South London Tramways
The South London Tramways Company (SLT) operated horse-drawn trams and horse-drawn buses in south-west London as part of the larger London tram network . From 1881 to 1902, the company operated standard-gauge tram routes with a total length of just under 22 kilometers.
history
The company was founded in 1879 and intended to build a line from Vauxhall to Battersea , which was approved. The exception was, however, the section in the north of Nine Elms Lane from Vauxhall to a seven-track level crossing at the Nine Elms freight yard, against which the London and South Western Railway had protested. In 1880 routes from Vauxhall via Clapham Junction to Wandsworth , two cross connections from Chelsea Bridge to Clapham Junction and along Falcon Road, and an extension from Battersea to Wandsworth were approved. The first line, licensed in 1879, went into operation on January 5, 1881, the remaining lines until 1883. The connection via the level crossing in Nine Elms Lane to Vauxhall was finally built. In 1881 and 1882, routes in south central London, including Westminster Bridge , Southwark Bridge and Waterloo Station, were approved, which were also built.
The routes were opened as follows:
| date | route |
|---|---|
| January 5, 1881 | Nine Elms Lane Level Crossing (Nine Elms Freight Yard) - Nine Elms Lane - Battersea Park Road - York Road - Battersea, Plow Road |
| April 23, 1881 | Chelsea Bridge (south side) - Queens Road (now Queenstown Road) - Wandsworth Road / Queens Road |
| March 19, 1882 | Battersea Park Road / Falcon Lane (now Falcon Road) - Falcon Lane - Falcon Lane / St. John's Hill |
| June 13, 1882 | Wandsworth Road / Westbury Street - Wandsworth Road - Lavender Hill - Clapham Junction - St. John's Hill - East Hill - Wandsworth, East Hill / Alma Road |
| May 6, 1883 | Battersea, Plow Road - York Road - Old York Road - North Street (now Fairfield Street) - Wandsworth High Street / North Street |
| May 29, 1883 | Southwark Bridge (south side) - Southwark Bridge Road - Borough Road - St George's Circus - Lambeth Road - Lambeth Bridge (east side) |
| Southwark Bridge Road - Southwark Street - Borough , Hop Exchange (corner of Redcross Way) | |
| Newington Causeway / Southwark Bridge Road - Southwark Bridge Road / Borough Road | |
| Waterloo Station - Waterloo Road - St. George's Circus | |
| August 18, 1883 | Lambeth Bridge - Albert Embankment - Vauxhall Railway Station - Wandsworth Road - Nine Elms Lane - level crossing at the Nine Elms freight yard |
| Borough Road / Lancaster Street - Lancaster Street (now built over) - Lancaster Street / Southwark Bridge Road | |
| Westminster Bridge Road / St. George's Road - St. George's Road - Elephant and Castle | |
| October 9, 1883 | Vauxhall Railway Station - Wandsworth Road - Wandsworth Road / Westbury Street |
| Westminster Bridge (east side) - Stangate (now Lambeth Palace Road) - Lambeth Bridge | |
| Battersea Park Road / Prince of Wales Drive - Queens Road / Prince of Wales Drive (terminus west of the intersection) |
All routes were initially single-track with an evasion. The route from Waterloo Station to St. George's Circus was initially served by a shuttle car, but on July 24, 1891, it was leased to the London Tramways . When London County Council took over the London Tramways in 1899, the lease contract was also transferred to them. In 1900 the line was finally sold to the council. The SLT also opened a horse-drawn bus line from Battersea to South Kensington in 1884, and in the same year bought the London Tramways Omnibus Company , which operated horse-drawn bus routes in Walworth . However, these were soon discontinued. In 1899 the following horse bus routes were still in operation:
- Clapham Junction - Trinity Road - Tooting (sold to Tilling on July 2, 1899)
- Hop Exchange - City, Gracechurch Street
- Chelsea Bridge - Victoria Road - Knightsbridge Road
- Chelsea Bridge - Victoria Station
In the course of 1899 the remaining bus routes were discontinued.
