| Warwick and Leamington Spa Tramway | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Unrestored Leamington and Warwick tram at the National Tramway Museum | |||||||
| Operation | |||||||
| Locale | Warwick, Leamington Spa | ||||||
| Open | 21 November 1881 | ||||||
| Close | 16 August 1930 | ||||||
| Status | Closed | ||||||
| Infrastructure | |||||||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||||||
| Statistics | |||||||
| Route length | 3.04 miles (4.89 km) | ||||||
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The Leamington & Warwick Tramways & Omnibus Company operated a tramway service between Warwick and Leamington Spa between 1881 and 1930. [1]
From 1872 various tramway projects were considered until the Leamington Tramways Order of 1879 was granted. The Leamington & Warwick Tramways & Omnibus Company Ltd was registered on 18 February 1880. On 14 May 1881 they signed a contract with John Fell of Leamington for the construction of the line. On 17 November 1880, the work was completed. The cost of construction had been £14,800 [2] (equivalent to £1,590,000in 2021). [3]
The line ran from outside the Lord Leycester Hospital, through Jury Street, Smith Street, and Emscote Road, across Portobello Bridge over the River Avon, and into Leamington, along Warwick Street, down The Parade and through to Leamington Spa railway station.
It opened for passengers on 21 November 1881. It was a single track line with 2 tracks on Smith Street in Warwick, and additional passing loops and line into stables at Coten End. There were seven trams operating a 13-minute headway service. Four were Metropolitan cars, two were Brown Marshall and one was ex-Birmingham Tramways Company.
The company was obtained by Brush Electric Traction in 1900 and the Warwick Tramways Order of 1900 and Leamington Tramways Order of 1901 allowed for electrification. The company re-built the tramway in 1905 and replaced the horse cars with electric powered vehicles. The company took the opportunity to double track most of the line. The power station was built specially for the tramway conversion. The electric service started on 12 July 1905. In 1912 the tramway and lighting company was purchased by Balfour Beatty and Company.
The company livery was green and cream.
No 7 was damaged beyond repair in an accident on 3 January 1916 when it ran away and crashed into the Warwick Arms.
On closure in 1930, No 11 was sold to the Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway.
The remains of No. 11 were last seen in 1956 by John Price on the closure of the L&CBET.
Horse car 1 survives at the National Tramway Museum in an unrestored condition.
The system was closed on 16 August 1930.
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered tram or streetcar.
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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.
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.
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.
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New book published in 2019:-
The Leamington and Warwick Tramway / Allan Jennings & Peter Coulls / Sydni Books / ISBN 978-1-9161364-0-3
Price:- £15.95
Tramway Review Vol. 4 No. 31 1961