Manchester Corporation Tramways: Difference between revisions

==Birth of Manchester Corporation Tramways==

The [[Manchester Carriage and Tramways Company]] leases were due to expire between 1898 and 1901, so the Corporation of Manchester agreed in 1895 to take over and modernise the existing tramways themselves. They sent inspectors to view the systems operated elsewhere in order to assess the best means of traction power and delivery for Manchester. The systems examined were: underground conduit, storage batteries, [[cable-hauled]] (used in [[Edinburgh]]), [[steam]]-powered (used by [[Leeds]] trams), [[oil]], [[gas]] (utilised in [[Lytham St Annes]]) and a delegation was even sent to Paris to examine their [[compressed air]] system. The decision was then taken to use electrical power carried overhead but the track itself needed complete overhaul from the horse-drawn days and at some junctions the track needed was to be so complex it even had to be ordered from the United States. It was thought that the initial requirement would be for as many as 600 electric cars but although this estimate was revised down to 400 it was still such a large number that it was beyond the manufacturing capacity of the period. Instead of having the entire network and fleet ready for the proposed opening in 1901, the Corporation gradually replaced the old Manchester & Salford Tramway routes as vehicles became available. Notwithstanding, over one hundred cars were delivered before the system actually opened from 1899 onwards.

The location for a new electrically equipped depot needed to be accessible to the first route so land on Queen's Road, Cheetham (part of a later extension to that depot is now home to the [[Museum of Transport in Manchester|Greater Manchester's Museum of Transport]]) was purchased and on 12 June 1900, the foundation stone was laid. Following the installation of power lines between [[Albert Square]] and [[Cheetham Hill]], this first part of the new operation was inaugurated on 6 June 1901 with public services starting the next day. It took £1,500,000 and until 1903 to rebuild and re-equip the rest of the then 140 mile network, and to receive delivery of the full set of new tram cars (mainly double-deck but with some single decks (known as California cars)—mainly used on the L-shaped route 53—were also ordered), but on 13 April that year, horses pulled their last trams within Manchester. Horse-drawn trams in [[London]] by comparison, continued until 1915. By the end of 1901, further sections had been opened between Cheetham Hill Road and Rochdale Road; Deansgate and Hightown; High Street and [[Blackley]]; High Street and Moston Lane; and High Street and Queens Park. Only 252 cars could housed at the Queen's Road depot so a further depot was constructed at Devonshire Street / Hyde Road in Ardwick—and it was opened at the end of 1902.