Vintage Tram Network Info

[Nonsense]

Some time ago I remember reading online that, prior to the dismantling of the Tram systems before the 1960s, that it was possible for one vehicle to cross the various networks and be driven from Liverpool over to Manchester. I am trying to find something which backs this.

Any recommended websites or books that might cover this level of tram network detail? Google has so far drawn a blank. I don't think I've ever come across a national level map of the old tram networks.

 

[martinsh]

Yes it was certainly possible. I think you could get from Liverpool as far as Oldham, and then a short break from Huddersfield to Leeds.

(May have been some problems due to change of gauge)

Would not have been possible after 1933 when South Lancashire Tramways converted to trolleybus.

There is a (very old) book called Great British Tramway Networks by WH Bett which gives full details.

 

[northernrail]

Im about 95% sure that there was once a special that ran from Liverpool to Manchester, i will get details tommorow.

 

[tripleseis]

Maps at the Crich Tramway Village tend to confirm that you could indeed travel by tram from Liverpool to Manchester.

 

[madannie77]

from The Tramway and Railway World, August 26th 1916 (as quoted in The Tramways of South-East Lancashire, by W H Bett and J C Gillham)

"At a cost of just over 4 shillings each in fares, two Bingley residents recently journeyed to Liverpool mainly by tramway. They started at 6am and reached the Mersey City at 5pm. The distance is 76 miles and the only portion not served by a tramway is that of seven miles between Hebden Bridge and the village of Summit, on the boundary of Lancashire and Yorkshire".

 

[martinsh]

from The Tramway and Railway World, August 26th 1916 (as quoted in The Tramways of South-East Lancashire, by W H Bett and J C Gillham)

"At a cost of just over 4 shillings each in fares, two Bingley residents recently journeyed to Liverpool mainly by tramway. They started at 6am and reached the Mersey City at 5pm. The distance is 76 miles and the only portion not served by a tramway is that of seven miles between Hebden Bridge and the village of Summit, on the boundary of Lancashire and Yorkshire".

Oh yes, Todmorden was famous for never having a tramway, and started one of the first municipal bus companies in the country

 

[jp4712]

In the book 'A History of Public Transport in Ashton under Lyne' by Hyde and Odgen, MTMS 1980, there is a description of Ashton borrowing Liverpool's illuminated tram for a shopping week, and the book describes the journey in the depths of winter in a tram with no windscreen. The journey went Liverpool > Prescot > St Helens > Ashton > Atherton > Swinton > Salford > Manchester > Ashton, using the networks of Liverpool, St Helens, SLT, Salford, Manchester and Ashton.

The longest journey that theoretically could be undertaken by tram was Liverpool Pier Head to Summit, east of Rochdale, although no evidence has been found in our archives that show that any tram ever did that particular trip.

Paul
(Manchester Museum of Transport)

 

[Nonsense]

In the book 'A History of Public Transport in Ashton under Lyne' by Hyde and Odgen, MTMS 1980, there is a description of Ashton borrowing Liverpool's illuminated tram for a shopping week, and the book describes the journey in the depths of winter in a tram with no windscreen. The journey went Liverpool > Prescot > St Helens > Ashton > Atherton > Swinton > Salford > Manchester > Ashton, using the networks of Liverpool, St Helens, SLT, Salford, Manchester and Ashton.

The longest journey that theoretically could be undertaken by tram was Liverpool Pier Head to Summit, east of Rochdale, although no evidence has been found in our archives that show that any tram ever did that particular trip.

Paul
(Manchester Museum of Transport)

Thats the reference I read thank you. Its a fascinating niche of rail history and would love to learn more about the cooperation and interoperability of these different networks. Would make a great thesis.

 

[jp4712]

Yes, it would! We have a lot of paperwork on the various agreements. If you think ORCATS is complex, you should see some of the revenue agreements made long before computers made it easy... I'm currently out of the country, if I can remember when I get home I'll post a typical example of the revenue-sharing mind-puzzles that used to sit beneath every through working (and as far as tramways are concerned, there was more through working in southeast Lancashire than anywhere else in the UK).

Paul

 

[bus man]

If i remember rightly you could do it but it involved a lot of walking between the sytems , before the midlands tram opened i traveled from fleetwood to my home in sheffiled using all the trams inthe uk& buses inbetween so it was tram to blackpool bus to burry tram to manchester buses to halfway tram to sheffield then bus home .