Services started on 22 December 1898, when the company had 17 cars in operation. Over the Christmas period, weekend traffic was heavy and there were some minor accidents and injuries, including some passengers who, having been celebrating Christmas, fell from the tramcars.
The Burning of Corkedit
There was substantial disruption to services and destruction of some tramcars during the Burning of Cork in December 1920. The events which occurred to the driver, John Hurley, conductor Alex Garvey and passengers on tramcar no 3 were recorded in the Cork Examiner:
"Passengers by the last tram to St. Luke's Cross, which left the Statue at 9 p.m. on Saturday, had a rather eventful journey. The car had got about 60 or 70 yards beyond Empress Place police barracks when a number of men in police uniform, carrying carbines and accompanied by Auxiliaries in plain clothes, held it up. They ordered all the passengers off at the point of revolvers. Male passengers were somewhat roughly handled and then ordered to line up for search. Some few were inclined to run and a voice rang out: "I'll shoot anyone who runs." All then stopped but some shots were fired in the air while the searches were being conducted. In some cases when the search was completed the person searched was ordered home, getting a bit of a rough send-off. The tramcar was then broken in by the police and a rifle shot was discharged, the smell of powder permeating the air. The tramcar was brought back to the Statue by the driver and conductor who when it neared there were ordered off. It was later set on fire and completely destroyed."[3]
Closureedit
The tram operations were permanently discontinued on 30 September 1931, falling victim to the increasing popularity of bus services operated by The Irish Omnibus Company, and the takeover of the tram company's electricity plant by Ireland's Electricity Supply Board (ESB).
Fleetedit
The company ordered the first 18 tramcars from Brush of Loughborough in 1898. Subsequent orders of 11 in 1900 and 6 in 1901 took the fleet to a maximum of 35. The livery was bright green and cream.
Routesedit
Tram in Douglas at the turn of the 20th centuryResidential Street with open top tram in Ballintemple Cork c.1910
The track was double through the main streets, up the Summerhill and along part of the Western Road, and short stretches of other routes. On the rest it was single with fairly frequent passing loops.[4]
Legacyedit
The tramway generating station at Albert Road now houses the National Sculpture Factory and the adjacent tram shed - complete with inspection and service pits (with tram rails still in place) - is also still intact and in use as a commercial premises.
^The Tramways of Cork, Walter McGrath, The Tramway Review, Vol. 2, No. 12, 1953
^"Cork Harbour Greenway – takemewalking.com". 1 September 2020.
^"Cork Harbour Greenway". Greenway.photography. 26 October 2020.
October 31, 2023
cork, electric, tramways, lighting, company, operated, passenger, tramway, service, cork, between, 1898, 1931, patrick, street, 1900operationlocalecorkopen22, december, 1898close30, september, 1931statusclosedinfrastructuretrack, gauge900, propulsion, system, . The Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company operated a passenger tramway service in Cork between 1898 and 1931 1 Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting CompanyPatrick Street c 1900OperationLocaleCorkOpen22 December 1898Close30 September 1931StatusClosedInfrastructureTrack gauge900 mm 2 ft 11 7 16 in Propulsion system s ElectricStatisticsRoute length9 89 miles 15 92 km Contents 1 History 1 1 Origins 1 2 The Burning of Cork 1 3 Closure 2 Fleet 3 Routes 4 Legacy 4 1 Greenway 5 ReferencesHistory editOrigins edit nbsp Patrick Street from Daunts Square nbsp Map of Cork City Electric TramwaysThe Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company was a subsidiary of British Thomson Houston a major electrical contracting company 2 The contractor for the permanent way was William Martin Murphy who later became chairman of the company The power station was built by Edward Fitzgerald later Sir Edward Fitzgerald 1st Baronet and the engineer for the system was Charles Hesterman Merz The gauge of the tramway was 900 mm 2 ft 11 7 16 in gauge selected to allow trains from the 3 ft 914 mm narrow gauge Cork and Muskerry Light Railway and the Cork Blackrock and Passage Railway to connect using the tram lines Services started on 22 December 1898 when the company had 17 cars in operation Over the Christmas period weekend traffic was heavy and there were some minor accidents and injuries including some passengers who having been celebrating Christmas fell from the tramcars The Burning of Cork edit There was substantial disruption to services and destruction of some tramcars during the Burning of Cork in December 1920 The events which occurred to the driver John Hurley conductor Alex Garvey and passengers on tramcar no 3 were recorded in the Cork Examiner Passengers by the last tram to St Luke s Cross which left the Statue at 9 p m on Saturday had a rather eventful journey The car had got about 60 or 70 yards beyond Empress Place police barracks when a number of men in police uniform carrying carbines and accompanied by Auxiliaries in plain clothes held it up They ordered all the passengers off at the point of revolvers Male passengers were somewhat roughly handled and then ordered to line up for search Some few were inclined to run and a voice rang out I ll shoot anyone who runs All then stopped but some shots were fired in the air while the searches were being conducted In some cases when the search was completed the person searched was ordered home getting a bit of a rough send off The tramcar was then broken in by the police and a rifle shot was discharged the smell of powder permeating the air The tramcar was brought back to the Statue by the driver and conductor who when it neared there were ordered off It was later set on fire and completely destroyed 3 Closure edit The tram operations were permanently discontinued on 30 September 1931 falling victim to the increasing popularity of bus services operated by The Irish Omnibus Company and the takeover of the tram company s electricity plant by Ireland s Electricity Supply Board ESB Fleet editThe company ordered the first 18 tramcars from Brush of Loughborough in 1898 Subsequent orders of 11 in 1900 and 6 in 1901 took the fleet to a maximum of 35 The livery was bright green and cream Routes edit nbsp Tram in Douglas at the turn of the 20th century nbsp Residential Street with open top tram in Ballintemple Cork c 1910The three cross city routes radiated out from the statue to Theobald Mathew in St Patrick s Street and were Blackpool to Douglas Summerhill to Sunday s Well Tivoli to Blackrock The track was double through the main streets up the Summerhill and along part of the Western Road and short stretches of other routes On the rest it was single with fairly frequent passing loops 4 Legacy editThe tramway generating station at Albert Road now houses the National Sculpture Factory and the adjacent tram shed complete with inspection and service pits with tram rails still in place is also still intact and in use as a commercial premises Greenway edit The Blackpool to Douglas route has been converted to a section of the Cork Harbour Greenway 5 6 References edit The Golden Age of Tramways Published by Taylor and Francis Hidden Cork Charmers Chancers and Cute Hoors Michael Lenihan Cork Examiner 13 December 1920 The Tramways of Cork Walter McGrath The Tramway Review Vol 2 No 12 1953 Cork Harbour Greenway takemewalking com 1 September 2020 Cork Harbour Greenway Greenway photography 26 October 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company amp oldid 1122603620, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
