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Northampton Corporation Tramways
Northampton Corporation Tramways
	Bridge Street, Northampton ca. 1918
Operation
Locale	Northampton, England, United Kingdom
Open	21 October 1901
Close	15 December 1934
Status	Closed
Infrastructure
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Propulsion system(s)	Electric
Statistics
Route length	8+1⁄4 miles (13.3 km)

Northampton Corporation Tramways operated the tramway service in Northampton between 1901 and 1934.^[1]

History

The company was purchased from the Northampton Street Tramways Company on 21 October 1901 for the sum of £38,700 (equivalent to £5,310,000 in 2023).^[2] It continued to operate horse drawn tramcars whilst the electrification work was planned. Once the electric services were ready, the horse drawn assets were quickly disposed of at auctions run by W.J. Pierce in Northampton. Seventy horses and 6 tramcars were sold on 29 July 1904. The remaining 15 horses and 8 tramcars which had been held over to work the Kingsthorpe section were sold at auction in August 1904. The Duke of Buccleuch paid 38 guineas for a bay gelding, and the remaining horses sold for between 14 guineas and 30 guineas. The tramcars (originally purchased for £150 to £170 each) sold for between £4 and £7 each.^[3]

A new depot was constructed in St James’ End with the provision for 24 cars in a building 120 feet (37 m) long and 70 feet (21 m) in two spans of 35 feet (11 m) with six lines of rails. The back of the building was closed with a temporary end to provide for future extensions.^[4] The power generating station was constructed at the refuse destructor site in Castle Street. The generating station was equipped with two 200 kW sets in duplicate with a 120 kW set for taking light loads. Construction of both started in October 1903.^[5]

The work of converting the permanent way into an electric tramway system started on 20 January 1904 when contractors began to lay new lines on Wellingborough Road.^[6] The first electric service started on Thursday 21 July 1904 when an inauguration ceremony was held in Mercers’ Row. The inaugural car carried the Mayoress and departed along Abington Street to St Matthew’s Church, followed by two other cars. They then returned and ran to the other terminus at Franklin’s Gardens. By the end of the day all 20 cars were running in service.^[7]

The initial services operated over 5+1⁄2 miles (8.9 km). In 1913 the Council approved a report from the Tramways Committee which recommended the expenditure of £10,850 (equivalent to £1,348,500 in 2023)^[2] for the purchase of additional plant and tramcars. The cost of four new tramcars was put at £2,600, the extension to the sheds was £2,400, an engine and generator for £2,300 and battery for £2,100.^[8] The tram service was now carrying 7,500,000 passengers per annum, compared with 5,000,000 in 1906.

The extension to Far Cotton was built for the sum of £20,352 11s 10d (equivalent to £2,529,600 in 2023)^[2] by Messrs Stark and Co of Glasgow. Three new tramcars were ordered from the Brush Electrical Engineering Company of Loughborough for £460 (equivalent to £57,200 in 2023)^[2] per car, and Dick Kerr and Company of Preston provided the electrical equipment for £289 14s. 6. (equivalent to £36,000 in 2023)^[2] per car^[9] The construction of the new line to Far Cotton required the widening of Northampton’s South Bridge from 30 feet (9.1 m) to 50 feet (15 m). The cost of widening the bridge was between £6,000 and £7,000.^[10] The new line to Far Cotton opened on 23 October 1914.^[11] It took the tramway to a total route length of 6.41 miles (10.32 km).

The First World War resulted in some restrictions in services. The halfpenny fare was abolished but it was agreed that wounded soldiers in blue uniforms would be allowed to ride free of charge. Like many tramways, the company struggled with the recruitment of male tramway employees into the armed forces and on 20 December 1915 the first female conductors were employed.^[12] The women were employed on a contract to work 54 hours per week and they were paid at the same rate as men conductors, £1 0s. 3d.^[13] (equivalent to £102.48 in 2023).^[2] Towards the end of the war it was reported that some of the women were working 70 hours per week due to the prevalence of sickness and consequent lost time.^[14]

Sunday service was re-introduced in 1919.^[15]

There was some financial difficulty after the war, in 1919 the losses were reported as £2,447 on expenditure of £50,058, and by 1921 losses had increased to £8,900.^[16] However, by 1924 the situation had improved and a profit of £9,000 was reported.^[17]

Fleet

There were 37 tramcars in the Northampton fleet:

1-20 built in 1904 by Electric Railway & Tramway Carriage Works
21-22 built in 1905 by Electric Railway & Tramway Carriage Works
23-24 built in 1910 by United Electric Car Company
25-26 built in 1911 by United Electric Car Company
27-33 built in 1914 by Brush Electrical Machines
34-37 built in 1921 by English Electric

The livery was vermilion and white.

Closure

The system was closed on 15 December 1934.

Two tram stops survive in Northampton. One is near the Racecourse and the other is on Kingsthorpe Grove.^[18]

References

^ The Golden Age of Tramways. Published by Taylor and Francis.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
^ "Sale of Tram Horses and Cars". Northampton Mercury. England. 26 August 1904. Retrieved 19 November 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Car Shed. St James's End Site". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. England. 2 May 1903. Retrieved 11 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "The work of electrifying the Northampton Tramway System". Northampton Mercury. England. 27 November 1903. Retrieved 11 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Northampton Tramways". Northampton Mercury. England. 22 January 1904. Retrieved 19 November 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Northampton's Electric Trams. Official Opening". Northampton Mercury. England. 22 July 1904. Retrieved 19 November 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Tramway Developments". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. England. 2 December 1913. Retrieved 19 November 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Tramways Extension. Direct Labour and Contract". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. England. 3 February 1914. Retrieved 11 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Northampton's South Bridge". Northampton Mercury. England. 12 December 1913. Retrieved 19 November 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Far Cotton Trams". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. England. 23 October 1914. Retrieved 19 November 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "A Start at Northampton". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. England. 24 December 1915. Retrieved 11 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Tramways Labour Shortage". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. England. 8 December 1915. Retrieved 11 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Northampton Daily Echo". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. England. 29 November 1917. Retrieved 11 December 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ The Electrician, Volume 82, 1919
^ The Electrician, Volume 88, 1921
^ The Electrician, Volume 92, 1924
^ "Trams". Far Cotton History Group. Retrieved 7 October 2009.^{[dead link‍]}