Guernsey Railway

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The Guernsey Railway opened as the Guernsey Steam Tramway on 6 June 1879 with two steam tram engines, more being added later. It was later converted to an electric tramway, which began working on 20 February 1892. The system closed on 9 June 1934. This leaves Alderney as the only Channel Island with a working railway.

1 Steam trams
2 Electric trams
3 Activity since closure
4 Sources
5 External links

[edit] Steam trams

List of steam tram engines:

No.	Date built	Builder	Works No.	Wheels	Name	Notes	Withdrawn
1	1879	Merryweather	84	0-4-0	Shooting Star	-	by 1899
2	1879	Merryweather	85	0-4-0	Sampson	-	by 1896
3	1879	Lewin	?	0-4-0	-	-	by 1882
4	1877/8	Hughes	14	0-4-0	-	arr. 1882	by 1890
5	1877/8	Hughes	15	0-4-0	-	arr. 1882/3	by 1889
6	1877/8	Hughes	16	0-4-0	-	arr. 1882/3	by 1889
7	1877/8	Hughes	17	0-4-0	-	arr. 1883	by 1889
8	1879	Hawthorn	1802	0-4-0	Haro	arr. 1890	by 1899

arr. = date arrived in Guernsey

[edit] Electric trams

The line was electrified in 1892 by Siemens. Apart from an experimental line in Leeds, it was the first street tramway in the British Isles to be supplied with current from an overhead wire.

[edit] Activity since closure

Guernsey Railway Co Ltd continued in existence (as a bus operator) until 1980, when its operation was taken over by Guernseybus. [1]

In 2004 there was a plan to run a heritage tram service and restore some original trams to operate it. The current status of this plan is not known. [2]

[edit] Sources

The Railway Magazine, September 1934
100 Years of Public Transport - A Short History of the Guernsey Railway Co Ltd, by W J Carman, published by Guernsey Press c. 1978
Railways of the Channel Islands, A Pictorial Survey compiled by C Judge, published by The Oakwood Press 1992, ISBN 0 85361 432 6