Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway
Encyclopedia
The Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway was a narrow gauge street tramway between the London and North Western Railway
's (LNWR) Wolverton railway works
and Wolverton railway station
and Stony Stratford
in Buckinghamshire
, two miles to the east, and (briefly) onwards to Deanshanger
, Northamptonshire
.
, to the west of Stony Stratford, but the tramway company quickly ran into financial trouble and declared bankruptcy in 1889. The line was purchased by a syndicate of Bedford businessmen, which reopened the Wolverton to Stony Stratford section in 1891. The Deanshanger extension never re-opened.
In the early 1920s the line was taken over by the LNWR, which purchased a new Bagnall
tram locomotive. After the LNWR merged into the London Midland and Scottish Railway the line was closed, in 1926.
The line was unusual for a British street tramway in being entirely worked by steam locomotives; it was the last steam street tramway in the Great Britain
.
on Stacey Hill (southern edge of Wolverton) with a variety of memorabilia.
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
's (LNWR) Wolverton railway works
Wolverton railway works
Wolverton railway works was established in Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, by the London and Birmingham Railway Company in 1838 at the midpoint of the 112 mile-long route from London to Birmingham...
and Wolverton railway station
Wolverton railway station
Wolverton railway station serves northern Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, especially Stony Stratford, Wolverton and New Bradwell.The station is served by London Midland local services from Northampton to London on the West Coast Main Line. It is one of the five stations serving Milton Keynes...
and Stony Stratford
Stony Stratford
Stony Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes and is a civil parish with a town council within the Borough of Milton Keynes. It is in the north west corner of Milton Keynes, bordering Northamptonshire and separated from it by the River Great Ouse...
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, two miles to the east, and (briefly) onwards to Deanshanger
Deanshanger
Deanshanger, pronounced deans-hanger, is a village and civil parish in South Northamptonshire, just north of Milton Keynes. In 2007 it was joined with the civil parish of Wicken to form Deanshanger ward, returning two councillors...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
.
History
The tramway opened in 1887. A 2½ mile long extension opened in 1888 to DeanshangerDeanshanger
Deanshanger, pronounced deans-hanger, is a village and civil parish in South Northamptonshire, just north of Milton Keynes. In 2007 it was joined with the civil parish of Wicken to form Deanshanger ward, returning two councillors...
, to the west of Stony Stratford, but the tramway company quickly ran into financial trouble and declared bankruptcy in 1889. The line was purchased by a syndicate of Bedford businessmen, which reopened the Wolverton to Stony Stratford section in 1891. The Deanshanger extension never re-opened.
In the early 1920s the line was taken over by the LNWR, which purchased a new Bagnall
W.G. Bagnall
W. G. Bagnall was a locomotive manufacturer from Stafford, England. It was founded in 1875 by William Gordon Bagnall and ceased trading in 1962 when it was taken over by English Electric Co Ltd. The company was located at the Castle Engine Works, in Castle Town, Stafford...
tram locomotive. After the LNWR merged into the London Midland and Scottish Railway the line was closed, in 1926.
The line was unusual for a British street tramway in being entirely worked by steam locomotives; it was the last steam street tramway in the Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
Locomotives
| Builder | Type | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Krauss Krauss-Maffei The Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co KG or simply Krauss-Maffei is an injection molding machine manufacturer and defence company based in Munich, Germany... |
0-4-0 tram | 1886 | |
| Green Thomas Green & Son Thomas Green & Son, Ltd. were engineers who manufactured a wide range of products at the Smithfield Foundry, Leeds, United Kingdom.- Introduction :Thomas Green came to Leeds from Carlton-on-Trent near Newark and founded the company in 1835... |
0-4-0 tram | ||
| Brush Brush Traction This article is about a British rail-locomotive maker. For the Detroit auto-maker, see Brush Motor Car CompanyBrush Traction is a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives, part of the FKI group , based at Loughborough in Leicestershire, England situated alongside the Midland Main Line.-... |
0-4-0 tram | ||
| W.G. Bagnall W.G. Bagnall W. G. Bagnall was a locomotive manufacturer from Stafford, England. It was founded in 1875 by William Gordon Bagnall and ceased trading in 1962 when it was taken over by English Electric Co Ltd. The company was located at the Castle Engine Works, in Castle Town, Stafford... |
0-4-0ST | 1922 |
Memorabilia
One of the carriages (significantly larger than a Routemaster double-decker bus) is on display at the Milton Keynes MuseumMilton Keynes Museum
Milton Keynes Museum is an independent local museum in the parish of Wolverton and Greenleys in Milton Keynes, England. It is mostly run by volunteers with a small number of paid staff.The museum is housed in a former Victorian farmstead....
on Stacey Hill (southern edge of Wolverton) with a variety of memorabilia.
See also
- British narrow gauge railwaysBritish narrow gauge railwaysThere were more than a thousand British narrow gauge railways ranging from large, historically significant common carriers to small, short-lived industrial railways...