Bessbrook and Newry Tramway
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| Operation | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Bessbrook, Newry |
| Open | 1 October 1885 |
| Close | 10 January 1948 |
| Status | Closed |
| Infrastructure | |
| Track gauge | 3 ft (914 mm) |
| Propulsion system(s) | Electric |
| Statistics | |
| Route length | 3.03 miles (4.88 km) |
The Bessbrook and Newry Tramway operated a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge, hydro-electrically powered tramway transporting passengers and freight between Bessbrook and Newry in Northern Ireland between 1885 and 1948.
Construction of the Bessbrook and Newry Tramway began in 1883, and the enterprise was incorporated in 1884, after the Tramways and Public Companies (Ireland) Act 1883 came into effect. It was built primarily on the own land of its owners, the Richardsons, and was intended to carry workers and freight from the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) GNR(I), in Newry to the family's flax mill in Bessbrook. In July 1884 Edward Hopkinson was contacted by the company, the Bessbrook Spinning Company to undertake the installation operation of electric traction for the line - the terms were that Hopkinson would provide locomotive power to operating ten trains each way every day, carrying 100 tons of freight a day, and with a capacity to haul 200 tons a day, with the locomotives able to pull 18 tons gross at 6 mph in addition to locomotive and passengers in the uphill direction (12 tons at 9 mph). Additionally Hopkinson was to run the line on a six-month trial, showing that the cost of operation was not more than that of steam traction. The work began in November 1884, with the line opening in October 1885; the terms of the trial were met in April 1886.
The line started at the Edward Street terminus of the Newry branch of the GNR(I), it passed under the viaduct of the GNR(I) line (see Craigmore Viaduct.) before stations at Craigmore and Millvale, the line terminated at Beesbrook, after a length of 3 miles 2.4 chains (4.88 km). The 3 ft (914 mm) line ascended steadily from Newry to Beesbook, with an average incline of 1 in 86, and a maximum of 1 in 50. Reversing loops were constructed at both terminii.
The line's electricity generating station was at Millvale, using hydro-electric power from the Camlough river. The site had a 28 ft (8.5 m) water drop available, and a flow of at least 3,000,000 imp gal (14,000 m3) per day. The water turbine was a double bucket inward-flow vortex wheel design (manufactured by MacAdam Brothers, Belfast.), specified to generate 62 hp (46 kW) at 290rpm with a flow of 1,504 cu ft (42.6 m3) per minute, connected to the generator shed by a horizontal shaft. The electrical generators were two Edison-Hopkinson types supplied by Mather and Platt, each specified at 250V, 72A at 1000rpm.
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