The Cavehill and Whitewell Tramway operated steam powered, then horse drawn and finally electric tramway services between

Cavehill Cave Hill or Cavehill is a rocky hill overlooking the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland, with a height of . It is marked by basalt cliffs and caves, and its distinguishing feature is 'Napoleon's Nose', a tall cliff which resembles the profile ...

and

Whitewell Whitewell is a village within the civil parish of Bowland Forest Low and Ribble Valley borough of Lancashire, England. It is in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Historically, the village is part of the West Riding of Yo ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

between 1882 and 1911. It was subsumed into Belfast Corporation Tramways.

History

The tramway was authorised by the Cavehill and Whitewell Tramway Order of 1881. Track-laying started on 23 January 1882, an inspection was undertaken by Major General

Charles Scrope Hutchinson Major-General Charles Scrope Hutchinson (8 August 1826 – 29 February 1912) was Chief Inspecting Officer for Railways from 1892 to 1895. Family Hutchinson was born in Hythe, Kent, son of Scrope Hutchinson, M.D. He was educated at University C ...

on 16 June 1882, and he declared it fit for traffic. The line was opened on 1 July 1882Belfast Newsletter, 30 June 1882 with just one steam engine, ordered from

Kitson and Company Kitson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Early history The company was started in 1835 by James Kitson (businessman), James Kitson at the Airedale Foundry, off Pearson Street, Hunslet, ...

. The route ran from Chichester Park Gate at the terminus of the

Belfast Street Tramways The Belfast Street Tramways operated horse-drawn tramway services in Belfast from 1872 to 1905. Its lines later formed a major part of the Belfast Corporation Tramways. History The initial tramway services were constructed by the Belfast Tra ...

line and terminated at the Glengormley Arms. By 1892 the steam tram engines were giving trouble and horses were employed to maintain the service. By 1896, all steam engines had been sold. By 1905, the company had concluded a contract with

British Electric Traction British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rent ...

for the electrification of the line and this was completed and opened to the public on 12 February 1906. This modernisation project had cost £43,555. In 1910 Belfast Corporation made an offer to purchase the company, and this agreement received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...

on 26 July 1910, however, legal difficulties delayed the formal takeover until 1911.

Fleet

The steam tram engines were obtained from

: *No. 1 – Kitson Works No T/49 1882 *No. 2 – Kitson Works No T/54 1882 (sold in 1891 to the

Vale of Clyde Tramway Company A vale is a type of valley. Vale may also refer to: Places Georgia * Vale, Georgia, a town in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region Norway * Våle, a historic municipality Portugal * Vale (Santa Maria da Feira), a former civil parish in the municipal ...

) *No. 3 – Kitson Works No T/51 1886 (bought from D. and W. Grant, Belfast) There were ten electric trams bought from

Brush Electrical Engineering Company Brush Traction is a manufacturer and maintainer of Locomotive, railway locomotives in Loughborough, England. It is a subsidiary of Wabtec. History Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Henry Hughes had been operating at the Falcon Wo ...

of Loughborough in 1906. Two were sold to

Mansfield and District Light Railways Mansfield & District Light Railways was an electric tramway network operating in Mansfield from 16 July 1905 to 9 October 1932. The tramway company was a subsidiary of Midland Counties Electric Supply Company, who in turn were owned by Balfo ...

in 1912.

Closure

Subsequent to the closure of the Cavehill and Whitewell Tramway in 1911, the route was operated by Belfast Corporation Tramways until 1949, when the trams were replaced by

trolley bus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

es.

References

{{Historic UK Trams 1882 establishments in Ireland 1911 disestablishments in Ireland Tram transport in Ireland before partition Transport in Belfast History of Belfast