Chesterfield tramway
The Chesterfield and District Tramways Company and its successors ran a tramway system in the Derbyshire town of Chesterfield, England. The first horse-drawn line opened in 1882, and in 1897, the system was taken over by Chesterfield Corporation, who extended and electrified it in 1904 and 1905. Additional tramcars were purchased, but two had to be scrapped after a disastrous fire at the depot in 1916. The system suffered from a lack of maintenance as a result of reduced staffing levels during the First World War, and the trams were replaced by trolleybuses in 1927.
Restored electric tramcar no. 7 at the National Tramway Museum, Crich | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Chesterfield |
| Locale | England |
| Dates of operation | 1882–1927 |
| Successor | Abandoned |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Length | 3+5⁄8 miles (5.8 km) |
Chesterfield has obtained an Act of Parliament to build a network of trolleybus lines in 1913, and was nearly a pioneer in this field, but did not follow the plan through. When trolleybuses appeared in Chesterfield, they only operated on the former tramway route, with a small extension to New Whittington. A total of 19 trolleybuses were used on the system, including two double-deck vehicles, and three trolleybuses bought second-had from York. Expansion of the system was hampered by low railway bridges, and that was one of the reasons why the trolleybuses were replaced by motor buses in 1938.