Wikipedia

Potteries Electric Traction Company

The Potteries Electric Traction Company operated a tramway service in The Potteries between 1899 and 1928.[2]

Potteries Electric Traction Company
Map of the routes of the Potteries Electric Traction Company
Operation
LocaleThe Potteries, North Staffordshire
Open16 May 1899
Close11 July 1928[1]
StatusClosed
Infrastructure
Track gauge4 ft (1,219 mm)
Propulsion system(s)Electric
Depot(s)see main body for info.
Statistics
Route length32 miles (51 km)
Potteries Electric Traction map
Goldenhill - Longton and Silverdale
Legend
 Goldenhill Woodstock Street
Goldenhill Tram Depot
Tunstall High Street
Brownhills Road
Scotia Road
Davensport Street
Smallthorne
Middleport
Burslem Town Centre
Longport Railway Stn
Porthill(Watlands View)
May Bank Tram Depot
Waterloo Rd(Cobridge)
Waterloo Road Stn
Chell Street
to Newcastle
& Stoke(via Shelton)
to Hanley(via Cliffe Vale)
& Stoke(via Hartshill
Hanley(see better map below)
Newcastle Ironmarket
High St
Newcastle
 
to Chesterton
Silverdale
Church St
Leek Road
Lichfield St/Victoria Road
Victoria Place
Fenton
Silverdale High St
to Stoke Town Centre
Fenton Tram Depot
Longton
The Strand
Longton
Commerce St
Longton
Queen Park Road
Meir
Station
Potteries Electric Traction map
Chesterton to Trent Vale / Hanford
Legend
 Chesterton (Sandford St)
Chesterton
Loomer Road
to Silverdale
 
Newcastle
High Street Terminus
Newcastle
Ironmarket
to Middleport
to Tunstall/Goldenhill
Hartshill
Cliffe Vale
Etruria Railway Station
Hanley Town Centre
to Hanley
via Stoke Road
Stoke Town Centre
to Stoke
Glebe Street
 to Longton
Trent Vale

History

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British Electric Traction incorporated a new company on 27 June 1898, called the Potteries Electric Traction Company. Its purpose was to extend the existing tramway through the towns of the Potteries. In payment of £152,410 to British Electric Traction the Potteries Electric Traction Company acquired four separate companies:[3]

  • North Staffordshire Tramways Company Limited - 6¾ route miles
  • Longton Corporation Tramways - 1½ route miles
  • Potteries Extension Tramways - 12 route miles
  • Potteries Light Railways - 12 route miles

The contract for construction of 28 miles of permanent way was awarded to Dick, Kerr & Co. and the overhead work was awarded to R. W Blackwell and Company.

A coal-fired power station was constructed by Brush Electrical Engineering Company at the depot at Woodhouse Street, Stoke and opened in 1899. It contained four Lancashire boilers with three Mackintosh & Seymour 330 h.p. compound engines driving three 200 kW dynamos. Later an additional engine drove a fourth dynamo.

In 1902 a second station was opened at Lunt Street, between May Bank and Wolstanton.[4] It housed four Lancashire boilers, four engines coupled to two 200 kW and two 440 kW dynamos, with a 20 kW emergency set.

The 4 ft (1,219 mm) was laid with 30 feet (9.1 m) lengths weighing 87 lbs per yard paved with stone setts. The steepest gradient was 1 in 8½, and the tightest curve had a radius of 26 feet (7.9 m).[4]

The Board of Trade inspected the newly re-constructed routes on 18 April 1899. The first section from Hanley via Cobridge, Burslem and Tunstall to Goldenhill was opened with due ceremony on 15 May 1899,[5] with regular services commencing on the following day. The remainder of the line from Hanley through Stoke to Longton opened shortly afterwards followed quickly by the Longton to Dresden and Meir.[6]

The steam trams were disposed of with Blackburn Corporation obtaining seven, The Bradford Tramways and Omnibus Company taking four, and the Bradford and Shelf Tramway Company taking one. The tramway trailers were sold for garden sheds.

