Tramway: Difference between revisions

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Tramway may refer to:

Tramway (industrial), a lightly laid railway for uses such as logging or mining
A tram transport system (public transport vehicles running on rails)
- The tracks which trams run on (also a section of reserved track for trams)
Aerial tramway
Tramway, North Carolina, locality in the United States
Tramway (arts centre), for visual and performing arts in Glasgow, Scotland
Tramway (film), a short film by Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Tramway.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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 {{Wiktionary}}
 '''Tramway''' may refer to:
-* [[Tramway (mineral)]], a railway particularly one used for the carriage of minerals
+* [[Tramway (industrial)]], a lightly laid railway for uses such as logging or mining
+* A [[tram]] transport system (public transport vehicles running on rails)
-* A [[tram system]]
+** The [[Tramway track|tracks]] which trams run on (also a section of [[reserved track]] for trams)
-* An [[aerial tramway]]
+* [[Aerial tramway]]
-* In some Australian states, "tramway" was historically the legal title of a railway not owned by a state government, as in the [[Powelltown Tramway]] or [[Silverton Tramway]]. "Tramway" was also commonly used for any light railway associated with a single industry, as in "[[timber]] tramway".
+* [[Tramway, North Carolina]], locality in the United States
-* In the [[United Kingdom]] a tramway is a precise term in law and in regulations for a class of railway that shared a [[road]]. While a [[railway]] required an [[Act of Parliament|act]] of [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] to resume private land for its [[Right-of-way (railroad)|right of way]], a tramway could operate on a public road with a permit from local government. The majority of railways operating under this class were passenger [[tram]] networks, although some were industrial and at least one example at [[Weymouth_Harbour_Tramway|Weymouth]] was part of the main railway network and saw full freight and passenger trains traversing the streets of Weymouth down to the [[quay]].
-* '''[[Tramway (arts centre)]]''', a [[theatre]] and arts complex in [[Glasgow]], [[Scotland]], based in the city's former [[tram]] depot.
+*[[Tramway (arts centre)]], for visual and performing arts in Glasgow, Scotland
+*[[Tramway (film)|''Tramway'' (film)]], a short film by Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski
-* [[Hong Kong Tramways]], a service running since the 1900s
+{{disambiguation}}
-==Historical background==
-The term was originally applied to wagons running on primitive tracks in early [[England]] and [[Europe]].  The name seems to date from around [[1517]] and to be derived from an English dialect word for the shaft of a wheelbarrow - in turn from Low German ''traam,'' literally, beam. <ref>Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (On line accessed 27 Oct 2007)</ref>
-The tracks themselves were sometimes known as '''gangways,''' <ref>As, for instance [[Little Eaton Gangway]]</ref>dating from before the 12th century, being usually simply planks laid upon the ground <ref>Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (On line accessed 27 Oct 2007)</ref> literally "going road" <ref>"gangway"  The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Ed. T. F. Hoad. Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Monmouthshire Libraries.  27 October 2007  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t27.e6286></ref>
-The alternative term is "[[Wagonway]]" under which heading there is further information. Usually the wheels would be guided along grooves. In time, to combat wear, the timber would be reinforced with an iron strip covering. This developed to use steel "L" shaped plates, the track then being known as a [[plateway]].
-An alternative appeared, the so-called "edge-rail" where the wagons were guided by having the wheels flanged instead of running in grooves.  Since these rails were raised above the ground they were less likely to be blocked by debris, but they obstructed other traffic. They  were, however, the forerunners of the modern railway. The origin of many of its features is uncertain, but [[Benjamin Outram]] was referring to his lines as railways in the early [[19th century]].  The fact that many of these lines were built for horse-drawn vehicles, and were dimensioned accordingly, is thought to be behind the modern standard gauge of 4 ft. 8½ in.
-These early lines were built to transport minerals from quarries and mines to canal wharves. From about [[1830]], more extensive trunk railways appeared, becoming faster, heavier and more sophisticated and, for safety reasons, the requirements placed on them by Parliament became more and more stringent. See [[Rail tracks]].
-These restrictions were excessive for the small mineral lines and it became possible in the [[United Kingdom]] for them to be categorised as [[Light railway]]s subject to certain provisos laid down by the [[Light Railways Act 1896]].
-Meanwhile, in [[England]] the term tramway became the term for passenger vehicles (a [[tram]]) that ran on tracks in the public highway, sharing with other road users. <ref>1901: Standing Orders, [[House of Lords]], Priv. bills 7 "In these orders ... 'Tramway' means a tramway laid along a street or road; the term 'tramroad' means a tramway laid elsewhere than along a street or road."  From Oxford English Dictionary On-line (Second Ed 1989)</ref>  Initially horse-drawn, they developed to use electric power from an overhead line. A development of the tramway in the [[United Kingdom]] which dispensed with tracks, but retained electric power from overhead wires was the [[trolley bus]].
-==References==
-{{reflist}}
-{{disambig}}