Site of tram depot, Rhos-on-Sea
Site of tram depot, Penrhyn Avenue, Rhos-on-Sea
Housing at Cysgod-y-Bryn stands on the site of the Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Electric Railway’s depot. The photos of the depot are shown here courtesy of the L&CB Tramway Society.
The depot and the tramway along what is now Penrhyn Avenue – originally Tramway Avenue – were constructed on open fields. Houses on each side of the avenue were built between the tramway’s opening in October 1907 and closure in March 1956.
The upper photo shows the depot from the avenue. Beyond the gap in the boundary wall, the track fanned into four tracks which entered one half of the shed. Another entry from the avenue, further left, led to four more tracks in the other half of the shed. The shed could house 32 trams. At the back were areas for maintenance, overhauls and painting. Pits between the rails of some tracks enabled fitters to inspect and service the trams from below.
The low building on the far left of the photo was the tramway’s general offices and is the only surviving part of the depot. On the right is the gable end of a long building which adjoined the tram shed and contained the traffic office, canteen and other facilities.
Tramway chief inspector Joe Woolley, who had started as a tram driver, was based at the traffic office. He drove the last tram from Old Colwyn to Colwyn Bay in 1930 and supervised the driving of the last tram from Llandudno to Colwyn Bay in 1956 (when the mayors of both towns drove part of the way). The tramway company’s employees included drivers, conductors and engineers who maintained the trams, tracks and electricity wires.
The lower photo shows one of the former Darwen Corporation tramcars at the depot soon after the tramway closed. The company ran buses from the depot until 1961. The depot was later a base for Lynx express parcels lorries.
With thanks to John Bird, of the Llandudno & Colwyn Bay Tramway Society
Postcode: LL28 4PS View Location Map
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