Huddersfield Corporation Tramways

Huddersfield Corporation Tramways operated between 1883 and 1940 to 1,416mm gauge. The trams were initially horse and steam powered but electric trams began operating from 1901. The first trams built for the corporation were twenty five double bogie double deckers built by G.F. Milnes. These had open top decks initially.

English Electric built 121 [1]

Information for original tramcars
Number built:	25
Built:	1900
Builder:	G.F. Milnes

A second batch of thirty six tramcars built by the British Electric Car Company were built as the electrified network expanded. These tramcars were single bogie cars though were also double deckers. More trams were built in the following decades by the United Electric Car Company which later became part of English Electric. The corporation also operated a couple of dedicated coal trams.

Despite much of the tram fleet still being fairly young the corporation began converting over to trolleybuses in the early 1930s. The trams ran for the final time in June 1940. All trams were scrapped.

[1] English Electric Journal 1923-04 Vol 2 Issue 4 p. 175

Bath Electric Tramways Company

The Bath Electric Tramways Company began operations in 1904, taking over from an earlier horse drawn narrow gauge system. The initial fleet of trams were double deckers built by G.F. Milnes. These had Milnes four wheel trucks and British Westinghouse electrical equipment. The open topped trams had seating for fifty five passengers. They were later augmented by a smaller number of single decker trams.

Number 3 and a friend [1]

Information for double deckers
Number built:	18
Built:	1903-04
Builder:	G.F. Milnes
Motor:	2 Westinghouse 49-B electric motors (500v DC OHLE)
Power:	60 hp (45 kW)

The company was taken over by the Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company in 1936, who began the process of replacing the trams with motor buses. The final trams ran in Bath in 1939. No electric trams have survived though one of the original horse drawn trams is preserved.

Walcot Street depot, a building which still exists

Number 22

[1] "The tramway system of Bath, England", Street Railway Journal Vol. XXIV No. 10 (March 5 1904) p. 371

Manx Electric Cars 10-13 (Motor Cattle Car)

These were the third batch of tramcars delivered to the Manx Electric Railway in 1895. However, they were not a success due to being open at the sides and having no glazed windows. All four were converted (after the open sides were boarded up) to carry cattle instead!

No. 12 after conversion to cattle car

Information
Number built:	4
Built:	1895
Builder:	G.F. Milnes
Motor:	4 SEHC electric motors (550v DC OHLE)
Power:	100 hp (75 kW)

However, their time in service was relatively short (especially compared to other stock on the line). Three have been scrapped. The survivor has been preserved though no longer is in use.

[1] "The Manx Electric Railway", Street Railway Journal (Vol. XXIV No. 10 March 05 1904) p. 356

Manx Electric Railway Trams

Work began on the Manx Electric Railway on the Isle of Man in 1893 with the first services later that year.  The first trams from that time remain in service and indeed the Manx Electric Railway uses trams exclusively which are well over a hundred years old on it's continuing operation. Some stock was lost in the 1930 Laxey car shed fire and others have been stored though mostly due to the decline in traffic over the years. 

Number 6 part of the first batch seen in 1904 [1], this tram is still in service today

Information for Cars 1-3
Number built:	3
Built:	1893
Builder:	G.F. Milnes & Co.
Motor:	4 SEHC electric motors (550v DC OHLE)
Power:	100 hp (75 kW)

The three original cars were single decker unvestibuled saloons with double trucks. One of these cars was lost in the 1930 fire though the other two remain in service and are the oldest electric trams still in service on their original network in the world. In 1894 ten more trams followed of a similar design though with vestibules. 

A tram in service in 1904 [1]

A tram trailer, some are still in use as well! [1]

[1] "The Manx Electric Railway", Street Railway Journal (Vol. XXIV No. 10 March 05 1904) p. 356

Halifax Corporation Tramways

Halifax Corporation Tramways began operations in 1898 with a 1068mm gauge electric tram system, within a few years they had over sixty kilometres of track and nearly one hundred tram cars. The steep gradients of the town made operating a tram difficult, and some accidents were caused thought to attributed to the use of narrow gauge trams. In the early 1920s the network reached it's maximum extent and the Corporation began constructing it's own tramcars. However, in the next decade the motor bus began to replace the tram and in 1939 the system was shut down.

G.F. Milnes built 14 [2]

Information for 124-127
Number built:	4
Built:	1928-29
Builder:	Halifax Corporation Tramways

Early tramcars were built by G.F. Milnes and Brush Traction. From 1925 Halifax Corporation began to build it's own Standard Cars. Halifax used it's own version of the Peckham 8A truck, only one other tram in the country used this design [1]. Many tram cars were built as open top double deckers though later received a top cover. No trams received covers for the top balconies.

[1] R.W. Rush, British Electric Tramcar Design 1885-1950 (Oxford Publishing, 1976) p. 109

[2] Alexander Hume Ford, "Trolly cars in other climes", The Electric Age Vol XXXIII No. 2 (August 1904) p. 88

Manchester Corporation Tramways 277-436

The Manchester Corporation bought a large number of trams when it electrified the network of horse trams it had taken over. Trams 277-436 were similar to trams 107-187 in being open-topped double deckers with a single truck. The trams were built by G.F. Milnes and had Brill 21E trucks.

