Sheffield Tramway
The first tramway line, horse-drawn, opened in 1873 between Lady's Bridge and Attercliffe, subsequently extended to Brightside and Tinsley.
Upon their return the committee recommended the adoption of electrical propulsion using the overhead current collection system.
Along with lines opening to Abbeydale, Walkley and Hunter's Bar, the missing link in the centre of the sprawling network between Moorhead and Lady's Bridge was finally laid.
Some tensions existed between both councils and services were halted between September 1914 and May 1915 leaving passengers to either walk between both networks or use the railways.
The First World War made material scarce and progress in bus technology which meant that many cities abandoned their tram networks.
Twenty second-hand double-deck tramcars were purchased from London County Council Tramways in 1917 and 1918, due to the material shortage.
The scarcity of material did not deter the corporation, though, who extended the network to Handsworth, Mansfield Road and to Sheffield Lane Top.
After the Second World War, the railway bridge on Sheffield Road was replaced and the through-tram service to Rotherham temporarily suspended.
W. Ward received most of the trams for scrapping via a track connection into their scrap-yard on Attercliffe Common, almost opposite the end of Weedon Street.
An illuminated car, followed by a procession of fourteen trams, carried passengers and Council dignitaries from Beauchief to the Tinsley depot.
The Sheffield Tramway Company's original horse-drawn tram network was 91⁄2 miles long and radiated from the city centre to Tinsley, Brightside, Hillsborough, Nether Edge and Heeley.
A few years after Sheffield Corporation took over horse tramways were gradually replaced first by single-deck, then double-deck electric trams.
The rest of the bays are now home to the South Yorkshire Transport Trust's 75 vehicle collection - http://www.sytt.webeden.co.uk/ The SYTT announced plans in February 2010 that looks set to see Tinsley Depot restored and opened as a new Museum.
When the building was no longer required it was sold off and used as a motor vehicle repair shop until 2005, when it was purchased to become part of a block of flats.
The building had listed status,[6] as part of which the builder was told that the archway, which included the carved stone "Sheffield Tramways" legend, had to remain in place.
The Nether Edge line and two other small sections were abandoned due to the narrowness of the streets, which caused problems and were unsuitable for efficient service.
Those parts that surround the entrance at the junction of Shoreham Street and Leadmill Road are still standing and in good condition, though a new use for them has yet to be found.
[2] Initially numbered 258–272 they had wooden seats for 59 passengers, and were mounted on a four-wheel Peckham P22 truck with two Metrovick 102DR 60 hp motors operated by British Thomson-Houston B510 controllers.
Following the production of a prototype at Queens Road works in 1918, between 1919 and 1927 Brush at Loughborough built 100 of these cars, and another 50 at Cravens in Darnall.
From 1936 to 1939 Queens Road works built redesigned Standard cars, known as the 'Domed-roof' class, which had improved lighting and seats.
They were carried on a four-wheel Maley & Taunton hornless type 588 truck with rubber and leaf spring suspension, powered by two Metrovick 101 DR3 65 hp motors.
Representing the ultimate development of the traditional British four-wheel tram, the class worked for only 10 years, as Sheffield tramway closed in 1960.
On 8 October of that year, car 513, ran specially decorated in the final procession; so too did sister tram 510, now preserved by the National Tramway Museum at Crich.
It first travelled to Blackpool, then Beamish and finally on to the East Anglian Transport Museum near Lowestoft, where it currently resides.
513 was stored for some time on disused railway sidings and lost its control equipment and most of its glass due to vandalism.
[11] The tramcar was built by Cravens in Darnall, Sheffield and was part of a batch of fifty cars, all numbered between 451 and 500.
She was withdrawn in February 1950 and stored at Tinsley Tram Sheds until 1951 when the car was dismantled with the lower and upper saloon bodies being disposed of separately.
The tram shed at Tinsley survives more or less intact, as do parts of those at Holme Lane and Shoreham Street.
An example of tracks covered in this way was uncovered and made a feature of The Moor pedestrian precinct for a time, but this was re-covered when the area was re-modelled a few years back.
On the pavement of Howard Road in Walkley, near the junction with Commonside, several manhole covers marked "Sheffield Corporation Tramway" are still in place.
