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The first steam tramway locomotive
to run in the Black Country was built by Henry Hughes &
Company, of Falcon Works, Loughborough in 1875. The
locomotive had been designed by Mr. John Downes, iron
merchant and licensee of the Red Lion, in Soho Road,
Handsworth, who had the locomotive built at a cost of
£600. He claimed that his patented design met all of the
requirements of the tramways acts, including consuming its own
smoke, and running quietly.
In December 1875, the locomotive was
displayed on the Red Lion forecourt, and on 7th January,
1876 it ran on the track of the Birmingham & District
Tramway from Soho Road, to the depot at Tildasley
Street, West Bromwich. Mr. Downes leased the unused
section of the line from Carter’s Green to Hill Top in
order to carry out a series of trials with his
locomotive. On the following day, the locomotive,
coupled to an ordinary horse car, travelled to the Red
Lion to pick up a group of invited guests who were taken
to the New Inns, Holyhead Road, Handsworth, for lunch.
Other trials were carried out, but
they were disapproved of by West Bromwich Council, who
informed Mr. Downes that the trials had to cease before
Thursday 27th January, 1876. On Wednesday of that week,
the locomotive travelled to Birmingham and successfully
climbed Hockley Hill, but had difficulties near the top
of Snow Hill due to the slippery state of the rails.
Mr. Downes considered the trials to
have been a complete success, and would have liked to
open a service on the line. Unfortunately the council
were strongly opposed to such an idea, and so the trials
of the locomotive came to a premature end.
Around this time, Henry Hughes &
Company took out a patent for a steam tramway
locomotive, and a trial was held in Leicester on 27th
March, 1876, and in Birmingham on 2nd July, 1880. John
Downes claimed that the patent infringed his patent
rights, but was ignored by Hughes, who founded Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Limited, to
build locomotives. In 1885 Downes took the company to court,
claiming £20,000 damages. The case was heard at
Birmingham Assizes in September, but Downes’ claim was
unsuccessful. A Henry Hughes tramway locomotive also
features in the next part of the story.
A second and much longer trial
The Wolverhampton Tramways Company
Limited had wanted to use steam tramway locomotives,
instead of horses, from
the beginning, but permission could not be obtained. Many
local authorities, and many local people were against
steam power because of noise, and smoke. In 1880 the
company obtained permission to run steam trams under the
Wolverhampton Tramways (Mechanical Power) Order, 1880,
which was confirmed by the Tramways Orders Confirmation
(No. 1) Act, 1880. This allowed the company to operate
tramways using steam or any kind of mechanical power,
subject to the approval of Wolverhampton Town Council.
The council agreed to a trial of
steam operation on the Tettenhall route for a period of
six months, and a steam tramway locomotive was hired
from the manufacturer, Henry Hughes & Company, at the
rate of 6½ pence per mile. The tram arrived in the town
on 24th December, 1880 and was taken to the Newbridge
Depot. Several trial runs took place in January 1881,
and on 28th January the line was inspected for steam
operation by Major General Hutchinson, R.E. on behalf of
the Board of Trade. He gave his permission for
steam operation on the route, subject to a couple of
modifications. They consisted of inserting a loop at the Queen Square terminus, to
allow the proper reversal of the engine and cars, and a
modification to the car brakes, so that they could be
operated from the locomotive’s steam brake. A gong had
to be fitted so that the conductor could inform the
driver when to stop and start.
A simplified map of the Newbridge
route.
The loop at Queen Square was
inserted, and two cars were modified for use with the
steam locomotive, but it seems to have taken sometime
for the work to be carried out. By the middle of May the
Board of Trade certificate had been received and the
first trial run took place on the evening of the 17th
May. The trial was supervised by the Manager, Captain
Brock, and watched by Mr. Scott Russell, a
representative of Henry Hughes & Company. It was decided
that the engine could be operated with ease at a speed
of six miles per hour.
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