In original configuration [1]

Information
Number built:	159
Built:	1901-03
Builder:	G.F. Milnes

Most of the trams received top-covers by 1914, some remained open top due to a low bridge on the Cheetham Hill-Alexandra Park route. All were withdrawn by 1938.

[1] "New power station and electric car house as Manchester, England", Street Railway Journal (September 6 1902) Vol. XX No. 10 p. 300

Plymouth Corporation Tramways

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.

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.

Plymouth Corporation Tram (Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons)

[1] "Plymouth Corporation Tramways", Street Railway Journal (September 1899) Vol. XV No. 9, p. 589

London United Tramways

The London United Tramways Company operated trams and later trolleybuses in West and South London between 1894 and 1933 when it was absorbed by the London Passenger Transport Board. The company operated horse drawn trams at first but began operating electric trams in 1901 at first in West London in the Hampton Court, Hammersmith and Wimbledon areas.

159 at Crich Tramway Museum

Information for W Class tram
Number built:	150
Built:	1901-02
Builder:	G.F. Milnes
Motor:	2 GE52 electric motors (500v DC OHLE)
Power:	50 hp (37 kW)

To attract more affluent passengers the company's trams has two four wheel bogies for ride quality. The trams were to a plush Edwardian design with Tudor arch windows and cushioned longitudinal seats (though these cushioned seats were later replaced by rattan seats due to a problem with vermin). Despite being aimed at the more luxurious end of the market they had an open top deck, it was reached by a staircase that had two short straight sections separated by a "landing" instead of a spiral staircase as was more typical on street trams of the time.

Some trams did later receive a top cover. However passenger levels were not as high as the company hoped despite early success [1] and some trams were withdrawn early due to being surplus to requirements. One of these was the later preserved Number 159 which was withdrawn in 1923 and became a house! The tram was preserved in 1978 though little of the original tram apart from the lower body remained. Preservation was a long process but in 2012 Number 159 returned to active service as part of the fleet at Crich Tramway Museum.

Front view of 159

View of the top deck and the unusual staircase

[1] Arthur H Beavan, Tube, train, tram and car (Routledge, 1903) p. 158

Bolton Corporation Tramways

Bolton Corporation Tramways began operating an electric tram service in 1899 taking over from Bolton Horse Tramways. In the early years of the twentieth century the network was expanded with a number of new lines opened. In fact extensions to the network continued until 1924 and at it's maximum extent the tramway was a combined fifty two kilometres in length. However like most tram networks the decline began in the 1930s and the tramway was shut down in 1947.

Tram 46 [1]

Information for original UEC fleet
Number built:	86
Built:	1899-1903
Builder:	G.F. Milnes / United Electric Car Company
Motor:	2 Witting, Eborall & Company electric motors (500v DC OHLE)
Power:	60 hp (45 kW)

The original fleet of trams was built by G.F. Milnes (later the United Electric Car Company), they were all double decker single truck trams with electric equipment by Witting, Eborall & Company [2]. Later trams were added to the fleet by Brush, UEC and English Electric making an eventual fleet of 138. Bolton were quick to fit top covers to their trams with trams being fitted with them in the early 1900s.

One tram (number 66) has been preserved and is operated by the Blackpool Tramway.

The first electric tram to enter Bolton [2]

[1] "New type of car for Bolton, England", Street Railway Journal (October 3, 1903) p. 645
[2] "The interurban systems of the South Lanchashire Tramways", Street Railway Journal (August 22, 1903) p. 261

Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad Crossbench Rack Trams

The Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad started operations in 1898 running between the two towns, then separated by countryside. Sixteen Crossbench Rack open sided trams were built for the company by G.F. Milnes as part of the original fleet. Three trailer cars were also built, these were later converted to electric operation.

Number 2 at Crich

Information
Number built:	16
Built:	1898-99
Builder:	G.F. Milnes
Motor:	2 GEC 1000 electric motors (550v DC OHLE)
Power:	70 hp (52 kW)

The trams were high capacity "toast rack" cars with forty eight seats. Later the capacity was increased to fifty six by allowing passengers to ride on the platforms. Unusually for street trams they had oil lamps not electric headlights (see below for an example). The trams were absorbed into the Blackpool Corporation fleet when the Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad company was taken over in 1920. They were withdrawn from passenger service in the late 1930s.

Preserved No. 2 (127 when in the Blackpool Corporation fleet) was retained as a works car and snowplough until the early 1950s. In 1960 it was restored back to it's original Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad livery to celebrate seventy five years of Blackpool trams [2]. Since 1963 it has been at Crich Tramway Museum.

