Trams 1904-1953
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Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 CONTENTS Birmingham Tramways and Omnibus Co. Ltd. (Birmingham & District Tramways Co. Ltd.) 1872-1885…………….……………….. Page 4 Birmingham Central Tramways Co. Ltd. 1884-1896……….……….……….…….….. Page 9 Birmingham and Aston Tramways Co. Ltd. 1882-1904….……….………….………. Page 17 City of Birmingham Tramways Co. Ltd. 1896-1911…………….…………….….……. Page 23 Birmingham District Power & Traction Co. Ltd. (Birmingham & Midland Tramways Ltd.) 1885-1928………….………………………. Page 39 Birmingham Corporation Tramways 1904-1953……………………………..…..……… Page 49 Cover Illustration: Trams 667 and 670 at the junction of Holly Lane with Tyburn Road close to the Dunlop factory in 1953. (D. J. Norton). 2 Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following individuals and organisations who have contrib- uted to the production of this booklet: D. J. Norton, Birmingham Archive & Heritage Service, The National Tramway Museum, The Tramway & Light Railway Society, Ashley Birch. First Published 2015 by the Local Transport History Library. Second Edition 2016. © The Local Transport History Library 2016. (www.lthlibrary.org.uk) For personal use only. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise for commercial gain without the express written permission of the publisher. In all cases this notice must remain intact. All rights reserved. PDF-162-2 3 Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 Birmingham Tramways and Omnibus Co. Ltd. (Birmingham & District Tramways Co. Ltd.) 1872-1885 In 1872, the Birmingham and District Tramways Co. Ltd., opened a mainly single-track horse tramway under the authority of the Birmingham and Staffordshire Tramways Act of 1870. Constructed to a gauge of 4ft 8½ins, it ran between the Birmingham boundary at Hockley Brook to West Bromwich, via Handsworth. At Carter's Green, to the north of West Bromwich, the tramway branched, with one line serving Hill Top, near Wednesbury, whilst the other branch forked west to Dudley Port, via Great Bridge. The tramway was further served by a number of feeder horse buses. The initial fleet consisted of twelve open-top double deck cars (Nos. 1-12) by Metropolitan in a crimson and cream livery, housed in a depot at Carter's Green. On the 11th September 1873, Birmingham Corporation began construction of a line from Monmouth Street (later Colmore Row) in the city centre (although Birmingham did not become a city until 1889, for convenience it is always referred to as such) to meet the Birmingham and District line at Hockley Brook. This line travelled via Great Hampton Street and Hockley Hill and on completion was leased to the Company, who purchased another 10 (?) tramcars to work the service. 4 Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 The line was not a great success and as early as 1873 economy measures saw the closure of the Dudley Port branch, although the following year, on the 23rd November 1874, a shorter branch to Villa Cross via Villa Road was opened. The following year, however, matters had not improved and the Hill Top route was curtailed at Carter's Green. On the 24th May 1876, a new Company, the Birmingham Tramways and Omnibus Company was formed to purchase the tramway. On the 17th June 1876, Birmingham Corporation leased the newly constructed southern extension to the Company. It ran south from the city centre, along Colmore Road, Anne Street, Paradise Street, Suffolk Street and Bristol Road for a distance of 2½ miles to the city boundary, with a short extension in Bournbrook. In 1885, the Company's lease on the Corporation owned sections expired and on 1st January 1886, the Company's rolling stock and tracks outside the city of Birmingham were purchased by the Birmingham Central Tramways Company, who also took over the lease of the Corporation-owned tracks within the city. 5 Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 Birmingham Tramways and Omnibus Co. Ltd. (Birmingham & District Tramways Co. Ltd.) 1872-1885 FLEET SUMMARY Little record of the rolling stock survives, All known details currently to hand are outlined below. This listing is in the format - Year; Fleet No; Type; Builder; Seating. 1872 1-12; Double-deck open-top 4-wheel; Metropolitan Carriage and Wagon Co; ??/?? These cars are recorded as passing to the Birmingham Tramways and Omnibus Company in 1876. 6 Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 1873 13-22?; Double-deck open-top 4-wheel; Metropolitan or Starbuck; ??/?? Most of these cars are recorded as passing to the Birmingham Tramways and Omnibus Company in 1876. 1876-77? ?-?; Single-deck?; Brown, Marshall & Co; ?? Number of cars unknown (possibly 6?), possibly single-deck. 1878 ?-?; Single-deck toastrack; Starbuck; ?? There were two cars in total. 