Cheltenham and District Light Railway



Owner Cheltenham and District Light Railway Company
Opened 22nd August 1901 (electric)
Operator Cheltenham and District Light Railway Company
Taken over 1914 (Balfour, Beatty and Company Limited)
Closed 31st December 1930
Length 10.44 miles
Gauge 3ft 6ins

Button description (Pattern 1) Block initials: 'MOTORMAN' between 'C & D' and 'L R'

Materials known Brass

Button Line reference [None]


Button description (Pattern 2) Block initials: 'CONDUCTOR' between 'C & D' and 'L R'

Materials known Brass

Button Line reference [None]


Comment Stylistically, this button is very unusual, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to any other pattern of button issued by a UK tramway company. The unique use of the word 'MOTORMAN', a frequent occurrence on American 'streetcar' buttons, hints at an American connection, most likely Thomas Nevins, the promoter of the Cheltenham system. All buttons known are of 2-piece construction, ie, blazer style, with the shank soldered directly to the front.

I had originally identified this button - somewhat tentatively - as an issue of another tramway company, the Chatham and District Light Railway, but this was solely based on 'hearsay'. Follow-up investigation revealed the main source of these buttons to have been a single auction where they were simply advertised as such. Given the relative regularity with which I see buttons misdescribed, I'm inclined to think that this auction description was nothing more than a guess that has come to be accepted as fact. Firmer evidence comes from the ‘CONDUCTOR’ button, which was dug up in a garden in Cheltenham!

In addition to the Cheltenham system, BB also owned, operated or controlled the following systems: Dartford and District Light Railway, Leamington and Warwick Electric Tramway, Llanelly Tramways, Luton Corporation Tramways, Mansfield and District Light Railway, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Tramways, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay Electric Railway, Dunfermline and District Tramways, Falkirk and District Tramways and Wemyss and District Tramways.