Following Lincoln Corporations takeover of the tramway system it was decided that the horse trams would be replaced with electric trams, but which system to use? The choice was between overhead power lines and track-based power, the elected members of the Corporation, in common with many other corporations, decided that overhead wires would be ugly and plumped for the Griffiths-Bedell surface contact system.
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| The Opening of the Electric Tramway |
There were certain supposed advantages using the G-B stud contact system; apart from being more aesthetically pleasing than overhead wires, it was cheaper to install and maintain.
The laying of the new track cost £18,000, eight electric double deck tramcars (6 open top and 2 roofed) were supplied by Brush of Loughborough at a cost of almost £5,000. The total cost of purchasing the tramway, electrifying and new tramcars was £40,000.
The operation of the electric tramway commenced on 23rd November 1905 with George Pimp at the controls. The journey from terminus to terminus took 15 minutes compared to 20 minutes for the horse trams. The number of stops en route were increased from one to seventee.
Unfortunately the first day's operation was not accident free: John Parish of Bargate ignored the notice that passengers should not alight until the tram had stopped, he fell heavily and dislocated his shoulder. Mr Parish stated that the tram was running so smoothly that he thought it had stopped.
The Griffiths-Bedell system wasn't entirely successful: sometimes the tram would not make contact with the stud in the road surface and the tram would have to be pushed to make contact, more concerning was the escaping of gases from the sewers which occasionally exploded when the tram caused a spark from the stud and manhole covers were known to lift several feet in the air. On one occasion in 1908 a Mrs Blatherwick was injured due to an explosion and claimed compensation from the Corporation.
It seems that Lincoln was the only adopter of the Griffiths-Bedell system, it was removed in 1920 and replaced with overhead power lines. By this time the new council estate, St Giles, and the Swanpool Garden Estate were in the course of being built and the trams could only service a limited part of the city. Buses joined the Corporations fleet of passenger vehicles by 1921. The trams continued until the 4th March 1929 when the last tram was driven by Charles Hill (born 1876), the oldest tram driver.
Some Lincoln Tramway Company employees 1919
Stanley Clegg, manager - Harry Hutson, tram driver - Herbert Syson, tram driver
Samuel Jefferies, tramway worker - Charles Speed, tram driver - George Stiff, tram inspector
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| The Tram Sheds at Bracebridge |
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| The end of the Trams |
The Griffiths-Bedell surface contact system
"Perhaps most interest will be attracted by the less known Griffiths-Bedell surface-contact system, shown by a full-size section of railway by Messrs. William Griffiths and Co., Limited. This system is about to be adopted at Lincoln, and possesses several novel features, not the least of which is that the stud bead is laid flush with the paving, the current being collected from it by a chain which is brought down by magnetic influence, rising again clear of the surface as the car proceeds. The studs are placed 9ft. apart, and their heads measure 10in. by 2 1/2in. They are energised by a cable of iron wire laid in a closed stoneware duct beneath the track, contact being made only when the car is immediately over a stud and ceasing as soon as it has passed, when the stud is " dead." Whatever the actual working of this system may prove, it has the decided commercial advantage of being inexpensive in first cost, and we shall wait with interest the test to which it will soon be submitted at Lincoln."
ELECTRIC TRAMWAY AND RAILWAY EXHIBITION. - The Engineer 7 July 1905.
From https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/William_Griffiths_and_Co
Benjamin Harry Bedell was an engineer and the inventor of the surface contact system. His patents were one-half assigned to William Griffiths, a stone merchant , who it is thought paid for patents and development.
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| A recent image of the Tram Sheds |
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