7 Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 1880 ?-?; Double-deck open-top 4-wheel; Falcon; ??/?? There were four cars in total. They were of the 'Eades' reversible patent design. Notes: Board of Trade returns show that the number of cars (owned by the Birming- ham Tramways and Omnibus Company) after 1876 that were in stock at any one time never exceeded 18. This is the number of cars that were purchased by the Birmingham Central Tramways Co. Ltd., in 1885. The Company also operated a number of horse buses. 8 Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 Birmingham Central Tramways Co. Ltd. 1884-1896 Formed in December 1882 as the Birmingham Suburban Tramways Company, the first route to be opened was the horse tram route from Old Square to Nechells Park Road via Great Lister Street, which commenced operations on the 11th November 1884, by which time the Company had been re-formed as the Birmingham Central Tramways Co. Ltd. Authorised by the Birmingham and Suburban Tramways Order of 1882 the line was constructed to the narrow gauge of 3ft 6ins and the early livery is reported to be sage and dark green. On the 25th November 1884, the first steam route (to Perry Barr) was opened, followed shortly afterwards by routes to Moseley (29th December 1884), Sparkbrook (11th May 1885 - extended to College Road in June 1900), Lozells (1st October 1885), Saltley (24th November 1885), Small Heath (16th January 1886), Moseley via Balsall Heath (19th July 1886 - extended to Kings Heath on the 1st February 1887) and to Wheeler Street (25th October 1886). The initial rolling stock consisted of ten (Nos. 1-10) Falcon 4-wheel horse cars for the Nechells route, 14 (Nos. 1-14) Kitson tram locos and 13 (Nos. 11-23) Falcon trailer cars, all delivered in 1884. 9 Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 In 1886, the Company purchased the portion of the track of the Birmingham Tramways and Omnibus Co. Ltd., which lay outside the city boundary, along with 18 horse cars. At the same time Birmingham Corporation leased the lines within the city (although Birmingham did not become a city until 1889, for convenience it is always referred to as such) to the Company. On 24th March 1888, the former horse tram route from Colmore Row to Hockley Brook (rebuilt to 3ft 6ins gauge) was converted to cable traction by the Patent Cable Tramway Company, and, on the 20th April 1889, the line was extended to Handsworth (New Inns). The service commenced with Nos. 75-94, Falcon open-top bogie double-deckers. In October 1889 the portion of the acquired tramway along Bristol Road to Bournbrook was closed for reconstruction. It re-opened on 24th July 1890 and was worked by Nos. 101-112, Falcon battery-electric open-top double-deck cars. This mixture of tramway systems proved unsatisfactory and on 29th September 1896 the assets of the Birmingham Central Tramways Company were acquired by a new company - the City of Birmingham Tramways Company Ltd., which intended to convert the whole system to overhead electric. 10 Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 Birmingham Central Tramways Co. Ltd. 1884-1896 FLEET SUMMARY Horse Drawn Cars This listing is in the format -Year; Fleet No; Type; Builder; Seating. 1884; 1-10; Double-deck open-top 4-wheel; Falcon; 20/18 1886; ? ; ? ; ? ; ? Nos 1-10 to City of Birmingham Tramways Co. Ltd., 29th September 1896. 18 horse cars were acquired from the Birmingham Tramways and Omnibus Co. Ltd., in 1886 - details unknown but these probably retained their former fleet numbers. 10 were withdrawn in March 1887; the remainder in July 1889. 11 Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 Steam Locos This listing is in the format - Year; Fleet No; Builder. 1884; 1-14; Kitson 1885; 15-26; Kitson 1885; 27-34; Falcon 1885; 35-36; Kitson 1885; 37-50; Falcon 1886; 51-56; Falcon 1886; 57; Falcon 1886; 58-70; Beyer Peacock 1888; 'Julien' system battery-electric loco 1893; 71-72; Kitson 1894; 73-82; Kitson Nos. 1-56, 58-82 to City of Birmingham Tramways Co. Ltd., 29th September 1896. No. 57 ex-Hartlepool Steam Tramway Co. (new 1884) withdrawn 1888. The battery-electric loco was used only briefly - date of withdrawal and disposal un- known. 12 Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 Birmingham Central Tramways No. 57, an 1886 Kitson loco that came from the Hartlepool Steam Tramway Company, towing a Falcon trailer. It was withdrawn in 1888. (Ashley Birch collection). Birmingham Corporation Transport - The Trams 1904-1953 Trailer Cars This listing is in the format - Year; Fleet No; Type; Builder; Seating. 1884; 11-23; Double-deck canopy-top bogie; Falcon; 28/26 1885; 24-45; Double-deck canopy-top bogie; Falcon; 28/26 1885; 46-54; Double-deck canopy-top bogie; Falcon; 30/30 1886; 55-74; Double-deck canopy-top bogie; Falcon; 30/30 Nos. 11-74 to City of Birmingham Tramways Co.