Collections close up: Stephenson horse tram, 1882
Introduction
The rare surviving Stephenson horse tram in our collection was built in the USA and served London between 1882 and 1910.
It was manufactured by John Stephenson’s company, which was a major innovator in tram (or streetcar) manufacture in the mid-nineteenth century, employing hundreds of people in New York City. Their advanced lightweight vehicles were exported around the world.
The London Tramways Company took delivery of over 300 between 1879 and 1883, and this example ran until 1910. The body was then used on a farm in Kent for many years, before restoration in the early 1990s.
Development
The world’s first tramway was the New York and Harlem Railroad, built by John Stephenson in Manhattan in 1832. His ‘streetcars’ were modelled after railway coaches, but with the body dropped down over the wheels for easier access.
They were heavy and cumbersome, but Stephenson refined his designs over many years to increase efficiency and reduce weight, until they needed only two horses instead of the original four. His company made around 25,000 trams between 1876 and 1891.
Stephenson won a contract to supply trams to North Metropolitan Tramways in London in 1870, and a large order for the London Street Tramways Company in 1878. He also supplied trams to operators in Liverpool, Hull, Wolverhampton and Glasgow. Asked later how he was able to compete with domestic suppliers abroad, he boasted that his vehicles were half the weight of German trams and cheaper than those made in Britain.
Journeys
Horse tramways were opened from 1870 onwards along most of London’s inner suburban main roads. Trams were not allowed in the central streets of the City and Westminster. With their high capacity and cheap fares, trams gave working-class Londoners the first means of public transport that they could afford.
In the 1880s London tramway companies began to try out alternatives to horse power. The first cable tramway in Europe was opened at Highgate Hill in 1884. There were also experiments with battery and steam-powered trams.
The London County Council (LCC) took over many of the horse tram routes in the 1890s. They kept fares low and progressively electrified them. By 1910 the LCC had 120 miles of electric tram routes, making it the largest tram operator in the country.
Service
The Museum’s horse tram was built in 1882 by John Stephenson & Co. of New York. It was one of more than 300 horse cars ordered by the London Tramways Company and shipped across the Atlantic.
New York had pioneered street tramways in 1832 and Stephenson’s were the most experienced tramcar builders in the world. Tramcar number 284 was originally built with ‘knifeboard’ outside seating. This was soon replaced by reversible garden seats to increase capacity.
When the London Tramways Company system was taken over by the London County Council and later electrified in the 1900s, all the horse trams were sold off. This one was discovered in the 1970s being used as a hen house on a farm in Kent. It was acquired by the Museum and fully restored in the early 1990s. It has been on display in the Museum since 1994.
See the vehicle in person
This horse tram is on display in the Museum in our 19th Century London and Victorian Transport gallery. See it on the top floor during a visit!
Discover what transport was like in London in the 1800s, from riverboats, the first omnibus, trams and early railways.
Find out about our Annual Pass options to visit the Museum. Passes are valid for a year, and kids go free!
Discover the history of London's transport and stories of the people who have travelled and worked in the city over the last 200 years, as well as a peek into the future of travel in the Capital with a visit to London Transport Museum.
