Alford and Sutton Tramway
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox rail
|railroad_name=Alford and Sutton Tramway
|gauge={{RailGauge|2ft6in|lk=on}}
|start_year=1884
|end_year=1889
|length=8 miles
|hq_city=Alford
|locale=England
|successor_line=Abandoned
|image=Tram300.jpg
|caption=Alford & Sutton Tramway
}}
File:Timetable for the Alford and Sutton Tramway August 1884.jpg
The Alford and Sutton Tramway was a steam {{RailGauge|2ft6in|lk=on}} narrow gauge street tramway between the seaside town of Sutton-on-Sea and the nearby Great Northern Railway line at Alford in Lincolnshire.
History
On 14 December 1882 the work of laying the track began in Alford. The contractor was W.B. Dick and Co of Leadenhall Street, London. Construction proceeded but there were objections from nearly every parish through which the tramway ran. Following an inspection by Major-General Charles Scrope Hutchinson, alterations were ordered which included widening the roadway at Bilsby Church and Markby Turn. At Hannah and Hannah Hill the gradient had to be eased and more safety post fences on the dyke side of the road were required.{{cite news |author= |title=Celebration of the Opening of the Alford and Sutton Tramway |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000354/18920816/008/0003 |newspaper=Boston Guardian |location=England |date=5 April 1884 |access-date=22 December 2022 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} Two locomotives, three cars for passengers, and ten trucks for merchandise and two trucks for timber were acquired.
Services started on 4 April 1884{{cite web|title=Alford & Sutton Tramway|url=http://www.alford.info/town/tram.htm|publisher=Alford Website|access-date=22 April 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110514011956/http://www.alford.info/town/tram.htm| archive-date= 14 May 2011 | url-status= live}} and the fare was 9d single, or 1s return.
There were initially plans to extend the tramway to Chapel St Leonards and Skegness, but the construction of the standard gauge Willoughby and Sutton Railway in 1888 drew traffic from the tramway.
Closure
A downfall of snow on 26 November 1889 brought the service to a stop{{cite news |author= |title=Alford |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001888/18891207/057/0003 |newspaper=Boston Guardian |location=England |date=7 December 1889 |access-date=22 December 2022 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} and on 7 December 1889 the Lincoln Gazette reported: "The Alford & Sutton Tramway have ceased to run their cars, ostensibly for the winter months, but really for an indefinite period....".
The removal of the tramway started on 25 October 1891.{{cite news |author= |title=Local and County Chronology |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001888/18920102/070/0006 |newspaper=Boston Guardian |location=England |date=2 January 1892 |access-date=22 December 2022 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} The removal of the rails was completed on Saturday 13 August 1892.{{cite news |author= |title=Alford |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000354/18920816/008/0003 |newspaper=Lincolnshire Chronicle |location=England |date=16 August 1892 |access-date=22 December 2022 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book| author=Prideaux, J.D.C.A. |title=The English Narrow Gauge Railway| publisher=David & Charles| year=1978|isbn=0-7153-7511-3}}
- {{cite book| author=Dow, George |title=Alford & Sutton Tramway| publisher=author| year=1984}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.alford.info/town/tram.htm |title=Alford website - Alford - Sutton Tramway 1884 - 1889}}
Further reading
- {{cite magazine |title=Echo of the 'Eighties: New Light on the locomotives of the erstwhile Alford & Sutton Tramway |magazine=Railway Magazine |date=March 1966 |pages=167–168 |volume=112 |issue=779 |editor-first=B.W.C. |editor-last=Cooke }}
- {{cite book |last=Dow |first=George |year=1947 |title=The Alford & Sutton Tramway |publisher=Oakwood Press }}
{{Historic UK Trams}}
{{coord|53.28692|N|0.2385|E|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title|format=dms}}
Category:2 ft 6 in gauge railways in England