Tram Erith
The Erith tram ( English : Erith Council Tramways ) was a small municipal tram network, which was operated from 1905 in the British municipality of Erith , since 1965 part of the London borough of Bexley . It was integrated into the London tram network in 1933 and shut down in 1935.
history
From 1902 the Erith Urban District Council planned to set up a tram operation in Erith. A route was planned from Abbey Woods station via Abbey Road, Gilbert Road, Lower Road, West Street, Walnut Tree Road and Bexley Road to Northumberland Heath , Colyers Lane, where there was a connection to the Bexley tram . A branch line ran from West Street / Walnut Tree Road through Erith High Street, Compton Place, Queens Road and Northend Road to the North End. Both routes opened on August 26, 1905. The railroad depot was on Walnut Tree Road. The trains from Abbey Woods drove from July 1908 first over Northumberland Heath to Bexleyheath on the tracks of the Bexley tram. From 1909 to January 3, 1916, this joint operation was interrupted because they could not agree on the user fee. From 1906, the branch line was only served by two shuttle cars. It was shut down again in 1910.
In 1908 the London tram opened a route to Abbey Woods, so that it was possible to change trains here directly. The two stretches ended about 23 meters apart. A track connection was only installed after the London Passenger Transport Board took over operations on July 1, 1933, and was opened on December 19, 1933. The Erith tram, known as Line 98 since the 1910s, continued to end in Abbey Woods, as did the lines coming from London. On November 10, 1935, the Erith tram was shut down and replaced by a trolleybus line.
Fleet
Initially, the company had 14 double-decker cars from Brush Traction . Cars 1 to 6 and 9 had an open upper deck, the other cars had a covered upper deck with open sides. All vehicles had bogies from Mountain & Gibson and two 30 hp engines from Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing . The cars were painted apple green and primrose yellow. Around 1920, the railway administration changed the color of the cars to dark red and cream.
In 1906 two smaller railcars (No. 15 and 16) with 20 seats were bought for the North End line for the unit price of 675 pounds sterling , which were equipped for one-man operation. They were single-story and had Milnes-Voss car bodies , Mountain & Gibson bogies, and Westinghouse 27 hp engines. Although the North End line had been closed in 1910, the Erith tram did not sell the two cars until 1915 to the Dartford tram and in 1917 to the Doncaster tram .
In 1919 the Erith tram borrowed four railcars from London United Tramways and bought them shortly afterwards. They were given the numbers 15 to 18. A 76-seat multiple unit purchased by the Hull Corporation in 1916 was given the road number 19. All 19 existing cars were handed over to the London Tram in 1933.
literature
- John R. Day: London's Trams and Trolleybuses . London Transport, London 1977, ISBN 0-85329-082-2 (English).
- John Reed: London Tramways . Capital Transport Publishing, Harrow Weald 1997, ISBN 1-85414-179-1 (English).