Portsmouth Tramway, New Hampshire

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The city of Portsmouth in the US state of New Hampshire had a tram service from 1899 to 1925 .

history

Portsmouth Electric Railway

The Portsmouth Horse Railroad Company was founded on August 4, 1887 . They intended to connect the city with the southern neighboring town of Rye by a horse-drawn tram . The line was to start from Portsmouth Railway Station and run through Deer, Vaughan, Congress and Islington Streets. However, it was not built. On August 25, 1892, the company received preliminary approval to build an electric tram, but it was also not used. On March 29, 1898, it was announced that the Portsmouth and Dover Railroad had bought the railway company. She renamed it Portsmouth Electric Railway Company (PER). The company also bought the Rye Beach Electric or Horse Railroad , which was founded on March 29, 1893 and had a concession for a route from North Hampton Station to Little Boar's Head and Rye Beach.

After several public hearings in the spring of 1898, at which no one from Rye or Hampton appeared to support the railway, but there were some voices that feared it would impair the appearance of the two holiday resorts, the government only issued a permit for the construction of the planned lines in Portsmouth and New Castle . After the company proposed another route through Rye, they finally received approval for the local area of ​​Rye on November 14, 1898. Construction work had already started in September. Delayed by the winter, the construction work was not completed until June 1899. On July 1st, the company opened its first routes:

  • Rye Line: Portsmouth, Market Square - Congress Street - Middle Street - Miller Avenue - Sagamore Avenue - Sagamore Road - city limits to Rye
  • Islington Street Line: Portsmouth, Market Square - Congress Street - Islington Street - corner of Frenchman's Lane
  • Christian Shore Ring Line: Portsmouth, Market Square - Market Street - Deer Street (a short turn to the train station) - Vaughan Street - Raynes Avenue - Maplewood Avenue - Dennett Street - Bartlett Street - Islington Street - Congress Street - Market Square

The depot was on Bartlett Street, next to the railroad. On August 14th, the South Road line followed from Market Square via Congress Street, Middle Street, Lafayette Road to South Road. The Rye line was extended on August 27 through Sagamore Road to Lang's Corner and on September 1, regular traffic began beyond Lang's Corner through western Wallis Road to Rye Corner (corner of Washington Road). The also licensed routes in Portsmouth through South Street, State Street and to Noble's Island as well as to New Castle and the ring through Wallis Road and Washington Road in Rye were not built.

On June 24, 1900, the Rye Line was extended over Washington Road, Central Road, Ocean Boulevard, on its own railroad track to Atlantic Avenue, over this a short distance eastward, then on its own railroad track again to Ocean Boulevard to Portsmouth Junction and two days later, regular operations began on this route. In Portsmouth Junction there was a track connection to the Exeter, Hampton and Amesbury Street Railway (EH&A) in the direction of Massachusetts. The trips did not end in Portsmouth Junction, but led via EH&A to Hampton Beach. On July 14th of the same year the branch through Atlantic Avenue to North Hampton Station on the East Boston – Portsmouth railway line went into operation.

After the Boston and Maine Railroad bought Portsmouth & Dover in 1900, it owned all of the Portsmouth railway lines as well as the PER. You now asked for the building permit for the other planned routes. However, the city only gave the railway company until December 1, 1901 to complete all routes. Boston & Maine first built the connection of the South Road Line and the Islington Street Line via South Road, Middle Road, Plains Avenue and Islington Street, which combines these two lines into a ring line, the Portsmouth Plains Line could. It was opened on July 4, 1901. The PER did not build any further routes.

On May 1, 1920, the branch line to North Hampton was closed, followed by the Christian Shore Line on September 15, 1924 and the two remaining lines on May 16, 1925.

