Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Traction Company

The Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Traction Company was a 1,067mm gauge tramway which operated electric trams between 1899 and 1930. The company ran services from Dudley and Stourbridge with branches to destinations like Cradley Heath and Lye. The company was the successor to the Dudley and Stourbridge Steam Tramways Company which had operated since 1883 before being taken over by British Electric Traction (BET). BET bought up a number of smaller networks and agreed with local authorities to operate the services as long as they could own the lines for a period to recoup their investment.

Tram at Castle Hill, Dudley [1]

Information for 19-25 Class
Number built:	7
Built:	1900
Builder:	Dick, Kerr & Company

Following the takeover (and rename), the tram network was converted to electric traction with a number of extensions opening in the early 1900s. The Kinver Light Railway was also purchased and taken over in 1902. The system was managed, along with other Midlands tram networks, after 1904 by the Birmingham and Midlands Joint Tramways Committee set up by BET [2]. The combined network stretching for over a hundred kilometres.

The network began to be run down and closed in the mid-1920s as leases from local authorities expired. The tram routes were taken over by buses. The final closure was in 1930.

The company operated single decker trams, early trams being built by Dick, Kerr & Company of Preston and were typical products of the early 1900s with a Lord Baltimore style truck [3]. Later trams being built by the Birmingham & Midlands Tramways Joint Committee. Four tram cars have survived in various states of preservation.

[1] Arthur Beavan, Tube, Train, Tram & Car (Routledge, 1903) p. 181
[2] Charles Knapper, The Golden Age of Tramways (David & Charles, 1974) p. 146
[3] R.W. Bush, British Electric Tramcar Design 1885-1950 (Oxford Publishing, 1976) p. 29