Lifting Derby tram rails

[2192]

Some tram rails are being lifted in Derby's St Peters Street by Waterstones and round the corner, in connection with street improvements -- nearly 100 years since the last tram ran?

 

[156421]

Some tram rails are being lifted in Derby's St Peters Street by Waterstones and round the corner, in connection with street improvements -- nearly 100 years since the last tram ran?

89 years ago as of Sunday.

 

[2192]

89 years ago as of Sunday.

Apologies. I misread the date in a book! 2192

 

[Mothball]

Interesting as on occasions these rails get a bright future.
The Heaton Park Tramway has various sections of rail on its operating line salvaged from under tarmac during roadworks. A number of lengths dug up during the Metrolink 2CC construction are also in storage in preparation for any line extensions.

 

[Russel]

Where are these tram tracks in Derby?

I've walked past the Waterstones on St Peters Street many times and never noticed them, I've just had a look on Google Street View too and can't see anything?

 

[mwmbwls]

Where are these tram tracks in Derby?

I've walked past the Waterstones on St Peters Street many times and never noticed them, I've just had a look on Google Street View too and can't see anything?

In many case when trams ceased to function the old tracks and the granite setts in which they were laid were tarmacced over.
Metrolink 2cc nearing completion by Mwmbwls, on Flickr
These are first generation tram rails in Manchester removed to allow from the second cross city tram route via Albert Square.

 

[2192]

The tram tracks in St Peters Street Derby were indeed covered over with tarmac, but on Monday some were piled up in a crumpled heap near Waterstones bookshop and round the corner.

 

[Skymonster]

Tram tracks in Derby

 

[Taunton]

Different cities seemed to adopt different approaches when trams were withdrawn. Some lifted all the rails and did a significant civils reinstatement job, others just applied asphalt over the top.

 

[Vespa]

Most construction companies don't see them as heritage items that could be reused by other tram museums, so they just sell it for scrap.

I think it should be part of any contract that anything found should be reused in a heritage museum or incorporated into the new streetscene to provide a link with past in the area and tram tracks will have a second life in a museum setting.

We are in an era where recylcing and no waste is the mantra.

 

[AlterEgo]

Most construction companies don't see them as heritage items that could be reused by other tram museums, so they just sell it for scrap.

I think it should be part of any contract that anything found should be reused in a heritage museum or incorporated into the new streetscene to provide a link with past in the area and tram tracks will have a second life in a museum setting.

We are in an era where recylcing and no waste is the mantra.

Incorporation into some piece of street furniture seems like the best idea - but what?

 

[2192]

Different cities seemed to adopt different approaches when trams were withdrawn. Some lifted all the rails and did a significant civils reinstatement job, others just applied asphalt over the top.

It was common place with heavy rail too, that when branch lines and sidings were lifted track at level crossings was just unfishplated and left in place as the scrap value of the rails was less than the cost of making good the road if the rails were removed. If the scrap merchants had an acetylene torch then the rails could be cut at the road boundary, but that might not be worth the effort.

 

[mwmbwls]

Different cities seemed to adopt different approaches when trams were withdrawn. Some lifted all the rails and did a significant civils reinstatement job, others just applied asphalt over the top.

Most just applied tarmac - unless it coincided with World War II scrap metal drives - during which many park railings also disappeared. You have to remember that the major urban road surface choice before tar macadam was granite setts into which tram tracks could be inset. In many cases tramways had passed their peak by the 1930's and had been replaced by trolleybuses and buses. The Depression of the late192O's favoured the cheapest solution.

 

[trebor79]

Most construction companies don't see them as heritage items that could be reused by other tram museums, so they just sell it for scrap.

I think it should be part of any contract that anything found should be reused in a heritage museum or incorporated into the new streetscene to provide a link with past in the area and tram tracks will have a second life in a museum setting.

We are in an era where recylcing and no waste is the mantra.

Selling for scrap IS recycling, and arguably better than making it into some kind of street furniture of little or no practical value.

 

[John Webb]

Most just applied tarmac - unless it coincided with World War II scrap metal drives - during which many park railings also disappeared. You have to remember that the major urban road surface choice before tar macadam was granite setts into which tram tracks could be inset. In many cases tramways had passed their peak by the 1930's and had been replaced by trolleybuses and buses. The Depression of the late192O's favoured the cheapest solution.

A view from 1959, 7 years after the London Trams had ceased running (click on picture to go to the larger original on the Geograph site):
Woolwich Market 1959

© Copyright David Wright and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

I doubt if the Derby rails would be much use for reuse as they appear to be badly corroded. I hope a few lengths might be saved for the local museum and for some form of street display. Or perhaps pass on to the Tramways Museum at Crich for further assessment?