| Walthamstow Urban District Council Light Railways | |
|---|---|
 Map of the routes of Walthamstow Urban District Council Light Railways | |
| Operation | |
| Locale | Walthamstow |
| Open | 3 June 1905 |
| Close | 1 July 1933 |
| Status | Closed |
| Infrastructure | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
| Propulsion system(s) | Electric |
| Statistics | |
| Route length | 9.14 miles (14.71 km) |
Walthamstow Urban District Council Light Railways operated a tramway service in Walthamstow between 1905 and 1933. [1]
The Walthamstow and District Light Railway Order of 1903 authorised Walthamstow Urban District Council to start electric tramway services on 3 June 1905. The "and district" referred to the lines beyond the Walthamstow boundary into Chingford, where the terminus was just short of the "Prince Albert" pub, and Leyton, where the line ended at the "Bakers' Arms" PH. The depot and offices were located in Chingford Road at TQ 3731 9018 .
The tramways became immortalised in January 1909, in national newspapers. The incident was known as the Walthamstow Tram Chase or Tottenham Outrage. Two Latvian revolutionaries attacked a clerk in Tottenham and stole a large amount of money. Pursued by the police and the public there was shooting and some people were killed. The thieves commandeered a tram towards Highams Park. Both men eventually killed themselves and the money was never found. The incident later became the subject of a silent film. [2]
The services were taken over by London Passenger Transport Board on 1 July 1933.
A tram is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are called tramways or simply trams/streetcars. Many recently built tramways use the contemporary term light rail. The vehicles are called streetcars or trolleys in North America and trams or tramcars elsewhere. The first two terms are often used interchangeably in the United States, with trolley being the preferred term in the eastern US and streetcar in the western US. Streetcar or tramway are preferred in Canada. In parts of the United States, internally powered buses made to resemble a streetcar are often referred to as "trolleys". To avoid further confusion with trolley buses, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) refers to them as "trolley-replica buses". In the United States, the term tram has sometimes been used for rubber-tired trackless trains, which are unrelated to other kinds of trams.
Walthamstow is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated 7+1⁄2 miles northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of approximately 109,424.
The London Borough of Waltham Forest is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to the south-west, Newham to the south-east and Redbridge to the east, as well as the non-metropolitan county of Essex to the north.
The Kingsway tramway subway is a cut-and-cover Grade II Listed tunnel in central London, built by the London County Council, and the only one of its kind in Britain. The decision in 1898 to clear slum districts in the Holborn area provided an opportunity to use the new streets for a tramway connecting the lines in the north and south. Following the pattern of tramways in New York and Boston, it was decided to build this as an underground connection.
The Lea Valley lines are two commuter lines and two branches in north-east London, so named because they run along the Lower Lea Valley of the River Lea. They were part of the Great Eastern Railway, now part of the Anglia Route of Network Rail.
Trams in India were established in the late 19th century. Horse-drawn trams were introduced in Kolkata in 1873; in Mumbai, trams began operations in 1874; Nashik in 1889; electric trams began in Chennai in 1895, and trams were also introduced in Kanpur and Delhi. They were discontinued in all Indian cities between 1933 and 1964, except for Kolkata.
Leyton was a local government district in southwest Essex, England, from 1873 to 1965. It included the neighbourhoods of Leyton, Leytonstone and Cann Hall. It was suburban to London, forming part of the London postal district and Metropolitan Police District. It now forms the southernmost part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest in Greater London.
Walthamstow was a local government district in southwest Essex, England from 1873 to 1965, around the town of Walthamstow. It was within the London suburbs, forming part of the London postal district and Metropolitan Police District. Its former area now corresponds to the central part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest in Greater London.
The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was London Transport.
Metropolitan Electric Tramways Limited (MET) operated electric tram services in suburban areas of Middlesex and Hertfordshire from 1904 to 1933, when its services passed to the London Passenger Transport Board.
The Chingford branch line is a railway line between Clapton Junction and Chingford station. Services operate between Liverpool Street station and Chingford. The branch is part of the London Overground.
Tottenham is a town in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London and the historic county of Middlesex. Tottenham is centred 6 miles (10 km) north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Walthamstow, across the River Lea, to the east, and Stamford Hill to the south, with Wood Green and Harringay to the west.
The Tottenham Outrage of 23 January 1909 was an armed robbery in Tottenham, North London, that resulted in a two-hour chase between the police and armed criminals over a distance of six miles (10 km), with an estimated 400 rounds of ammunition fired by the thieves. The robbery, of workers' wages from the Schnurmann rubber factory, was carried out by Paul Helfeld and Jacob Lepidus, Jewish Latvian immigrants. Of the twenty-three casualties, two were fatal and several others serious, among them seven policemen. The two thieves committed suicide at the end of the pursuit.
Trolleybuses served the London Passenger Transport Area from 1931 until 1962. For much of its existence, the London system was the largest in the world. It peaked at 68 routes, with a maximum fleet of 1,811 trolleybuses.
The Lytham St. Annes Corporation Tramways and its predecessor companies operated an electric tramway service in Lytham St Annes between 1903 and 1937.
East Ham Corporation Tramways operated a passenger tramway service in East Ham between 1901 and 1933.
Leyton Urban District Council Tramways operated a passenger tramway service in Leyton between 1905 and 1933.
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.
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 Hall Farm Curve is a disused 500 m (1,600 ft) length of railway line in Walthamstow, east London, that connected Chingford station with Stratford station until the closure of the section of line in September 1968. The track was lifted in 1970.