A tram engine is a

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

specially built, or modified, to run on a street, or roadside,

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

way track.

Legal requirements

In the

era, tram engines had to comply with certain legal requirements, although these varied from

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

to country: * The engine must be governed to a maximum speed of ( in the UK) * No steam or smoke may be emitted * It must be free from the noise produced by blast or clatter * The

machinery A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolec ...

must be concealed from view at all points above from rail level *Most of the locomotives must have a cab at each end To avoid

smoke Smoke is an aerosol (a suspension of airborne particulates and gases) emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwante ...

, the fuel used was coke, rather than

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

. To prevent visible emission of steam, two opposite systems were used: * condensing the exhaust steam and returning the condensate to the water tank * Reheating the exhaust steam to make it invisible

Builders

United Kingdom

;Great Eastern Railway The

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

built ten Class G15

0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...

T trams from 1883 to 1897 and twelve Class C53

0-6-0 is the Whyte notation designation for steam locomotives with a wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. Historically, this was the most common wheel arrangement used o ...

T trams from 1903 to 1921. ;Beyer, Peacock & Company

Beyer, Peacock & Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English general engineering company and railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson founded the company in 1854. The company close ...

built some steam tram engines, including three for the Glyn Valley Tramway in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. ;Henry Hughes Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works,

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

started building tram engines in 1876. His engines were of the saddle-tank type and exhaust steam was condensed in a tank under the

footplate A footplate provides the structure on which a locomotive driver and fireman stand in the cab to operate a British or continental European steam locomotive. It comprises a large metal plate that rests on top of the locomotive frame, usually it i ...

by jets of cold water from the saddle-tank. ;Kitson & Company

Kitson & 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, ...

started to build tram engines in 1878. It used a roof-mounted, air-cooled, condenser of thin copper tubes in which the exhaust steam was condensed, similar to the

radiator A radiator is a heat exchanger used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

on a modern road vehicle. The air-cooled system eventually became standard for steam tram engines. ;William Wilkinson William Wilkinson of Holme House Foundry,

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

patented the exhaust steam reheating system about 1881. While it may seem unusual to re-heat steam after, rather than before, use because it would involve a waste of fuel, the purpose of superheating the exhaust was to ensure 'no water can be emitted from the chimney to the annoyance of passengers'. Furthermore, the expansion into a hot chamber in the boiler minimised the noise of the exhaust. Despite the inefficiency inherent in this, the Wilkinson system was popular for a time, and engines of the Wilkinson type continued to be built up to about 1886. Similar reheaters were also used for road

steam wagon A steam wagon (or steam lorry, steam waggon or steamtruck) is a Steam power, steam-powered truck for carrying freight. It was the earliest form of lorry (truck) and came in two basic forms: ''overtype'' and ''undertype'', the distinction being t ...

s, such as the

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring granit ...

. ;Others Other British builders of steam tram engines included: * Aveling & Porter *

Charles Burrell & Sons Charles Burrell & Sons were builders of Traction engine, steam traction engines, agricultural machinery, steam lorries and steam tram engines. The company were based in Thetford, Norfolk, and operated from the St Nicholas works on Minstergate a ...

* Dick, Kerr & Company * Thomas Green & Son * Manlove, Alliott & Company *

Manning Wardle Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Precursor companies The city of Leeds was one of the earliest centres of locomotive building; Matthew Murray built the first commercially ...

Merryweather & Sons Merryweather & Sons of Clapham, later Greenwich, London, were builders of steam Fire apparatus, fire engines and steam tram engines. The founder was Moses Merryweather (1791–1872) of Clapham, who was joined by his son Richard Moses (1839–187 ...

Hawthorn Leslie R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilding, shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982. History The comp ...

built steam tram locomotives for the

Railway Operating Division The Railway Operating Division (ROD) was a division of the Royal Engineers formed in 1915 to operate railways in the many theatres of the First World War. It was largely composed of railway employees and operated both standard gauge and narrow ...

in 1915 ; they were copies on

SNCV The National Company of Light Railways (, abbreviated as NMVB; , abbreviated as SNCV) was a state-owned transportation provider which comprised a system of narrow-gauge tramways or local railways in Belgium, which covered the whole country, incl ...

type 18.

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

;Krauss The German firm Krauss built steam tram engines, including one for the Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway in England. Steamtram 1066 in Schepdaal

Belgium

From the 1880s onward, every steam locomotive builder in Belgium supplied the National Company of Light Railways (SNCV in French) with tram engines, with nearly 1,000 examples being built. Ateliers de Tubize, FUF Haine-Saint-Pierre and Société de Saint-Léonard also supplied several tram engines to foreign companies such as

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, the Netherlands,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, or

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The last steam trams were delivered in the early 1920s.

France

Corpet-Louvet, Décauville, Pinguely, and

Blanc-Misseron Alstom Crespin, formerly Bombardier Transport France and ANF Industrie, is a French rolling stock manufacturer based at Crespin, Nord, Crespin, in Hauts-de-France region, France. The company was acquired by Bombardier Transportation in 1989, then ...

built engines for French and foreign tramways, the latter was created by Ateliers de Tubize in order to avoid taxation of imported locomotives. These companies also built industrial engines and some shunters; large steam locomotives were mostly built by other companies.

The Netherlands

Werkspoor Werkspoor N.V. was the shortened, and later the official name of the Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmaterieel. It was a Dutch machine factory, known for rolling stock, (ship) steam engines, and diesel engines. It was a successo ...

and Backer & Rueb built engines for both Dutch and foreign tramways.

