The Plymouth Corporation Tramway began in 1892 when it took over the 1, 067mm gauge horse-drawn Plymouth Tramways Company. Work began to convert the tramway to electric in 1898 with the first electric trams operating in January 1899. The first electric trams operated by the corporation were six G.F. Milnes trams which had Westinghouse electric equipment and Peckham cantilever trucks. These trams could also haul a trailer car. They remained in service until 1929.
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| Plymouth Corporation Tram [1] |
| Information for original cars |
| Number built: |
6 |
| Built: |
1898 |
| Builder: |
G.F. Milnes |
| Motor: |
2 Westinghouse 46 electric motors (550v DC OHLE) |
The fleet continued to grow throughout the subsequent decades, the Plymouth Corporation taking over other networks in the area in 1914. However by the 1930s the tram network was in need of renewal but, as with most tram networks at the time, there was little money or enthusiasm for renewal and replacement of trams with motor buses began. Replacement with buses was put on hold due to the Second World War (trams were powered by home grown coal, buses needed imported oil!) The worn down network was not spared by bomb damage in the war, the final trams operating in September 1945.
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| Plymouth Corporation Tram (Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons) |
[1] "Plymouth Corporation Tramways", Street Railway Journal (September 1899) Vol. XV No. 9, p. 589
