Light Railway Station, Micro Layout

[Nearholmer]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if nobody, even at the time, could tell whether or not it was conducting itself legally or not, because tramway legislation in Britain was so very convoluted. 

 

The 1870 Act was really only a starting point, because each tramway would be subject to the detail set out in a Special Act, could be subject to byelaws set by the highway authority, and to "rules" set by The Board of Trade (both general rules and locally specific rules).

 

In operational terms, the key differentiator between a railway and a tramway was that a passenger-carrying railway was subject to the requirements of Regulation of Railways Acts which, among many other things, required the provision of the block system, interlocking between points and signals etc., and continuous automatic brakes, whereas a passenger tramway operated "on line of sight", with speeds restricted to a level that made this safe.

 

The engine skirts, consuming of smoke, bells etc I don't believe come from the 1870 Act, but from BoT Rules made in pursuance of it, and I think they only applied to section where there was "street running".

 

Something that was legally constituted as a tramway might have been operating illegally if it exceeded its defined speed limits, even if it protected safety by using lock, block, and brake (i.e. behaving like a railway), but, back to my first point. The standard text book on tramway legislation, used by those few lawyers who specialised in it, was 600+ pages of tiny typescript, and forever being updated!

 

 

Edited July 8, 2020 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

The Railway Construction Facilities Act 1864 was useful because it avoided the cost/trouble of a parliamentary Act where all the landowners were happy to sell by contract, so no compulsory purchase powers were needed. Although that text says "little used", it was used for a fair number of lines.

 

Deciding to be a tramway, rather than a railway, was quite smart, provided that they were happy to go slowly, I guess.

 

Another legally interesting line on the coast was the Rye and Camber Tramway, which I think may have used the RCFA 1864, but may simply have existed by consent of the landowner(s), with no legal cover - I gave my copy of the history away.