Tramcar not long after the opening of the line, public domain image [1]

No. 2 in service, public domain image [1]

Another view of No. 2, this time with oil lamp

[1] Sidney H. Short, "Electric Railway Practice in Great Britain", Electric Railway Journal Vol. XV (October 1899) p. 363
[2] R.W. Rush, British Electric Tramcar Design (Oxford Publishing, 1976) p. 91

Warrington Corporation Tramways

Work began on the Warrington tramway in 1901 following a failed attempt to introduce horse drawn trams in the late nineteenth century. Operations on the first two lines began in April 1902 with three other lines opening later that year. The total length of the network was just over eleven kilometres. Twenty one trams (built in two batches) were introduced, initially as open-top trams but later fitted with canopies. Six new trams were bought from Brush in 1919 to allow for greater service frequencies. Unlike many other tram networks the Warrington system had made a profit most years but as the 1930s approaches there was the need to renew the network and buses were chosen instead as a cheaper alternative. The network was gradually run down and closed completely in mid-1935.

Information for G.F. Milnes built cars
Number built:	21
Built:	1901-02
Builder:	G.F. Milnes

Very little of the Warrington Corporation Tramway now survives however one of the original trams, Number 2, had a second life as a bowling green shelter and was saved for preservation in 1977. It is now being restored at the Wirral Transport Museum as Warrington 28.

Warrington No. 2 on the right

The tram is being restored back to it's later operating condition

Front view

Sheffield Corporation Open-Topped Double Decker Tram

Among the earliest electric trams built for what would become one of the biggest fleets, G.F. Milnes and the Electric Railway & Tramway Carriage Works of Preston produced a number of open-topped double decker trams for the Sheffield Corporation Tramway in 1899 and 1900 to work alongside single decker trams. They were soon joined by other double decker trams built by Brush.

Information for ER&TCW Trams
Number built:	30
Built:	1900
Builder:	Electric Railway & Tramway Carriage Works
Motor:	2 British Thomson-Houston GE52 electric motors (DC OHLE)
Power:	54 hp (40kW)

Within a few years the trams were fitted with top-covers though with open balconies. Sheffield Corporation rebuilt and modified their trams frequently with trams like the later preserved Number 74 looking very different when it left service than when it started. Number 74 gained a top cover, a different truck and electrical equipment in it's twenty two years in Sheffield and the following thirty years in Gateshead. Following withdrawal in 1951 the lower deck was sold to become a garden shed! Finally in 1990 it was preserved and has been rebuilt with a top deck from another Sheffield tram and a truck from a Leeds one.

Number 74 has been restored to working order at Crich

Top deck balcony

Entrance

Bournemouth Corporation Tramways

Bournemouth Corporation Tramways served the town from 1902 until the closure of the system in 1936. The complete system had a route length of about twenty six kilometres, and included the Poole & District Electric Tramway which the Bournemouth Corporation took a lease on in 1905. Originally the tramway used a mixture of overhead and conduit electric collection though later switched to entirely overhead. The tramway at it's peak had one hundred and fifty two tramcars of which all but one were double decker. The tramway was to 1, 067mm gauge unlike the majority of tramways though the same as neighbouring systems.

Information for standard bogie cars
Number built:	86
Built:	1902-1926
Builder:	G.F. Milnes, Brush, United Electric Car Company
Motor:	2 Westinghouse 226N electric motors (DC OHLE)
Power:	80 hp (60 kW)

Eighty six of the tramways were standard bogie cars which were built over a twenty-four year period. Although there were some detail differences such as with the seating and stairs the latter batch of tramcars were not very different to the original ones built by G.F. Milnes [1]. The preserved tramcar Number 85 was one of a batch of ten built in 1914 by the United Electric Car Company. It survived the end of the Bournemouth system being one of ten tramcars sold to the Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Electric Railway Company and continued to work there until 1956.

Number 85 preserved at Crich

Number 85 is preserved as it was in Bournemouth service

Interior

[1] R.W. Rush, British Electric Tramcar Design 1885-1950 (Oxford Publishing, 1976) p. 51

Guernsey Railway Trams

The Guernsey Railway opened as a steam tramway in 1879. The railway converted to electric operation in 1892 [1] using equipment supplied by Siemens and was one of the first street tramways in the British Isles equipped with overhead electric lines. The tramway ran profitably at first carrying an average of three thousand passengers a day [2] though like most such systems could not compete in the end against motor buses and closed in 1934.

Information
Number built:	19
Built:	1890-1905
Builder:	Brush, G.F. Milnes, Falcon Engine & Car Works, Guernsey Railway Company
Engine:	Siemens traction equipment (500v DC OHLE)

The tramcar fleet came from a number of sources including three ex-Cardiff Tramway cars and one rebuilt from a steam trailer by the railway company itself. The railway was powered by two Marshall engines and two Siemens generators providing one hundred amperes at five hundred volts. The tramcars also had Siemens motors and chain drives and could run up to twelve miles per hour.

After the closure of the railway the track was lifted within days and the tramcars sold. There have been plans to restore a heritage tram to the island though as yet no progress has been made on this.

Guernsey tramcar in operation, public domain image [2]

[1] Chas S Dunbar, Buses, Trams & Trollies (Hamlyn, 1967) p. 47 
[2] "A Guernsey Railway", The Street Railway Review (Vol 3 1893) p. 559