Giant's Causeway Electric Tramway
at Portrush
1883 January 18th. Opened as the first electric tramway, beating Volk's Electric Railway which opened on August 2nd the same year
Also see Giants Causeway, Portrush and Bush Valley Railway and Tramway Co.
The First Electric Tramway [1]
"The present year marks the fortieth anniversary of the opening of the first hydro-electric tramway of the world. The opening of the Giant's Causeway Electric Tramway was in 1883 by Earl Spencer - The Red Lord - when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, along with a distinguished company of scientists. Thus was inaugurated the passing from what might be called the experimental or toy stage of electric-driven cars to the region of the practical demonstration of the utilisation of the dormant waster power of our rivers for generating electricity for driving electric tramcars along a tramway at a distance from the source of power.
The experiment was a bold one. Electricity was still in its infancy, and to attempt to introduce a new motive power to be called "electric traction" to supplant horse and steam power upon tramways and light railways was venturesome indeed. The credit for this great step must be given to Mr. William A. Trail, the originator, the engineer and constructor of the Giant's Causeway electric tramway, a line eight miles long with heavy gradients, 1 in 24, for which he had obtained parliamentary powers in 1881. He proposed to utilise a waterfall on the river Bush to generate the electricity for driving the tramcars to Dr. Siemens - later Sir William Siemens - who designed the first electric plant. For twelve months experiments were carried on with failure after failure and constant breakdowns of the cars, but by stubborn perseverance success was ultimately attained and the line was at length opened in 1883 with a public service.
Originally, the current was collected from a side conductor of third rail, which was later replaced by the overhead trolley system. In 1884 Mr. Traill patented the underground or conduit system for electric tramways for towns, and exhibited a model at the Manchester Inventions Exhibition. Some twenty years later he saw the adoption of that plan upon the Metropolitan Electric Tramways system."