| Kinver Light Railway | |
|---|---|
 Map of the Kinver Light Railway | |
| Operation | |
| Locale | Kinver, Amblecote |
| Open | 4 April 1901 |
| Close | 1 March 1930 |
| Status | Closed |
| Infrastructure | |
| Track gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
| Propulsion system(s) | Electric |
| Depot(s) | Hyde Meadow, Kinver |
| Statistics | |
| Route length | 4.19 miles (6.74 km) |
The Kinver Light Railway operated a passenger and freight tramway service between Amblecote and Kinver, in South Staffordshire, between 1901 and 1930. [1]
The Kinver Light Railway was a subsidiary of British Electric Traction. They acquired the Dudley and Stourbridge Steam Tramways Company in April 1898 and applied to the Light Railway Commissioners (in preference to the Tramways Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 78)) for permission to build a tramway from Amblecote to Kinver. The proposal was given the go ahead on 7 March 1899. [2] : 48
The tramway was a single track of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge with passing places. [2] : 48 The route ran hourly and half-hourly from outside the Fish Inn at Amblecote where it had a connection with the Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Traction Company tracks. After passing through Wollaston and Stourton, it arrived in Kinver. From Amblecote to Wollaston Ridge it ran on the streets using conventional grooved rail. From there the line used Vignoles rail (non-grooved bullhead rail). The use of Vignoles rail in conjunction with the tramway’s tight curves led to the Board of Trade Inspector imposing a 10 mph speed limit and recommending the use of single-deck tram cars only, while the lack of signalling at passing loops prevented operation at night. [3]
Passenger services started on 4 April 1901. [4] The fare was one penny for each of its four stages and a whole line fare of three pence. [2] : 48 The company was taken over by the Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Traction Company in 1902 for the sum of £60,000 (equivalent to £6,930,000in 2021). [5] On 13 December 1902 a single track branch line was laid along Enville street to connect Wollaston to Stourbridge. A shuttle service was operated to the original line at Wollaston Junction, and by 1904 some cars ran through to The Ridge at the western end of the village. [2] : 49 Although parcels had been carried on passenger services from the outset, goods trailer vehicles were attached behind service cars for freight from September 1903. The company made significant money from this operation. Substantial quantities of milk were carried, such that occasionally passenger vehicles were commandeered for freight use. [6]
The Sheffield Photo Company produced a film in 1904 entitled A Ride on the Kinver Light Railway. [7] It was directed by Frank Mottershaw, a pioneer film maker.
Passenger numbers began to decline in the mid-1920s as other connecting tramlines originating in the Black Country closed. The Enville Street line between Stourbridge and Wollaston closed on 16 November 1926 and service frequency on the original line was much reduced. [2] : 51 Services finished on 8 February 1930, a victim of competition from motorbus traffic, and the final closure took place on 1 March 1930. [3]
The interurban is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms used outside it. They were very prevalent in many parts of the world before the Second World War and were used primarily for passenger travel between cities and their surrounding suburban and rural communities. Interurban as a term encompassed the companies, their infrastructure, their cars that ran on the rails, and their service. In the United States, the early 1900s interurban was a valuable economic institution, when most roads between towns, many town streets were unpaved, and transportation and haulage was by horse-drawn carriages and carts.
Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 2011 UK census recorded the town's population as 63,298.
Amblecote is an affluent urban village in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge on the southwestern edge of the West Midlands conurbation. Historically, Amblecote was in the parish of Oldswinford, but unlike the rest of the parish it was in Staffordshire, and as such was administered separately.
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered tram or streetcar.
Wollaston is a village on the outskirts of Stourbridge in the English West Midlands. It is located in the south of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, one mile west of Stourbridge town centre.
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Brettell Lane railway station was a station on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line which served the town of Brierley Hill in England.
The Terre Haute, Indianapolis and Eastern Traction Company, or THI&E, was the second largest interurban in the U.S. state of Indiana during the height of the 1920s "interurban era." This system included over 400 miles (640 km) of track, with lines radiating from Indianapolis to the east, northwest, west and southwest as well as streetcar lines in several major cities. The THI&E was formed in 1907 by the Schoepf-McGowan Syndicate as a combination of several predecessor interurban and street car companies and was operated independently until incorporation into the Indiana Railroad in 1931. The THI&E served a wide range of territory, including farmlands in central Indiana, the mining region around Brazil, and numerous urban centers. Eventually, it slowly succumbed like all of the other central Indiana interurban lines, to competition from automobiles, trucks, and improved paralleling highways.
The Piraeus-Perama light railway was a standard gauge suburban light railway line in Greece which connected Piraeus with Perama and Salamis Naval Base. The line was owned by the Hellenic Electric Railways private company and operated from 1936 to 1977.
The Tynemouth and District Electric Traction Company operated a tramway service in North Shields, Tynemouth and Whitley Bay between 1901 and 1931.
The Leamington & Warwick Tramways & Omnibus Company operated a tramway service between Warwick and Leamington Spa between 1881 and 1930.
The Potteries Electric Traction Company operated a tramway service in The Potteries between 1899 and 1928.
The Kidderminster and Stourport Electric Tramway Company operated an electric tramway service between Kidderminster and Stourport-on-Severn between 1898 and 1929.
The Dudley and Stourbridge Steam Tramways Company operated a steam tramway service between Dudley and Stourbridge between 1884 and 1899.
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 South Staffordshire and Birmingham District Steam Tramways Company which became the South Staffordshire Tramways Company operated a tramway service from their depot in Wednesbury between 1883 and 1924.
The Wolverhampton District Electric Tramways Company operated an electric tramway service between Dudley and Wolverhampton between 1899 and 1928.
Cleveland Bridge electric railway station was situated at the first of eight passing loops on the otherwise single track central "country" section of the inter-urban Grimsby and Immingham Electric Railway when travelling from Corporation Bridge, Grimsby to Immingham Dock.