- Chatham and District Light Railways Company
-
Chatham and District Light Railways Company Overview Type Tram Status Abandoned Locale Chatham, Kent Services 8 Operation Opened 17 June 1902 Closed 30 Sept 1930 Depot(s) Luton High Street Rolling stock 52 double deckers in a Light Green and Ivory livery[1] Technical Line length 14.98 mi (24.1 km) Track gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Chatham & District Light Railways Company Legend
Frindsbury Strood Hill 
Strood 
Rochester Bridge 
River Medway Rochester Borstal 
Dockyard 
Chatham station 
Chatham Chatham cemetery 
Luton (depot) 
Hen & Chickens PH 
Canterbury Street Gillingham Grange Road Strand Rainham The Chatham and District Light Railways Company was the originator and first operator of the electric tramway system that served Chatham and Gillingham, and was later extended into Rochester, Strood and Rainham. The system was in operation from 17 June 1902 to 30 September 1930[2] when it was superseded by the motorbuses of the Chatham and District Traction Company.
Contents
Principal routes
At its inauguration the tramway had the following routes.[3]
- Luton to the Dockyard via Chatham Town Hall.
- Chatham Cemetery to Gillingham Victoria Bridge via Chatham Town Hall and Brompton.
- Chatham Town Hall to Gillingham Pier Road via Chatham Hill, Gillingham and James Street.
- Chatham Railway station to the dockyard via Chatham Town Hall.
The network expanded for several years, and by 1908 there were eight operational routes.[3]
- Luton to the Dockyard via Chatham Town Hall.
- Frindsbury to Gillingham Green via Rochester, Chatham Town Hall and Brompton.
- Strood Hill to Gillingham Green via Rochester, Chatham Town Hall and Brompton.
- Borstal to Gillingham Victoria Bridge via the Delce, Rochester, Chatham Town Hall and Brompton.
- Chatham Town Hall to Gillingham Shalders Arms via Chatham Hill and Canterbury Street.
- Chatham Cemetery to Gillingham Victoria Bridge via Chatham Town Hall and Brompton.
- Chatham Town Hall to Rainham High Street via Chatham Hill, Jezreels and Rainham Mark.
- Chatham Railway Station to Brompton via Chatham Town Hall.
(Note that "the Delce" referred to the area at the junction of Priestfields and Maidstone Road where Upper Delce Farm and Delce Grange were located. It did not refer to Delce Road which is locally known as the Delce.)
Depot
Grid reference TQ 77284 66645
The system's depot, which included a shed with a capacity of fifty tramcars, a boiler house and generating house, and an office building, was located to the south of Luton High Street opposite Christchurch.[3]
After the closure of the tramway system the depot, with its original sheds and workshops, was used for buses until November 1995. In 1998-99 the depot was demolished, and the site redeveloped for housing. Its role in the C&DLRCo is commemorated by the name of its access road, "Tramways".[4]
Tramcars
1/16th scale model of a Chatham tram
Tramcars had a Light Green and Ivory livery, and there were changes to the detailing of the paint scheme over the life of the tram system.
In earlier years the name of the "Chatham & District Light Railways Co" was written in large ornate letters along the full length of the ivory side panel.
The tram model shows the scheme as it was in later years. The ornate lettering had gone.
See also
References
- ^ Turner, Keith (1996). The Directory of British Tramways. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-549-9.
- ^ http://www.lrta.org/hh/hhlist05.html
- ^ a b c Harley, Robert J. (1994). Maidstone and Chatham Tramways. Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-40-5.
- ^ Trams to Tramways. One Hundred Years of The Luton Tram Depot (Luton Local History Leaflet) by Jim Logan.
External links
- Photographs of uniformed C&DLRCo staff
- Photograph of C&DLRCo uniform button
- Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre. Enter search term "tram".
- C&DLR list of fares
Categories:- Tram transport in England
- Transport in Medway
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