Kinver Light Railway

Kinver Light Railway

Map of the Kinver Light Railway
Operation
Locale Kinver, Amblecote
Open 4 April 1901
Close 1 March 1930
Status Closed
Infrastructure
Track gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Propulsion system(s) Electric
Depot(s) Hyde Meadow, Kinver
Statistics
Route length 4.19 miles (6.74 km)

The Kinver Light Railway operated a passenger and freight tramway service between Amblecote and Kinver, in the Midlands of England, between 1901 and 1930.[1]

History

The Kinver Light Railway was a subsidiary of British Electric Traction. They acquired the Dudley and Stourbridge Steam Tramways Company in April 1898 and applied for permission to build a tramway from Amblecote to Kinver.

The route ran from outside the Fish Inn at Amblecote where it had a connection with the Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Traction Company tracks. After passing Wollaston and Stourton, it arrived in Kinver.

Passenger service started on 4 April 1901. Although parcels were carried on passenger services from the outset, from September 1903, goods trailer vehicles were attached behind service cars for freight.

The company was taken over by the Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Traction Company in 1902 for the sum of £60,000 (equivalent to £5,870,000 in 2015).[2]

The company made significant money from its freight operation. Substantial quantities of milk were carried, such that occasionally passenger vehicles were commandeered for freight use.[3]

In film

The Sheffield Photo Company produced a film in 1904 entitled A Ride on the Kinver Light Railway.[4] It was directed by Frank Mottershaw, a pioneer film maker.

Closure

The services finished on 8 February 1930, a victim of competition from motorbus traffic, and the final closure took place on 1 March 1930.

References

  1. ↑ The Golden Age of Tramways. Published by Taylor and Francis.
  2. ↑ UK Consumer Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Gregory Clark (2016), "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)", MeasuringWorth.com.
  3. ↑ Light railways in England and Wales. Peter Bosley
  4. ↑ Film before Griffith, John L. Fell
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