Tuesday 12th August, 2008
Pemberton Trams, Dangers
The first tram service in Wigan began on 31st July, 1880, between the Black bull at Lamberhead Green, Pemberton, and the railway bridge at Wallgate near Queen Street in Wigan. The motive power was originally supplied by horses but from 8th February,1882 steam trams were gradually introduced. These consisted of steam driven locomotives which pulled passenger cars.
Trams were considered a great success but a minority of people felt that they were unsafe. It was said that horses sometimes shied at their approach.
Their doubts were well founded when on 6th October, 1882, Nelly Lee, a Pemberton girl just 4 years old, was killed by a tram.
Just over a year later, on Saturday 29th December, 1883, another accident occurred in the Pemberton area. A runaway tram steam engine smashed through a horse drawn cart and eventually rammed a stationary vehicle with such force that a man was killed. The man was named as "Mr. T.W. Barker, aged 50, coroner of the Hundred of West Derby".
During the subsequent inquest, the driver explained how trams were turned by uncoupling the passenger car and taking the locomotive around a circular section of the track before recoupling it to the other end of the car. He stated that, while he was manoeuvring, he was forced to jump from the vehicle in order to save a child who had wandered onto the track. He was then knocked over and the locomotive sped down the hill.
Several points must be considered here. Why did the driver not just apply the brakes and bring the locomotive to a halt?
Perhaps there was not enough stopping space, or perhaps the driver was not on the locomotive in the first place. Apparently it was common practice for the driver to leave the locomotive while it completed its turning circle. He may subsequently have been unable to regain access to it and it accelerated downhill towards its fatal accident.
A contributory factor was the inexperience of the crew. The driver had received only two days instruction and the conductor was a youth of only 17 years of age. Furthermore, they worked from 8.40am to 10pm on Mondays to Fridays and on Saturday they did not finish until 11pm. Even though these were long working days, they had no meal breaks, except for about 10 minutes waiting time at each terminus.
Considering their long working day, it's not surprising that they were tempted to let the locomotive run round its turning circle unmanned - It lengthened their only break times.
Another strange fact about the accident is the great speed at which the locomotive must have been travelling.
The road between Pemberton and Wigan is steep, but tram locomotives were fitted with governors to restrict their speed to 10m.p.h. How then did the locomotive gain enough speed to crash through a cart and hit a stationary tram with enough force to kill one of the passengers?
It was known that governors were unreliable, but, sometimes, some drivers disabled them if they needed to make up lost time.
All services were suspended from the Pemberton line but were later resumed with horse traction. Steam driven trams were eventually reinstated on 23rd August, 1882.
First Tram to Pemberton