The Blackburn and Over Darwen Tramways Company operated a steam tramway service between

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

and

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...

between 1881 and 1898.

History

The tramway was authorised by the Blackburn and Over Darwen Tramways Act of 1879. The route started in the centre of Blackburn, and followed Darwen Street, Bolton Road, then through Ewood, Earcroft, Hawkshaw, and terminating in Darwen at Whitehall. Six steam trams were acquired from

Kitson and Company Kitson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Early history The company was started in 1835 by James Kitson (businessman), James Kitson at the Airedale Foundry, off Pearson Street, Hunslet, ...

for the inauguration of the service. This fleet was later augmented to 15, with 7 of the additional trams being obtained from

Thomas Green & Son Thomas Green & Son, Ltd. were engineers who manufactured a wide range of products at the Smithfield Foundry, Leeds, United Kingdom Introduction Thomas Green came to Leeds from Carlton-on-Trent near Newark and founded the company in 1835. Th ...

. The initial passenger cars were built by Ashbury on Eades patent reversible trucks. The seating capacity was 20 in the lower saloon and 26 on top. Later passenger cars were obtained from G.F. Milnes & Co. of Birkenhead. The service came into operation after inspection from General Hutchinson of the Board of Trade.Blackburn Weekly Standard 16 April 1881

Closure

The company was acquired by Blackburn Corporation for £22,337 (equivalent to £ in ) and Darwen Corporation for £26,163 (equivalent to £ in ) on 31 December 1898. Steam tram services continued until 1901.

References

{{Blackburn with Darwen culture Tram transport in England 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in England History of Blackburn with Darwen Transport in Blackburn with Darwen Darwen Historic transport in Lancashire