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The Weston-super-Mare Tramways were the electric street tramways of the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England. It operated a fleet of up to 16 standard gauge single- and double-deck tramcars on routes totalling to Birnbeck Pier, The Sanatorium and Locking Road. It opened in 1902 and was replaced by bus services in 1937. ==History== There were three abortive schemes to open tramways in Weston-super-Mare during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. A scheme was promoted in 1882 for a steam tram network to serve the railway station, the town centre and Birnbeck Pier.〔 *〕 In 1885 the Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Tramway gained an Act of Parliament that allowed it to construct a tramway along The Boulevard, Gerrard Road and Milton Road to Ashcombe Road, from where it would continue across fields towards Portishead. Although rails were laid in 1894 they were taken up again three years later, and Ashcombe Road became the tramway's terminus when it finally opened to Clevedon later that year. Motive power had been authorised as either horse or steam power. Another Act was passed in 1897 for a company named Drake and Gorham to build an electric tramway in the town, but the powers lapsed in 1899.〔 It was in 1899 that the Weston-super-Mare Urban District Council transferred their obligations to supply electricity in the town to the Weston-super-Mare and District Electricity Supply Company. This was a subsidiary of British Electric Traction〔 and the following year they obtained powers for an electric tramway as a complimentary venture. This was to be a gauge line along Locking Road and Regent Street to the sea front, from where lines would run north to the Pier, and south to the Sanatorium (now the Royal Sands). Further branches were authorised along Ashcombe Road to serve the Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway station, and from Alexandra Parade to the Great Western Railway (GWR) station. Neither of these were built, and Regent Street was dropped in favour of a route along Oxford Street, a parallel road a little to the south. Construction started on 24 January 1902 and the route from Locking Road to Oxford Street and the Pier was opened on 13 May 1902, the same day as the opening of the new pavilion and public baths on Knightstone Island, towards the northern end of the sea front. The section to the Sanatorium opened four days later, on 17 May.〔Maggs, C (1974). pp. 4–6〕 The Grand Pier at the end of Regent Street opened on 11 June 1904, but ferries from Wales continued to serve the Old (Birnbeck) Pier, and so the tramway was kept busy bringing visitors down into the town centre. A short extension at the Old Pier allowed trams onto land belonging to the pier so that they could pick up from that pier's entrance. The Grand Pier Company tried to get the tramway to build a line along their pier but no powers were ever granted for this.〔Maggs, C (1974). p. 7〕 Taxi drivers hated the introduction of the trams because they competed with the taxis' flourishing business. When the tram line first opened, drivers attempted many different tactics to obstruct the trams, but their methods (which included driving their carriages at slow speeds along the tram lines) only resulted in proceedings in magistrates' court that ended in favour of the tram line. The Old Pier extension led to angry confrontations with horse carriage operators who were barred from the pier's land. Further competition came in the form of motor buses. Local operator Burnell was taken over by the Bristol Tramways Company in 1934, and other services in the town were operated by the GWR's road motors. An agreement was soon reached with the Bristol company to close the tramway. The purchase price was £15,000 (£}} in ),, and they paid the Urban District Council another £5,000 (£}} in ), to lift the rails. The last trams ran on 17 April 1937.〔Maggs, C (1974). pp. 32–34〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Weston-super-Mare Tramways」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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