FOR more than 70 years it steamed through Wantage transporting passengers and goods, before the service finally made its final journey just before Christmas 1945.

Now the history of the Wantage Tramway, the country's first steam-powered passenger tram service, is revealed in a new book.

The new edition of Oxfordshire author Nic de Courtais' history, featuring fresh images and information, was officially launched on Saturday in the town's Vale and Downland Museum in Church Street by Bath-based Wild Swan Books. And the writer was there to answer questions and sign copies.

In the introduction to the book, he said: "I was delighted to be asked to put together an enlarged version of my original book and we have included as much new material as possible in the reasonably held view that there are unlikely to be many more opportunities to do so."

The Wantage Tramway Company was created in 1875 to carry passengers and goods between the Wantage and Wantage Road Station on the Great Western Railway.

Except for a short break during the Second World War it was in operation for 70 years, and was the most successful of the few rural lines that operated in England.

At first the tramway’s two passenger cars were drawn by horses, but the company soon purchased a Grantham Steam Car and made history as the first regular passenger service using mechanical traction.

From then on the tramway’s timetable was arranged so that a car was available to meet every passenger train which stopped at Wantage Road Station and it soon became a familiar sight locally.

Following a decline in revenue as cars became more popular, the company decided to close down the passenger service in 1925 and to concentrate on goods traffic, with it serving the town in that capacity for another 20 years.

Trade fell off again considerably during the 1930s.

It picked up again during the Second World War due to the shortage of petrol, but the line had to close between November 1943 and February 1944 because of mud on the track, churned up by lorries from the American military base in Grove.

The tramway never fully recovered and it closed permanently on December 21, 1945 – a little over 70 years after the first horse-drawn trip on the line.

One part of the old tramway has been preserved though, with Engine No. 5, known locally as either Jane or Shannon, now resident at Didcot Railway Centre.

Following repairs, she was finally steamed and operated again in October 1969, 26 years after being written off but has since been retired due to the discovery of major cracks in the firebox.

The book is available from independent bookshops, which can order it directly from Wild Swan Books.