Portsmouth and Exeter Street Railway

On March 7, 1901, the Portsmouth and Exeter Street Railway Company was established to build an interurban tram from Portsmouth via Greenland and Stratham to Exeter station. Construction work began on April 16, 1902, and the railway was opened on September 11, 1902. The line connected at the intersection of Middle Road / Plains Avenue to the Portsmouth tram network and in Exeter at the junction of High Street / Portsmouth Avenue ("Exeter Junction") to the Exeter – Hampton Village tram . The management was initially incumbent on the Exeter, Hampton and Amesbury Street Railway, but went to the New Hampshire Electric Railways (NHER) in 1905 . For the section from Exeter Junction to Exeter station, the railway company had agreed on a right of joint use. Initially, the car drove towards the train station on Water Street and Main Street and in the direction of Portsmouth on Lincoln Street, Garfield Street, Kossuth Street and Front Street, so that there was no change of direction in Exeter. From 1907 the ring was driven in the other direction. The line crossed the Portsmouth – Bow Junction railway line in Greenland at the same level. It was agreed with the owner, Boston & Maine, that only one guard would have to be set up when a streetcar passed the intersection.

At no point in its existence was the railway profitable. On January 19, 1910, Portsmouth & Exeter finally went bankrupt and the NHER finally ceased operations between Portsmouth and Exeter on April 22, 1912 and then dismantled the tracks. The Boston & Maine leased part of the route from Portsmouth to Greenland Parade on November 1, 1912 and rebuilt the tracks on this section. On December 23, operations to Greenland were resumed. However, the operation was not profitable and with the expiry of the lease on March 15, 1916, the operation was stopped again and the tracks are now finally removed.

business

The main line from Portsmouth to Hampton Beach was partly operated every 15 minutes in summer, and one journey per hour was sufficient in winter. From around 1916, even in summer, there were only half-hourly cars going to Hampton Beach.

Shuttle cars ran to North Hampton from the Little Boar's Head junction (Atlantic Avenue) following the Boston & Maine trains at North Hampton Station. Some cars ran through to Portsmouth.

On the Christian Shore Line, trolleys initially ran every 30 minutes in both directions. From the summer timetable of 1916, the ring was only driven clockwise on Sundays in the afternoon and evening, otherwise only counterclockwise. From November 3, 1918, wagons again ran all day in both directions, but only every hour. From October 30, 1922, only individual journeys ran counterclockwise, but the total number of journeys remained the same. From December 14, 1923 on, the Ring was only driven in a counterclockwise direction, initially every hour, but from the summer timetable 1924 onwards every half hour.

The Islington Street Line initially ran a few trips a day, while the South Road train ran every 30 minutes. After the ring closed, trams ran every 30 minutes in each direction. In the fall of 1917 the clock sequence was extended to one hour, but on June 30, 1919 it was reduced to 30 minutes. Between December 14, 1923 and the 1924 summer timetable, there were again trains running every hour in both directions, then every half an hour.

The route to Exeter ran every 30 minutes in summer and every 60 minutes during the rest of the year a four-axle railcar. The terminus in Portsmouth was like that of the PER lines in Market Square. Shortly after the opening, however, it was taken back to the intersection of Congress Street and Middle Street. At the times when the Portsmouth & Exeter ran every 30 minutes, the Portsmouth Plains line was only operated between Market Square and Plains (Middle Road / Plains Avenue) via Islington Street. During the rest of the year, only every second car on the Portsmouth-Plains Line ran over the full ring. When the journeys ended on Plains Avenue, the PER carriage crew switched to the Portsmouth & Exeter railcar and drove it to the city center and back, while the crew of Portsmouth & Exeter took a break on Plains Avenue. Portsmouth & Exeter was able to forego agreeing a right of joint use. As early as 1904, the Portsmouth & Exeter timetable was thinned to a year-round hourly service due to the low occupancy rate. From the summer of 1905, cars only drove every hour in the summer, from June to September, and otherwise every two hours. At the same time, all journeys ended on Plains Avenue and the Portsmouth-Plains line was again operated independently. In addition, only two-axle wagons were now used, which had a longer travel time.

literature

  • OR Cummings: Portsmouth Electric Railway. (Electric Traction Quarterly, Volume 5, Nos. 1 & 2.) Wheaton IL: Traction Orange Company, Fall / Winter 1966.
  • OR Cummings: Trolleys to Hampton Beach. Mass. Northeastern St. Ry. Vol. 3: Amesbury Division. New England Electric Railway Historical Society Inc., 1966.