The Darlington Corporation Light Railways operated a tramway service in Darlington between 1904 and 1926.

History

Darlington was the first municipality to take advantage of the

Light Railways Act 1896 The Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c.48) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. History Before the Act each new railway line built in the country required a specific Act of Parliament to be o ...

. Its tramways were authorised by this act. In preparation for the new tramway, the corporation opened a new power station in the town in December 1900.The Light Railways of Darlington, G.S. Hearse, Tramway Review, Vol. 2, Issue 9, 1953. The corporation bought out the Stockton and Darlington Steam Tramway Company which (despite its name) had been operating horse-drawn trams in Darlington since 1880. The price paid for this was £7,600. The lines were leased to C.J. O'Dowd who continued to operate them until 18 August 1903, when the service was withdrawn for reconstruction. Kennedy and Jenkins were appointed consulting engineers, and the contractor for the permanent way was Messrs J.G. White and Company. The overhead wires were erected by Brush Electrical Equipment Company. A depot was erected in Haughton Road. On 25 May 1904, the system was inspected by the Board of Trade and passed fit for public use. It was opened by the Mayoress Mrs A Henderson, who drove the first car on 1 June 1904.

Fleet

Darlington Corporation Light Railways tramcar

The company purchased 16 single deck cars from G.F. Milnes & Co. By 1912, the traffic had increased to such an extent that 2 double deck 56-seater cars were purchased from the

United Electric Car Company The United Electric Car Company was a tramcar manufacturer from 1905 to 1917 in Preston, Lancashire, England. History The Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works was formed in 1897 registered on 25 April 1898 to acquire works at Preston, ...

of Preston. In 1918, 8 cars were obtained second hand from the

Sheerness and District Tramways The Sheerness and District Tramways operated a tramway service in Sheerness between 1903 and 1917. History The system opened on 9 April 1903 with a depot located at near Sheerness East railway station. There were 12 tramcars obtained from B ...

, which had closed the previous year. Six of these were put into service, and the remainder were used for spare parts. They were originally built by

Brush Electrical Machines Brush Electrical Machines is a manufacturer of electrical generators typically for gas turbine and steam turbine driven applications. The main office is based at Loughborough in Leicestershire, UK. History Charles Francis Brush, born in Eucl ...

Closure

The system closed on 10 April 1926. The services were replaced by the Darlington trolleybus system. The 24 tramcars were offered for sale, the two double deck cars were sold to the

Dover Corporation Tramways Dover Corporation Tramways was the operator of the second tramway system built in the United Kingdom. It was in operation from 1897 to 1936. The worst ever tram accident in the United Kingdom occurred on the system in 1917. History Construction ...

for £350 the pair.

References

External links

Darlington Corporation Light Railways at the British Tramway Company Badges and Buttons website.
{{Historic UK Trams Tram transport in England 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in England Rail transport in Darlington 1904 establishments in England 1926 disestablishments in England