the First World War, and the trams were replaced by trolleybuses in 1927.
Ingrow (West) railway station is a single-platform station serving the suburb of Ingrow in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. It is served by the preserved Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. The station is 1.25 miles (2 km) west of Keighley station and 2.25 miles (3.62 km) west of Haworth railway station.
Haworth railway station serves the village of Haworth in West Yorkshire, England.
The Mexborough and Swinton Traction Company was the name adopted by the Mexborough & Swinton Tramways Company in 1929 following the introduction of trolleybuses on all its routes. It operated in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, over routes serving Manvers Main Colliery, Wath upon Dearne and the towns of Rotherham, Rawmarsh, Swinton, Mexborough, Conisbrough and the estate at Conanby.
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.
Utley is a village that forms a suburb of the town of Keighley within the county of West Yorkshire, England, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the town centre.
Walsall Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Walsall between 1904 and 1930.
Aberdare Urban District Council Tramways operated a tramway service in Aberdare between 1913 and 1935. It was the only system in the United Kingdom which consisted of a tramway with feeder services run by trolleybuses from the start. The trolleybuses used the Austrian Cedes-Stoll system, and became increasingly difficult to maintain. Parts of the trolleybus network were converted to tramways in the early 1920s, and the rest stopped operating in 1925, when no trolleybuses were available for service. The tramway continued for another ten years, but was closed in 1934 and 1935 as a result of a downturn in the prosperity of Aberdare, due to collieries closing and the population dwindling. Motor buses took over the local services once the tramway had closed.
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.
Halifax Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England between 1898 and 1939. After considering lifts and inclined planes to assist trams in negotiating the steep hills to the south of the town, they obtained permission to build a conventional system in 1897, and the first three routes opened in 1898. By 1905 there were 37 miles (60 km) of track and 96 tramcars, supplied by two manufacturers. In 1921, an additional route was added to the system, and the Corporation embarked on a programme of building their own tramcars, some of which replaced existing vehicles, while some extended the fleet. During the 1930s, the trams were gradually replaced by motor buses, either run by the Corporation or by private companies, and the last tram ran on 14 February 1939.
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.
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.
Thwaites railway station was located just east of Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England; it was a stop on the Midland Railway line through the Aire Valley between Keighley and Shipley. It opened to traffic in 1892 and closed 17 years later in 1909, due to poor patronage.
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.
Hainworth is a hamlet 1 mile (2 km) south of Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The hamlet faces north across the lower end of the Worth Valley with a steep wooded incline towards Keighley.
The Worth Valley is a geographic area in West Yorkshire, England, that extends eastwards from Crow Hill and Oxenhope Moor, providing drainage for the River Worth for nearly 10 miles (16 km) to the River Aire. It is a side valley to Airedale, with the River Worth being a major tributary of the River Aire. The Worth Valley was important for its contribution to the textiles industry of the West Riding of Yorkshire and was furnished with several reservoirs to allow mills to operate within the valley. Most of the reservoirs are still in use into the modern day.