| Matlock Cable Tramway | |
|---|---|
 Tram on Bank Road. | |
| Operation | |
| Locale | Matlock, Derbyshire, UK |
| Open | 28 March 1893 |
| Close | 30 September 1927 |
| Status | Closed |
| Infrastructure | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
| Propulsion system(s) | Cable |
| Depot(s) | Rutland Street |
| Statistics | |
| Route length | 0.75 miles (1.21 km) |
Matlock Cable Tramway was a cable tramway that served the town of Matlock, Derbyshire, UK between 28 March 1893 and 30 September 1927.
The principal purpose was to serve the Hydro Spa Hotels, bringing customers from the railway station near the River Derwent. One of the tramway's directors, Job Smith got the idea for a steep-gradient tram for Matlock while in San Francisco in 1862. The original plan for the tramway was to run between Matlock railway station and the Hydro Spa Hotels of Smedley's and Rockside. The risk of flooding forced the terminus to be set up on Crown Square.
The tramway was financed by locally born newspaper owner Sir George Newnes, at a cost of £20,000 [1] (equivalent to £2,802,000in 2023). [2] The tram depot was designed by the architect James Turner, with a chimney 100 feet (30 m) high. The engine-house was 60 feet (18 m) by 38 feet (12 m), the boiler-house 54 feet (16 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m), a car pit 74 feet (23 m) by 33 feet (10 m), a waiting room 16 feet (4.9 m) by 16 feet (4.9 m) with ladies’ and gentlemen's retiring rooms, and two warehouses as lock-up shops. This was all erected for the sum of £2,600. [3] The boilers were by L.T. Wildgoose, the building contractor was W. Knowles and Sons, the sub-contractors were Soter and Derbyshire. The cable machinery, tramway and vehicles were supplied by Dick Kerr and Company. The engineer for the line was George Croydon Marks, 1st Baron Marks, the consulting engineer W.R. Colan, and the resident engineer was Edward C.R. Marks.
The line was inspected by Major General Charles Scrope Hutchinson of the Board of Trade on 1 March 1893 and services started on 28 March 1893. [4] It was the steepest tramway in the world on public roads, featuring a 1 in 5½ grade slope (18%). [5] The tramcars had no independent power but were pulled by a cable situated below and between the tracks.
The depot was situated on Rutland Street and contained a boiler and a stationary steam engine, which pulled the cable and lifted the trams 300 feet up Bank Road. Fares used to be Tuppence up, Penny Down. Bank Road was not wide enough for two tracks, so a single track was used, with a passing place where the trams met. The up and down cables had to run in the same tube between the rails. The trams averaged 5½ mph, and had the advantage of the down-tram balancing the up-tram, and saving power in the Depot steam engine. A spare tram was kept in the Depot.
In 1898 Sir George Newnes gave the tramway as a gift to Matlock District Council. [6]
The tram shelter and clock tower in Crown Square were the gift of R. Wildgoose JP and opened on 12 December 1899. [7]
In the calendar year 1900, it was reported that the receipts were £1,139 12s 11d, and the expenses were £1,191 14s 0d, a loss of £52 1s 1d. [8]
In 1912 the service was suspended for 3 days because of a break in a strand in the cable. One of the tramcars had failed to take the points of the loop at the bottom of the line, and was derailed. The driver of the following tram pulled up at the Crown Hotel and alighted from his tram. The tram restarted on its own account and crashed into the derailed car. During the subsequent investigation it was discovered that a strand in the cable had snapped. [9]
In the 1920s the losses sustained by the tramway were reported as 1921 - £2,920 (equivalent to £163,600in 2023), [2] 1922 - £1,260 (equivalent to £86,900in 2023), [2] 1923 - £205 (equivalent to £14,800in 2023), [2] 1924 - £1,120 (equivalent to £80,700in 2023). [2] [10] The council decided in 1927 to replace the tramway with motor bus operation, and tramway services ended on 30 September 1927. The Council agreed in February 1928 to put the tramway up for sale. [11]
The tram shelter from Crown Square has been preserved, and is now standing at the head of Hall Leys Park.
Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire, England. It is in the south-eastern part of the Peak District, with the National Park directly to the west. The spa resort of Matlock Bath is immediately south of the town as well as Cromford lying further south still. The civil parish of Matlock Town had a population in the 2021 UK census of 10,000.
The Manx Electric Railway is an electric interurban tramway connecting Douglas, Laxey and Ramsey in the Isle of Man. It connects with the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway at its southern terminus at Derby Castle at the northern end of the promenade in Douglas, and with the Snaefell Mountain Railway at Laxey. Many visitors take an excursion on the trams. It is the oldest electric tram line in the world whose original rolling stock is still in service.
The National Tramway Museum is a tram museum located at Crich, in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England. The museum contains over 80 trams built between 1873 and 1982 and is set within a recreated period village containing a working pub, café, old-style sweetshop and tram depots. The museum's collection of trams runs through the village-setting with visitors transported out into the local countryside and back and is operated by the Tramway Museum Society, a registered charity.
Bank Road is a road in Matlock, Derbyshire which runs from Crown Square up Matlock Bank, a steep hill which gives the road its name, to Wellington Street. Although many consider the whole incline to be Bank Road, beyond Smedley Street, just over halfway up, the road is called Rutland Street.
The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Company was formed in 1903 to build a tramway linking Nottingham, Derby, and Ilkeston, in Derbyshire, England. But only a short section was built.
Ilkeston Corporation Tramways was a tramway network in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands of England run firstly by Ilkeston Borough Council and from 1916 by the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways Company. The system ran between 1903 and 1931. Ilkeston was the first town in Derbyshire to adopt and operate a fully electrical tramway system.
Derby Corporation Tramways was the tram system serving the city of Derby, England. It opened on 27 July 1904.
Leicester Corporation Tramways was a tramway system in Leicester, England from 1901 to 1949.
The Derby Tramways Company operated horse-drawn tramway services in Derby, England from 1880 to 1904.
Northampton Corporation Tramways operated the tramway service in Northampton between 1901 and 1934.
Chester Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Chester between 1903 and 1930.
Wolverhampton Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Wolverhampton between 1902 and 1928.
Coventry Corporation Tramways operated a tramway service in Coventry, England, between 1912 and 1940.
The Potteries Electric Traction Company operated a tramway service in The Potteries between 1899 and 1928.
The Cheltenham and District Light Railway operated an electric tramway service in Cheltenham between 1901 and 1930.
The Cruden Bay Hotel Tramway operated an electric tramway service between the Cruden Bay Hotel and Cruden Bay railway station between 1899 and 1940.
Dundee and District Tramways operated a tramway service in Dundee between 1877 and 1899.
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.
Wolverhampton Tramways Company operated a tramway service in Wolverhampton between 1878 and 1900.
James Turner was a British architect based in Matlock.
Tramways in Derbyshire | |
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(Closed systems) | |
