The Leamington and Warwick Tramway

The Leamington & Warwick Tramway was opened in late 1881 running from the High Street in Warwick through Milverton and terminating at Leamington Spa railway station [1]. The trams were horse drawn. Seven horse trams were operated, one of which has been preserved at the National Tramway Museum (see below).

Information (Electric Trams)
Number built:	13
Built:	1905, 1921
Builder:	Brush Traction, English Electric
Motor:	2 Brush electric motors (460v DC OHLE)
Power:	60 hp (48 kW)

The tramway was taken over by British Electric Traction in 1900 with the tramway rebuilt for electrification in 1905 and to 3' 6" gauge in common with other electric tramways in the Midlands[2]. A power station to feed it built next to the Grand Union Canal in Leamington Spa. The tramway changed hands again in 1912, being bought by Balfour Beatty. The tramway was closed in 1930 due to competition with motor buses, plus it had never caught on with the public. Indeed the tramway had been rather unpopular, generating many complaints from the public to Leamington Town Council. Relations between the company and the council also being rather strained.

For electrification twelve Brush double decker trams were bought, six coming from the Taunton Electric Tramway [3]. An extra tramcar built by English Electric was introduced in 1921 to replace car 7 which had been scrapped after an accident in 1916 [4] where it demolished a pub. One tramcar was also converted into a works car with equipment fitted for scrubbing the track. None of the electric trams escaped scrapping after closure in 1930 though the works car was transferred to the Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Electric Railway where it served in a similar role until 1936.

Surviving horse tram car, at Crich Tramway Museum

Postcard of tram in Warwick (KD Collection)

Postcard of tramway in Leamington Spa (KD Collection)

[1] S.L. Swingle & K. Turner, The Leamington & Warwick Tramways (Oakwood Press Locomotion Papers No. 112, 1978) p. 9
[2] Ibid. p. 25
[3] R.W. Rush, British Electric Tramway Design 1885-1950 (Oxford Publishing, 1976) p. 32
[4] Swingle & Turner, p. 31

Midland Metro T-69

The Midland Metro began operation between Wolverhampton and Birmingham in 1999 mostly using the former Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low-Level railway line [1]. Ansaldo Breda built the T-69 tram for the light rail route. They are shorter than other modern light rail trams in the UK being less than twenty five metres long. The trams have three bogies, one under the central articulated section.

Information
Number built:	16
Built:	1996-99
Builder:	Ansaldo Breda
Motor:	4 DC traction motors (750v DC OHLE)
Power:	564 hp (420 kW)

Despite being less than twenty years old (and indeed having had a refurbishment in 2013 which added LED route indicators) they were withdrawn in 2016, replaced by the current Urbos 3 tram which have more low-floor accommodation and increased capacity (albeit standing).

They were put into storage for a while but all but three have now been scrapped. Two have been preserved and one has been retained by Midland Metro as a works vehicle. Due to their relative youth there were proposals to re-use them elsewhere including on the Isle of Wight but none of these proposals came to anything.

Midland Metro crosses over the Tame Valley Canal

Tram #12 departs Snow Hill

Metro taken from a passing heavy rail train

[1] Colin J. Marsden (ed.), "Midland Metro", Light Rail (Key Publishing, 2018) p. 62