St Edwards Hospital tramway
| St Edwards Hospital tramway | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Type | Tram |
| Status | Closed |
| Locale | Cheddleton, Staffordshire |
| Termini |
Leek Brook St Edward's Hospital |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1899 |
| Closed | 1954 |
| Owner | Staffordshire County Council |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 0.75 mi (1.21 km) |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Electrification | Overhead catenary |
The St Edward's Hospital tramway was a tramway built for Staffordshire County Council for the construction of the St Edward's County Mental Asylum at Cheddleton, Staffordshire. Opened in 1899, the line ran until 1954 before being closed and scrapped.
The County Mental Hospital, also known as St Edward's Hospital, was built in the late 1890s by the Staffordshire County Lunacy Committee to relieve overcrowding in other institutions. The hospital was located on a spur of land overlooking the River Churnet and the Caldon Canal at Cheddleton Heath just north of Cheddleton. Designed by the London architects Giles, Gough and Trollope, construction began in 1895. To assist in construction of the hospital the contractors, W Brown & Son, laid a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) line from the North Staffordshire Railway's (NSR) Churnet Valley Line at Leek Brook to the hospital site. Brown's used a small 0-4-0 Tank engine called Weaver (Manning Wardle H-class 1072) to transport both men and materials to the construction site.
Upon completion of the hospital in 1899, Staffordshire County Council took over the line and converted it to an electrically powered tramway, an overhead wire system was erected and the electricity, operated at 220 volt DC, was supplied from the hospital boiler house. Once electrification work was completed, in 1903, a new platform was constructed at Leek Brook station on the down (towards Leek) Churnet Valley line to allow passengers to alight from NSR trains and cross the platform to use the tramway to visit the hospital. The council purchased an electric locomotive from Wolverhampton and an old London horse tram was converted into a passenger coach; both vehicles were painted with the letters SCC to indicate their ownership by the county council. Although a passenger service was supplied, the principal function of the tramway was the supply of coal to the boiler house. About 200 long tons (203 t) was required each month, the NSR would deliver loaded wagons of coal to a siding at Leek Brook and the tram engine would propel the wagons, two at a time, to the boiler house with the empty wagons being returned to Leek Brook for collection.
...
Wikipedia