tram engine
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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, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
specially built, or modified, to run on a street, or roadside,
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
way track.


Legal requirements

In the
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, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
era, tram engines had to comply with certain legal requirements, although these varied from 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 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, 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 elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
. 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 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. This was the most common wheel arrangemen ...
T trams from 1903 to 1921. ;Beyer, Peacock and Company
Beyer, Peacock and Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, ...
built some steam tram engines, including three for the
Glyn Valley Tramway Glyn means "Valley" in Welsh and may refer to: *Glyn (name), including a list of people with the name *Baron Glyn, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom *Glyn baronets, created for members of the Glyn family *Glyn Ceiriog, a former slate ...
in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. ;Henry Hughes Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works,
Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
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 is ...
by jets of cold water from the saddle-tank. ;Kitson and Company
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, ...
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 Radiators are heat exchangers 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 large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
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-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 the position of ...
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 grani ...
. ;Others Other British builders of steam tram engines included: *
Aveling and Porter Aveling and Porter was a British agricultural engine and steamroller (road roller) manufacturer. Thomas Aveling and Richard Thomas Porter entered into partnership in 1862, and developed a steam engine three years later in 1865. By the earl ...
*
Charles Burrell & Sons Charles Burrell & Sons were builders of 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 and St Nicholas St ...
*
Dick, Kerr and Company Dick, Kerr and Company was a locomotive and tramcar manufacturer based in Kilmarnock, Scotland and Preston, Lancashire, Preston, England. Early history W.B. Dick and Company was founded in 1854 in Glasgow by William Bruce Dick. The company wer ...
*
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. T ...
* Manlove, Alliott & Co. Ltd. *
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 s ...
*
Merryweather & Sons Merryweather & Sons of Clapham, later Greenwich, London, were builders of steam fire engines and steam tram engines. The founder was Moses Merryweather (1791–1872) of Clapham, who was joined by his son Richard Moses (1839–1877). Fire appli ...
*
Hawthorn Leslie R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982. History The company was formed ...
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 g ...
in 1915 ; they were copies on
SNCV The National Company of Light Railways ( nl, Nationale Maatschappij Van Buurtspoorwegen, abbreviated as NMVB; french: Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Vicinaux, abbreviated as SNCV) was a state-owned transportation provider which comprised ...
type 18.


Germany

;Krauss The German firm
Krauss Krauss is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alison Krauss (born 1971), American bluegrass musician * Alexander Krauß (born 1975), German politician * Alexis Krauss (born 1985), musician of the noise pop duo Sleigh Bells ...
built steam tram engines, including one for the Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway in England.


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 Tubize (; nl, Tubeke ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On January 1, 2006 Tubize had a total population of 22,335. The total area is 32.66 km2 which gives a population density of ...
, FUF Haine-Saint-Pierre and Société de Saint-Léonard also supplied several tram engines to foreign companies such as Spain, the Netherlands, France, or Italy. The last steam trams were delivered in the early 1920s.


France

Corpet-Louvet, Décauville, Pinguely, and Blanc-Misseron 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 successor ...
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 railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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, Australia 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 road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
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 tram lines closed in the 1960s.


Preservation

* Kitson
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 ...
steam tram engine (
Portstewart Tramway The narrow gauge Portstewart Tramway operated tramway services between Portstewart and Portstewart railway station at Cromore from 1882 to 1926.The Golden Age of Tramways. Published by Taylor and Francis. History The Portstewart Tramway Compa ...
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 abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...
* Kitson
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 ...
steam tram engine (
Portstewart Tramway The narrow gauge Portstewart Tramway operated tramway services between Portstewart and Portstewart railway station at Cromore from 1882 to 1926.The Golden Age of Tramways. Published by Taylor and Francis. History The Portstewart Tramway Compa ...
No. 2) at the
Ulster Folk and Transport Museum The Ulster Folk Museum and the Ulster Transport Museum are situated in Cultra, Northern Ireland, about east of the city of Belfast. The Folk Museum endeavours to illustrate the way of life and traditions of the people in Northern Ireland, past ...
, Cultra, County Down. * Kitson
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 ...
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 The National Tramway Museum (trading as Crich Tramway Village) is a tram museum located at Crich (), Derbyshire, England. The museum contains over 60 (mainly British) trams built between 1873 and 1982 and is set within a recreated period vill ...
,
Crich Crich is a village in the English county of Derbyshire. The population at the 2001 Census was 2,821, increasing to 2,898 at the 2011 Census (including Fritchley and Whatstandwell). It has the National Tramway Museum inside the Crich Tramway Vil ...
,
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
* Krauss 0-4-0 ''Gamba de Legn'' tram engine at the "Leonardo da Vinci" National Museum for Science and Technology in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. * 0-4-0
Ateliers de Tubize Tubize (; nl, Tubeke ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On January 1, 2006 Tubize had a total population of 22,335. The total area is 32.66 km2 which gives a population density of ...
1912 steam tram engine in Settimo Milanese (
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
),
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. *
Henschel & Sohn Henschel & Son (german: Henschel und Sohn) 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 vehicle ...
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'') a railway museum in the German city of Darmstadt. It is also the largest railway museum in the state of Hesse. The former railway depot (''Bahnbetriebswerk'' ...
, 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 Archer Park Railway Museum is a heritage-listed former railway station and now transport museum at Denison Street, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1897 to 1908. It was known as Archer Park railway sta ...
in
Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...
. *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-
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 g ...
) at the
Tramsite Schepdaal The Tramsite Schepdaal is a tramway museum in Schepdaal, located in the Belgian municipality Dilbeek, west of Brussels History The vicinal tramway line going from Ninove to Brussels ''Ninoofsepoort'' starts operating on September 8 1887. It u ...
. *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 (Belgium).


In popular culture

The character
Toby the Tram Engine Toby is a fictional anthropomorphic brown square tram engine in ''The Railway Series'' by the Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry and his son, Christopher; he also appears in the television series adaptation ''Thomas & Friends'' and is currently set to ...
, 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 Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Twen ...
children's books by the Rev. W. Awdry, and the spin-off TV series
Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...
, was based on the
LNER Class J70 The GER Class C53 was a class of twelve steam tram locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. They passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the grouping, and received the LNER classification J70. History T ...
tram engines that were to be found on the
Wisbech and Upwell Tramway The Wisbech and Upwell Tramway was a rural standard gauge tramway in East Anglia. It was built by the Great Eastern Railway between Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire and Upwell, now in Norfolk to carry agricultural produce. Although called ...
. 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 The British Rail Class 04 is a 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical shunting locomotive class, built between 1952 and 1962 and was the basis for the later Class 03 built in the British Railways workshops. History The prototype locomotive was built in ...
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s were fitted with side-plates and cowcatchers for working on the
Wisbech and Upwell Tramway The Wisbech and Upwell Tramway was a rural standard gauge tramway in East Anglia. It was built by the Great Eastern Railway between Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire and Upwell, now in Norfolk to carry agricultural produce. Although called ...
.


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 is an important medium for transfer of energy in industrial processes, and is used for power tools such as air hammers, drills, wrenches, and o ...
, (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


Further reading

* ''History of the Steam Tram'' by H. A. Whitcombe, published by the Oakwood Press in 1961 * ''The British Steam Tram'' by J.S. Webb, Tramway and Light Railway Society * ''A History of the British Steam Tram'', volume 1, by David Gladwin, 2004


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