Trams

The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport that developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s. The story usually told is that the name "Omnibus" may have arisen through the efforts of a milliner named Omnès, in Nantes. There was a "coach service" in the that city which was originally intended to take people to a bath-house run by a Stanislas Baudry (a steam-mill owner). Omnès had a shop en route and installed an "omnibus" stop outside his shop. The word "omnibus" being derived from either "for everybody" (dative) or "by Omnès" (ablative). In fact, the phrase may have nothing to do with the miller and the milliner at all, but could be derived from a student revolutionary who used the alias "Omnès Omnibus" around 1790, and the evidence suggests that Omnès was a grocer, not a miller. Poor Stanislas Baudry went bankrupt in an attempt to secure land to feed and house his stud of horses, and was driven to despair and suicide.

By 1829, the idea had arrived in London, but there was probably a slightly earlier system operating in Manchester. Somewhat surprisingly, the "golden age" of the horse-tram was preceeded by a short period in which steam-powered buses were successful, but this was brought to an end by the heavy road tolls imposed by the turnpike trusts and from 1861 onwards, harsh legislation virtually eliminated mechanically propelled vehicles from the roads of Great Britain for 30 years. One of the stipulations of the relevant Act was that no visible steam or smoke was to be emitted. Horse-buses were known in Chester from about 1870 when a service existed between Chester Station and the Town Hall. This did not run on tracks. Later horse-drawn services ran from the Town Hall to Hoole Parish Church and on a longer route from Bache to Christleton.



Trams were those using the newly improved iron or steel rail or "tramway". Horsecars on tramlines were an improvement over the omnibus, as the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on iron or steel rails (usually grooved from 1852 on) allowed the animals to haul a greater load for a given effort than the omnibus and gave a smoother ride. Britain's first street tramline opened on 30th August 1860 between the Woodside Ferry terminal and Birkenhead Park, a distance of 1½ miles. The horse drawn tramway was operated by the Birkenhead Street Railway Company Limited, and the initial rolling stock consisted of two open-top double-deck cars (Nos. 1-2), and two single-deck saloon cars (Nos. 3-4), imported from America and assembled by local coachbuilder. A serious drawback of the horse tram was the need to maintain a large stable of horses for only a few tramcars. Horse tram operators calculated that an average of 10 horses was required for each tramcar in service, which meant that a small fleet of only ten tramcars would have required 100 horses to operate it. Needless to say, that the feeding, grooming and stabling of these animals ate into the profits of the tramway company to such an extent that hardly any of them, except those on very busy routes, made a significant profit.

Chester Tramways Company
Chester's standard-gauge (4’8½” or 1.435m) horse tramway, opened for business on the 10th June 1878, and was built and operated by the Chester Tramways Company. A popular legend that has been around since at least 1937 traces the size of the standard gauge back to ancient Rome, and the rutted tracks worn by Roman chariots. There is possibly some truth in the theory that once Roman, or even prehistoric, roads became rutted there was a definite advantage in building any further carts or chariots with wheels that would fit into the ruts. Further standardisation occured during the development of railways which used wagons based on the unit known as a Chaldron.

The initial route was from Chester Station to Chester Castle, via City Road, Foregate Street, Eastgate Street, Bridge Street and Grosvenor Street. The sysem used the "latest technology" in the form of the Eades Patent Reversible Car which could be worked by stud of only eight horses. Its biggest advantage was that its body, held in position by a locking pin, was able to swivel on its underframe, enabling it to be turned round at the end of a journey with horses still in harness and with the driver remaining in his seat. It was said that such a car could reverse in four seconds.

Chester Corporation Tramways


The original Tramways Act of 1878 included a provision for the Tramway to be acquired by the Corporation after 21 years. Under the Chester Corporation Act of 1901, the council took up its option to purchase the assets of the Chester Tramways Company for a cost of £18,000. Chester Corporation immediately set to work reconstructing the system to 3ft 6ins gauge and the horse trams finally ceased running on the night of the 27th December 1902. In the following few months, public services were provided by a number of private entrepreneurs using horse buses. The system was rebuilt to the narrow gauge of 3'6", and 12 new tramcars were ordered from G.F. Milnes & Co. a tramcar manufacturer based in Birkenhead (1886-1902) and Hadley, Shropshire (1900-1905). The electric trams could not use the Eades rotation system to reverse the tram, so the back of the seats were pivoted so that they could be tilted to either "face" backwards or forwards.

The were in fact proposals that the electric tram system in Chester would be a much grander system. In 1900, the Corporation applied to Parliament for leave to construct tramways: from the tramshed to the Town Hall via Brook Street, George Street and Upper Northgate Street; from Brook Street to the end of Hoole Road at Hare Lane; from Northgate to Upton; from Foregate Street to Boughton; and extending out past Saltney. Very little of this was every built and it provoked a flurry of letters to the local press ranging from complaints that there would be an interruption of the service during the changeover to fears that the overhead wires would not only be unsightly, but would also cause deaths by electric shock, gout, rheumatism and "some heart complaints".

The new service started to run in 1903, with the first tramcar to enter public service was being number 4, driven by the Mayor, Mr Frank Brown. Almost at once there were outbursts in the press about the way in which the Corporation was managing the system, and especially their proposal to hike fares from 1d to 6d during race week, something which the private owners of the tram service had previously done, but to a lesser extent.

The Chester tram system closed on 15 February 1930.

Revivals?
There have been several proposals to revive the tramlines in Chester.

Survivals along the route
A number of relics of the tramline survive along the route. Mostly these are in the form of the "roses" which supported the overhead cables, although there are also a few stretches of track. A pair can be seen on the former School building in City Road, which also has a dummy owl on the roof to scare pidgeons. One rose in Foregate Street has been lowered and a plaque added. Another, at the Grosvenor Hotel in Eastgate Street has been re-purposed to prevent the signage swinging in the wind. On the underside of the bridge forming the Eastgate there are two holes which once supported the overhead cables.

Related pages



 * Chester Station;
 * City Road;
 * Foregate Street;
 * Eastgate Street;
 * Bridge Street;
 * Grosvenor Street;
 * Chester Castle;
 * Grosvenor Bridge;

Sources and Links

 * Chester Tramways Company: at British Tramway Company Uniforms and Insignia;
 * Chester Corporation Transport 1902-1986;
 * CHESTER CORPORATION TRAMWAYS;
 * Chester Corporation Transport;
 * The "Raworth Demi-Car";
 * Letters to the Editor: transition from horse to electricity in the Chester press;
 * Joe Smoe provides some recoloured images;