BTH: Electric Traction
Note: This is a sub-section of BTH
1903 BTH won a contract from the North Eastern Railway for supply of electrical equipment for motor units, carriages and laying of third rail. British Westinghouse received a contract for switchboards, transformers and sub-stations [1]. Electric Multiple Units were built at York Carriage Works for service on the north bank of the Tyne. Electrical equipment was supplied by British Thomson-Houston Co., and fitted at York Works.
1904 Shortly after the electrification of the Tyneside passenger lines the NER decided to electrify the Newcastle Quayside branch as well. This short line descended a semi-circle at between 1:27 and 1:30 through three tunnels, and was particularly difficult for steam locomotives and their crews. Two electric locomotives (Nos. 1 & 2) were built to operate the branch in 1905. The frames and bodies were constructed by Brush Engineering in Loughborough, who acted as sub-contractors to British Thomson-Houston Co. who supplied the electrical equipment. The track was fitted with a third rail in the tunnels where there was insufficient overhead clearance. For safety reasons, overhead conductors were used in the yards at each end of the branch.
1905 Electrical operations of the Quayside branch began on 5th June 1905.
c.1929 Started to supply control systems, traction motors and lineside equipment to the Southern Railway
1964 The 2 Tyneside electric locomotives were withdrawn from service.
See AEI: Traction
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, 31 January 1903
- [1] LNER info