Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway
The Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway was a narrow gauge street tramway that ran between Wolverton in Buckinghamshire and Deanshanger in Northamptonshire via Stony Stratford between 1887 and 1926.
It was incorporated in 1882 and the tramway opened in 1887. It initially connected Stony Stratford with the London and North Western Railway's (LNWR) Wolverton railway works and Wolverton railway station two miles to the east.
In 1883 it was re-named as the Wolverton and Stony Stratford and District Tramway
In 1886 the name changed to the Wolverton, Stony Stratford and District Light Railway
A 2.5 mile long extension opened in 1888 to serve Deanshanger, to the west of Stony Stratford, but the tramway company quickly ran into financial trouble and declared bankruptcy in 1889.
In 1889 the line went into liquidation
The line was purchased by a syndicate of Bedford businessmen who reopened the Wolverton to Stony Stratford section in 1891 and it was known as the Wolverton, Stony Stratford District New Tramway and this ran until liquidation in 1919. The Deanshanger extension never re-opened.
In the early 1920s the line was taken over by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) who purchased a new W. G. Bagnall tram locomotive. After the LNWR was merged into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) the line was soon closed, in 1926.
The line was unusual for a British street tramway being entirely worked by steam locomotives; indeed it was the last steam worked street tramway in the United Kingdom.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Wikipedia