Like many tram operators in London, the SLT also experimented with mechanical drives. In February 1885, an accumulator railcar operated on the line in Queens Road, but it did not prove itself. In the late 1890s, two-thirds of the route network was double-tracked. The short stretch in Prince of Wales Road was not used on the line. A special line ran from Westminster Bridge here only on public holidays. In the 1890s the line from Newington Causeway along Southwark Bridge Road to Southwark Bridge was discontinued. The two main lines of the railway from Wandsworth to Borough ran on much of Southwark Bridge Road anyway. The short branch lines in Lancaster Road and to Elephant & Castle have also not been used since the mid-1880s.
Under the Tram Act of 1870, London County Council was able to purchase the first SLT trams at their current value in 1900. Since the SLT would have had to operate a disrupted network of the remaining routes, it resisted the purchase and after unsuccessful negotiations the case was brought to an arbitration tribunal. It was decided that London County Council had to buy the entire operation, which took place on November 21, 1902. The SLT was then dissolved. Most of the route network was electrified from 1906 to 1909 and was in operation until 1950. The short route through Prince of Wales Drive and the route in Fairfield Street in Wandsworth were not electrified. The former was closed while the line at Wandsworth was replaced by a new route further west.
Line network
The lines were marked with colors. In 1902 the following lines were operated:
| colour | route | Length (km) | Travel time (min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| brown | Wandsworth, East Hill - Clapham Junction - Lavender Hill - Vauxhall - Lambeth Bridge - St George 'Circus - Southwark Bridge Road - Hop Exchange | 9.13 | 54 |
| yellow | Wandsworth, East Hill - Clapham Junction - Lavender Hill - Vauxhall - Lambeth Bridge - Westminster Bridge | 7.34 | 43 |
| green | Wandsworth, North Street - Battersea - Nine Elms - Vauxhall - Lambeth Bridge - St George 'Circus - Southwark Bridge Road - Hop Exchange | 9.63 | 60 |
| blue | Wandsworth, North Street - Battersea - Nine Elms - Vauxhall - Lambeth Bridge - Westminster Bridge | 7.75 | 43 |
| red | Chelsea Bridge - Queens Road - Lavender Hill | 2.01 | 12 |
| chocolate | Chelsea Bridge - Battersea - Falcon Road - Clapham Junction | 3.34 | 20th |
vehicles
In 1881 single-horse wagons without an upper deck were initially used, but they were soon replaced by the two-horse double-deckers that were widely used in London. A total of 28 wagons were used in the beginning of the year, for which 108 horses were required. As a result of the route extensions, the stock grew to 95 horse-drawn carriages and 750 horses by the time it was taken over. The 24 horse buses owned by the SLT were sold or scrapped in 1899.
Depots
- Queens Road
The first railway depot, opened in January 1881, was located on Queens Road south of what is now Queenstown Road station , approximately at Ingate Place. The main workshop of the railway was also located here.
- Jews Row
Another depot was located on Jews Row in Wandsworth and opened on May 6, 1883. The connection was made by the Wandsworth Bridge Road via an operating line.
- Clapham Junction
The depot for the East Hill lines was west of Falcon Road on the north side of St John's Hill. It was not electrified and closed when the horse business was closed.
- Gonsalva Road
A small depot on the north side of Wandsworth Road on Gonsalva Road (now overbuilt, west of Wandsworth Road Station) was also opened in 1883.
- Borough
The only depot of the railway near the London terminals was on the north side of Borough Road between Lancaster Street and Southwark Bridge Road.
literature
- John R. Day: London's Trams and Trolleybuses . London Transport, London 1977, ISBN 0-85329-082-2 (English).
- ER Oakley: London County Council Tramways, Vol. 1 - South London . London Tramways History Group, Bexleyheath 1989, ISBN 0-9513001-0-5 (English).
- John Reed: London Tramways . Capital Transport Publishing, Harrow Weald 1997, ISBN 1-85414-179-1 (English).