Peter Walker
gone but not forgotten
The first trams in Birmingham ran on the Soho Road, but it wasn’t in Birmingham at the time. There was a near-miss before that, as a 31-year old American named George Francis Train entered into an agreement with the Birmingham authorities in 1860 to build and operate a horse tramway from New Street to Five Ways Edgbaston, but the Public Works Committee made it a condition that the line be extended to Monument Lane (now Monument Road). He had already opened lines in Birkenhead and London, and was instrumental building other installations in Europe, notably Copenhagen, but nothing came of the Birmingham proposal.
In those days Birmingham was a very progressive borough, and as early as 1861, its leaders obtained parliamentary powers under the Birmingham Improvement Act to build tramways, although it formally rescinded the agreement with G F Train in 1862, after he disappeared from the country. But horse bus traffic increased with the dramatic growth of work and the population. Over the next few years, local politicians were eager for new tramway proposals, but it was not until 1870 that three schemes were considered, The Tramways Act 1870 made promotion easier.
The first (horse) tramway
Many deals were done, and the Birmingham and District Tramways Co. Ltd. started to build a horse-drawn line from the Birmingham boundary at Hockley Brook through Handsworth and West Bromwich to Great Bridge, which was opened on 20 May 1872. Unlike later tramways in Birmingham and the Black Country which had a track gauge of 3ft 6in (1076mm), this line was built to the standard railway gauge of 4ft 8-1/2in. (1435 mm). Over a year later, on 6 September 1873 the line was extended into Birmingham, over tracks built for Birmingham Public Works Committee, to Monmouth Street, later Colmore Row, at first with through services to Dudley Port and Hill Top. It took a little time until a continuation past what became Victoria Square and Paradise Street and along the Bristol Road as far as Bournbrook was opened in 1876. However the original tram route through West Bromwich did not pay its way, and the service from Carters Green to Dudley Port ceased in December 1873, and to Hill Top in September 1875, but a new branch, closer to Birmingham, opened on 23 November 1874, off Soho Hill at Villa Road and going through “The Village” to a point in Lozells Road past the Villa Cross pub, where a depot was built. Stables were provided next-door to the “Red Lion” in Soho Road and beside the “New Inns” on Holyhead Road.
In 1876 the horse tramway ‘main line’ was cut back further from Carters Green to New Inns, Handsworth. The operating company was merged with horse bus undertakings to become the Birmingham Tramways & Omnibus Co Ltd, later consolidated into the Birmingham Central Tramways Ltd in 1886.
In those days Birmingham was a very progressive borough, and as early as 1861, its leaders obtained parliamentary powers under the Birmingham Improvement Act to build tramways, although it formally rescinded the agreement with G F Train in 1862, after he disappeared from the country. But horse bus traffic increased with the dramatic growth of work and the population. Over the next few years, local politicians were eager for new tramway proposals, but it was not until 1870 that three schemes were considered, The Tramways Act 1870 made promotion easier.
The first (horse) tramway
Many deals were done, and the Birmingham and District Tramways Co. Ltd. started to build a horse-drawn line from the Birmingham boundary at Hockley Brook through Handsworth and West Bromwich to Great Bridge, which was opened on 20 May 1872. Unlike later tramways in Birmingham and the Black Country which had a track gauge of 3ft 6in (1076mm), this line was built to the standard railway gauge of 4ft 8-1/2in. (1435 mm). Over a year later, on 6 September 1873 the line was extended into Birmingham, over tracks built for Birmingham Public Works Committee, to Monmouth Street, later Colmore Row, at first with through services to Dudley Port and Hill Top. It took a little time until a continuation past what became Victoria Square and Paradise Street and along the Bristol Road as far as Bournbrook was opened in 1876. However the original tram route through West Bromwich did not pay its way, and the service from Carters Green to Dudley Port ceased in December 1873, and to Hill Top in September 1875, but a new branch, closer to Birmingham, opened on 23 November 1874, off Soho Hill at Villa Road and going through “The Village” to a point in Lozells Road past the Villa Cross pub, where a depot was built. Stables were provided next-door to the “Red Lion” in Soho Road and beside the “New Inns” on Holyhead Road.
In 1876 the horse tramway ‘main line’ was cut back further from Carters Green to New Inns, Handsworth. The operating company was merged with horse bus undertakings to become the Birmingham Tramways & Omnibus Co Ltd, later consolidated into the Birmingham Central Tramways Ltd in 1886.
