Spa Road Works

Spa Road Works at Inchicore was the major constructor of trams and buses for Ireland during its years of operation from 1882 to 1977.

Spa Road Works
Dublin tram 253 built at Spa Road in 1928
Built1882 (1882)[1]
LocationInchicore, Dublin, Ireland
IndustryEngineering
ProductsTrams, Buses
Defunct1977 (1977)
DF840 - the last bus to be built at Spa Road before closure in 1977

History

The Spa Road Works were founded by William Martin Murphy, founder of the Dublin United Transport Company (DUTC), in 1882 to construct trams. In 1905 the works became the sole supplier of trams for the Dublin tramways.[1] As the twentieth century progressed the omnibus began to take over from tramways in Dublin, and Spa Road Works migrated into bus production.[2]

The factory moved from DUTC to CIÉ ownership in 1945.[3]:118–119 Buses continued to be built on Leyland chassis until problems arose in the 1970s. From about 1973 CIÉ leased the factory to Van Hool McArdle, a subsidiary of Van Hool, who initially continued to build Leyland Atlanteans.[4][5]

Following closure in 1977 tools and equipment were moved to the Bombardier-GAC factory set up in Shannon which produced buses from 1980 until 1986.

Output

Trams

The trams built as the works for Dublin were noted for being among the finest running trams anywhere with designs distinctive to Dublin.[6]

Buses
  • Spa Road constructed over 800 Leyland Titans between the 1930s and 1961.[2]
  • Leyland Atlantean, 602 of these rear engined buses were constructed at Dublin and replaced front-engined rear loading buses throughout the capital.[5]

References
  1. "Dublin's Trams Transcript". Dublin City council. 28 October 2014. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017.
  2. "The march of the Leyland Titan". National Transport Museum of Ireland Online. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  3. Baker, Michael H.C. (20 June 1972). Irish railways since 1916 (1st ed.). Ian Allan. ISBN 9780711002821.
  4. "Coras Iompair Eireann 1971 to 1981". The Classic Irish Buses website. 27 September 2017. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  5. "The Alas Atlantean Bus". Ask about Ireland. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  6. "Dublin United Tramways and tram No. 253". National Transport Museum of Ireland Online. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
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