On Monday, 4th July, a special plaque was unveiled at Crewe Heritage Centre that officially recognises the last remaining section of a 457 mm (18 inch) narrow-gauge tramway that once transported materials around Crewe Works.
The Mayor of Crewe, Councillor Nan Walton officially unveiled the plaque, in the form of the Transport Trust's Red Wheel, outside the entrance to the North Junction Signal Box.
The tramway was linked to the railway station via the so-called Spider Bridge. That was partially demolished in the late 1930s, but a short 30-metre long section was retained and later incorporated into the Heritage Centre.
Construction of the tramway began in 1857 under the London and North Western Railway's (LNWR) Locomotive Superintendent, John Ramsbottom. The tramway opened in 1862, and over the following years, the system was extended from the Old Works to Crewe railway station; which required the construction of the Spider Bridge in 1878.
Spider bridge itself was a footbridge that ran from the Old Works to the railway station with the addition of the tramway. This allowed spare parts to be transferred from the works to the station for onward transport to wherever they were needed on the main line railway.
Unfortunately, the bridge could only be accessed from the station using steps from the platform. This made the process of transferring goods from the tramway challenging and eventually led to this method being abandoned.
Most of the tramway closed in 1932, and with the exception of Pet, all of the original 0-4-0 steam locomotives were retired and scrapped. Pet is a “Tiny” class engine that was built in 1865 and is now on display at the National Railway Museum in York as the smallest surviving LNWR engine, and an example of the specialised, and often obscure, equipment used on internal railways.
For many years after the tramway closed the bridge continued to provide pedestrian access to the works until most of the bridge was demolished in 1939. The last surviving section of the bridge can be seen outside the North Junction Signal Box. After nearly 60 years of neglect, it was restored in 1987 as part of the Crewe Heritage Festival following the construction of the current North Junction Signal Box.
You can find out more about the exhibits at the Crewe Heritage Centre, including the Advanced Passenger Train , over on their website https://www.crewehc.co.uk/home
Also called the “Midge Bridge” after one of the n.g. locos which used it.