United States

Baldwin

The

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, USA, built steam tram engines, including most of those used in New South Wales, Australia. A small number of steam tram engines were manufactured in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to Baldwin designs by Henry Vale, T. Wearne and the Randwick Tramway Workshops.

Decline

In cities, steam tram engines faded out around 1900, being replaced by electric trams or

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

es. Rural steam trams held longer until replaced by electric, diesel trams units or buses. In France, The Netherlands and Belgium, the last

steam-powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...

tram lines closed in the 1960s.

Preservation

* Kitson

steam tram engine ( Portstewart Tramway No. 1) at

Streetlife Museum of Transport The Streetlife Museum of Transport is a transport museum located in Kingston upon Hull, England. The roots of the collection date back to the early 20th century, however the purpose-built museum the collection is housed in was opened in 198 ...

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

* Kitson

steam tram engine ( Portstewart Tramway No. 2) at the

Ulster Folk and Transport Museum Both the Ulster Folk Museum and Ulster Transport Museum are situated in Cultra, Northern Ireland, about east of the city of Belfast. Now operating as two separate museums, the Folk Museum endeavours to illustrate the way of life and traditions ...

, Cultra, County Down. * Kitson

steam tram engine ( Christchurch Tramways No. 7) at the Tramway Historical Society of New Zealand, Ferrymead, Christchurch, New Zealand. * Beyer Peacock 0-4-0 steam tram engine at National Tramway Museum,

Crich Crich is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire. Besides the village of Crich, the civil parish includes the nearby villages of Fritchley, Whatstandwell and Wheatcroft, Derbyshire, Wheatcroft. The population of the civi ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

* Krauss 0-4-0 ''Gamba de Legn'' tram engine at the "Leonardo da Vinci" National Museum for Science and Technology in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. * 0-4-0 Ateliers de Tubize 1912 steam tram engine in Settimo Milanese (

. *

Henschel & Sohn Henschel & Son () was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons. Georg Ch ...

0-4-0 steam tram engine ( Darmstadt Tramway No. 7, " Feuriger Elias") at

Darmstadt-Kranichstein Railway Museum The Darmstadt-Kranichstein Railway Museum (''Eisenbahnmuseum Darmstadt-Kranichstein'') is a railway museum in the German city of Darmstadt. It is also the largest railway museum in the state of Hesse. The former Motive power depot, railway depot ...

, Germany. *Two Baldwin and one Baldwin-designed Sydney Steam Tram Motors survive in museums. * Purrey self-contained steam tram, reconstructed in 1988, at the Archer Park Rail Museum in

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

. *SNCV type 7 0-6-0 (Ateliers de Tubize, 1888), at the ASVi museum (Belgium). This engine, kept in working order, is the eldest preserved SNCV engine. *SNCV type 7 (Société Franco-Belge, 1912), at Blegny-Mine. *SNCV type 19 0-6-0 ( Hawthorn, Leslie & Co, 1915, ex-

) at the Tramsite Schepdaal. *SNCV type 18 0-6-0 (Haine-Saint-Pierre, 1920) at the Schepdaal museum (working). *Three SNCV type 18 (one built by J.J. Gilain in 1915, and two by Grand-Hornu in 1920), at the

Tramway touristique de l'Aisne __NOTOC__ The Tramway touristique de l'Aisne (, ''Aisne Tourist Tramway'') is the official designation of the tourist use of a former rural vicinal tramway in Belgium. The line is the oldest and longest tramway in the province of Luxembourg (Bel ...

(Belgium). *3

0-6-0 steam tram locomotives ( Tramways De le Sarthe (TS)), one built in 1882 and the other in 1898, with one currently in working order at the MTVS.

In popular culture

The character

Toby the Tram Engine Started in 1945 and concluded in 2011, ''The Railway Series'' is a series of 42 British books written by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry. This is a list of all characters who appeared in the book series. Unless otherwise said on ...

, from

The Railway Series ''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Sodor (fictional island), Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by Wi ...

children's books by the Rev. W. Awdry, and the spin-off TV series

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' is a British children's television series which aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on ''The Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, the series was developed for ...

, was based on the

LNER Class J70 The GER Class C53 was a class of twelve steam locomotive, steam tram engine, tram locomotives designed by James Holden (engineer), James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. They passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the Railways ...

tram engines that were to be found on the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway. Flora from Series 12 of Thomas & Friends is also based on a steam tram.

Other types of propulsion

Diesel tram engines

Four of the British Rail Class 04

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

s were fitted with side-plates and

cowcatcher A cowcatcher, also known as a pilot, is the device mounted at the front of a locomotive to deflect obstacles on the track that might otherwise damage or Derailment, derail it or the train. In the UK, small metal bars called ''life-guards'', ...

s for working on the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway.

Electric tram engines

There are a few examples of electric tram locomotives designed to pull traditional railway carriages through streets.

Stored energy types

Tram engines have been built to run on stored energy in various forms, including: * Fireless steam *

Compressed air Compressed air is air kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure. Compressed air in vehicle tires and shock absorbers are commonly used for improved traction and reduced vibration. Compressed air is an important medium for t ...

, (see also

Mekarski system The Mekarski system was a compressed-air propulsion system for trams invented by Louis Mékarski or Louis Mékarsky (the correct spelling is uncertain) in the 1870s. He worked in France, was born in 1843 in Clermont-Ferrand (center of France) ...

) * Electric storage batteries

References

External links

Birmingham steam tram

Kitson steam tram engine in New Zealand

Kitson steam tram engine preserved and running at Ferrymead in Christchurch, New Zealand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tram Engine Tram technology Tram vehicles Locomotives