The construction of the extensions was also underway at this time. On 13 September 1899 the Board of Trade inspected the line from Burslem to Smallthorne, and Burslem to Longport and these were approved for service. Services started as soon as new rolling stock became available. Services to Newcastle were inaugurated on 17 March 1900.[7]

In January 1901 the tram lines from Newcastle to Chesterton and from Newcastle to Silverdale were opened.[8]

By 1902, the company had a fleet of 105 trams and carried 14,438,048 passengers.

Further extensions were completed as follows which brought the total route length to 31 miles 58 chains (51.1 km).:[9]

  • Stoke to Newcastle, 23 February 1904[10]
  • Hanley to Sneyd Green, November 1905
  • Longton to Adderley Green (Sandford Hill), November 1905[11]
  • Stoke to Trent Vale, November 1905

Fleet

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Accidents

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Trams were relatively safe, although there were accidents.

On 18 February 1924 at 7.30pm car number 122 was approaching Stoke from Newcastle with around 14 passengers when it suffered a failure of the braking system and lost control descending Hartshill bank. When it passed Shelton Old Road it left the lines on a curve and crashed into the wall adjoining some houses. It came to rest in front of St Andrew's Church. It was reported that it was beyond the driver's control for around 300 yards before it left the lines and reached speeds of up to 40 mph.[12]

On 7 March 1924 an accident occurred at 8.45pm at the level-crossing in Waterloo Road, Cobridge, known as the Granvile crossing. A tramcar stopped as the gates were closed, but then crept forwards and collided with a passing goods train. The tram driver, John Steventon of Tunstall, died of his injuries shortly afterwards and the crossing keeper was badly injured.[13]

Depot

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As with all tram systems, the PET Company had a number of tram depots located at the end of each line. PET had depots located at Chesterton, Fenton,[14] Goldenhill,[15] Stoke, May Bank.

Closure

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The system closed in 1928 with the last tram running on 11 July 1928, and in May 1933 the company was renamed Potteries Motor Traction.

 
The Red Lion Hotel, National Tramway Museum

The Red Lion public house which for years stood outside the tramway depot in Stoke-on-Trent, is now relocated to the National Tramway Museum.

Possible reintroduction

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It has been proposed as part of the Transforming Cities Fund that Stoke-on-Trent could get a tramway once again for the first time in 90 years.[16][17]

References

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  1. ^ Dibdin 1960, pp. 87.
  2. ^ Klapper, Charles Frederick. The Golden Age of Tramways. Taylor and Francis.
  3. ^ Dibdin 1959, pp. 60.
  4. ^ a b Dibdin 1959, pp. 61.
  5. ^ "Electric Tramways in the Potteries. Inaugural Ceremony". Newcastle Guardian and Silverdale, Chesterton and Audley Chornicle. England. 20 May 1899. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ Dibdin 1960, pp. 67.
  7. ^ "Tramways to Newcastle". Staffordshire Sentinel. England. 19 March 1900. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "The Tram Lines". Staffordshire Advertiser. England. 12 January 1901. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ Dibdin 1960, pp. 71.
  10. ^ "The Hartshill Trams". Staffordshire Sentinel. England. 23 February 1904. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "New Tramway Section at Longton". Staffordshire Sentinel. England. 25 November 1905. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "Runaway Tramcar at Stoke". Staffordshire Sentinel. England. 19 February 1924. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "Tram Smash at Cobridge". Staffordshire Sentinel. England. 8 March 1924. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ http://www.stokemuseums.org.uk/collections/browse_collections/Local_History_Collections/pmt_collection/pmt_garages/001546.html?tab=image [permanent dead link‍]
  15. ^ http://www.stokemuseums.org.uk/collections/browse_collections/Local_History_Collections/pmt_collection/pmt_garages/001548.html?tab=image [permanent dead link‍]
  16. ^ "Trams could be returning to Stoke-on-Trent". Archived from the original on 6 October 2018.
  17. ^ Corrigan, Phil (3 October 2018). "Next stop Stoke-on-Trent! Plans for trams to return to city for first time in 90 years as part of multi-million pound 'transport revolution'".

Sources

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Works cited
  • Dibdin, H.G. (1959). "Tramways in the Potteries and North Staffordshire". The Tramway Review. 4 (26).
  • Dibdin, H.G. (1960). "Tramways in the Potteries and North Staffordshire". The Tramway Review. 4 (27).
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