Portsdown and Horndean Light Railway

The Portsdown and Horndean Light Railway ( Ordnance Grid Reference Thread:SU656048 > SU657058 > SU660061 > SU666064 >SU674086 > SU683094 > SU690108 > SU698126> SU702128 ) was a tram service that ran initially from Cosham to Horndean in England, United Kingdom. Authorised in 1899 by an Order of the 1896 Light Railway Commission under the Light Railway Act, it opened on the 3rd March 1903 and started from a junction with the street tramway system on the Portsmouth Road, south of Cosham Station. [ Gradually trams extended southwards into Portsmouth, and by 1927 terminated at both piers ( Clarence and South Parade)] . The route ran alongside the London Road (now A3) throughout and traces can still be seen as extra-wide pavements in several locations, and the abutments of the old bridge over the Southwick Road in Cosham. The system transformed the growth of the Waterlooville [From: 'Parishes: Farlington', A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 3 Page, W (Ed)1908 , pp. 148-51 ] , Cowplain and Horndean areas [ "Overnight Horndean became a resort with people coming out for day trips, week-ends- even holidays. Ann Eyre, autobiographical notes by a former resident, 28th December 2006] . Guidebooks were produced advertising the benefits of healthy country air and fresh farm food [ Williams' Guide and Timetable to some of the Beauty Spots on the P&H LR ( July 1913)] The last tram ran on the 9th January 1935, by which time it had been superseded by motor buses, and became the Southdown Bus Company Route 42 [ The 42 route was finally scrapped in January 2007 (The News, Portsmouth p6 31st January 2007 ] . In 2006 new lighting was installed along the route as part of Havant Borough Council's bus corridor improvement scheme.

References

External links

* [http://www.hantsphere.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=hants&f=generic_theme%2ehtm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&%3dtheme_record_id=hs%2dhs%2dportsdown_content4&s=0ilKwRf96sx Local historian]
* [http://www.portsdown-tunnels.org.uk/images/about_portsdown/top_of_portsdown.jpgOriginal photo]
* [http://www.sussex-transport.co.uk/cpptd/Preserved trams]
* [http://www.urbislighting.com/knowledgebase.php?cat=2&sid=2006_3_9 Regeneration of route]