1881-1886
During the year 1881, the Corporation of Blackburn thought it desirable to have their own tramway and plans were drawn up. In October of the same year a special sub-committee of the Town Council recommended the approval of the plans drawn up by the Borough Engineer and that an application to Parliament be sought. Powers were also sought by a separate application to lay lines outside the Borough Boundary i.e. from the boundary near to Intack to the Borough Boundary of Accrington, lines running through the districts of Oswaldtwistle and Church, to which these two authorities raised no objections. In early 1882 the ‘Blackburn Improvements Act 1882’ was passed through Parliament, and as well as the proposals for the tramways the Act also contained proposals for the improvements within the Town, such as water supply, gas supply and building projects. As with the Tramways Act of 1870, the Corporation was authorised to construct the tramway and then lease the operations to a separate, private company. In September 1882 Blackburn Corporation made an approach to the directors of the Blackburn & Over Darwen Tramways Co. Ltd. as to the possibilities of purchasing the lease of the lines of the Company within Blackburn Borough. This offer though was turned down.

New Lines proposed
The proposals for the new lines were as follows:
No.1...One mile, three furlongs, eight chains and thirty three links from St. Peter Street along Byrom Street, King Street, Whalley Banks, Bank Top, Redlam Brow, Preston Old Road over Feniscliffe Bridge and .
No.2...A single line one furlong, three chains from St.Street and terminating at the junction with No.1 on King Street.
No.3...A single line one furlong and thirty three links from Church Street to Darwen Street.
No.4...Four miles, three chains and eighty links from Salford Bridge along Furthergate, Bottomgate and on to Accrington Road.
No.5a..One furlong, four chains and thirty three links from Station Road (later called Railway Road), along Bridge Street, Jubilee Street and terminate on Darwen Street.
No.5b..Two chains from Bridge Street into High Street and terminate at a junction with No.4.
No.6...Two miles, three furlongs and five chains from Salford Bridge along Church Street, Victoria Street, New Market Place (later called Town Hall Street), King William Street, Sudell Cross and Preston New Road.
No.7...Two miles and three furlongs commencing by the junction with No.4 and pass along Salford, Penny Street, Larkhill and Whalley New Road.
No.8...A single line two furlongs, one chain and thirty three links from Richmond Terrace passing along Victoria Street, Regent Street and terminate in Preston New Road.
No.9...Two furlongs, seven chains and sixty links from the junction with No.6 at Salford Bridge and pass along Holme Street, Ainsworth Street, Richmond Terrace, Sudell Cross and Terminate in Preston New Road.

*Note* Not all the above were constructed.

The River Blakewater at Salford Bridge was to be arched over along Water Street to create a central terminal area, which was to be the terminus for all the routes. The gauge of the tramways was to be 4ft. 0in., it can be assumed that this was so that, at some future unspecified date, the lines could be connected to those of the Blackburn & Over Darwen Tramways. Although the two Company lines did indeed cross at the junction of Darwen Street and Jubilee Street and the idea of through running was muted by Blackburn more than once, there was no physical connection made until 1899.

The use of both steam and horse as motive power was also granted, the Corporation was to maintain the roadways where the tracks were to be laid and that no rail was to be laid any closer than 9ft. 6ins. from any footpath. It was also decided that the fares for the various routes were to be reviewed every three years. The time-table of the system was also decided upon by the act, and the Corporation was to ensure that there would be at least two ‘carriages’ each way on all routes every morning and evening (except Sundays), and though the fares were not to exceed ½d. per mile, it was stated that no fare was to be less than 1d. Personal luggage carried onboard the trams was not to exceed 28 pounds in weight.

Accident at Ewood
On August 7th, 1882 an accident occurred near to Ewood, and although it was nothing to do with Blackburn Corporation, the circumstances of the accident had far reaching consequences on future decisions by the Corporation. At shortly before 6:30p.m. Blackburn & Over Darwen Tramways Company car No.6 left the Darwen Street terminus bound for Ewood Park with a football special for the East Lancashire Charity Cup match played between Blackburn Rovers and arch rivals Blackburn Olympic, and as a result of the volume of passengers wanting to get to the match was consequently over crowded, which was against all regulations. All went well until the car reached the hill after Hollin Bank Mill, where although there was an 8m.p.h. speed limit, witnesses stated that the car was doing at least 16m.p.h. despite the efforts of some passengers and a policeman on duty in the road to try and get the driver to slow down, the car continued down the incline. As the car reached the sharp left-hand curve at the bottom of the hill, the engine turned over onto its right side, bringing the trailer over with it. Passengers were thrown from the top deck into the road, and as a result one man was killed and 30 passengers were injured, 7 seriously. The driver, Mr W. Robinson, was arrested and put into Police cells over night. The following day he was charged with causing the death of Mr William Riley “...by driving a tram car and engine at a furious speed...”.

Towards the end of August Major General Hutchinson opened a Board of Trade inquiry into the accident, his findings showing that the accident occurred due to several factors, the over-loading at the terminus and the failure to stop more passengers from boarding whilst on route, driving the car too fast, the inadequate use of brakes both by the driver and the conductor, the failure of the coupling to give way, and the general lack of maintenance to both engine and car.

Tramway Proposals
Once the Act had been passed the Corporation began to advertise for applications to lease the tramways, but the applications received up until the end of 1885 were deemed unsatisfactory. After much delay negotiations were begun with Messrs Cosh & Company, a syndicate of London firms, in December 1885. Cosh & Company, who were also at this time negotiating to operate a tramway in Accrington, wanted to operate the system with steam trams only, but the Corporation had received many complaints about the existing tramways in the Borough and felt that it would be far better to operate the system with horse trams as the motive power. Again after much debate and negotiations, the Corporation agreed to the use of steam trams on the Cemetery route (No.7) and Church route (No.4), which would keep the trams out of the Boulevard, where their presence was objected to by the Railway Company.

1886
On June 11th, 1886 a contract was at last made between the Corporation and Mr Richard Lawrence Cosh (Builder and contractor of West Kensington) and Mr Charles Courtney Cramp (Tramway contractor and engineer of London) and a deposit of £1,000 was paid to the Corporation as security for fulfillment of the contract of the No.1 section.

The shareholders of the company was given as:

The tramways to be constructed in four sections, No.1 being from Blackburn to Church, No.2 the route to the Cemetery, No.3 the route to Witton and No.4 the route along Preston New Road to Billinge. The terms of the lease granted by the Corporation to Cosh & Cramp were that the Company were to pay £25 per route mile for the first 21 years and £45 per route mile for the next 21 year period. Dates of construction of the sections were also given within the contract. The contract also agreed to Messrs. Cosh & Cramp forming a company called ‘BLACKBURN CORPORATION TRAMWAYS COMPANY LIMITED’ To operate the tramways once the construction was complete, providing that the Company had a capital of not less than £75,000. The Company was registered at No.14, Queen Victoria Street, City of London as of June, 1886. A Mr Farrell, an employee of Cosh & Cramp’s, was appointed as Tramway Manager. The time limit given under the 1882 act had by now almost lapsed and an extension was sought and granted. For the construction of the system the Corporation obtained borrowing powers of £50,000. The terms of the existing contract were altered in October, 1886 after due deliberation with Mr.C.C.Cosh, these alterations being that the Corporation be allowed to take up the option of purchasing the tramways on the expiry of the first 21 year lease, and in the event of this the Corporation would take the lines as laid down and the buildings, but no consideration would be given to ‘good will’ or prospective profits on the undertaking as a going concern, and that in respect of this a deposit of £2,000 for the security of the contract for No.’s 2, 3 and 4 sections of the tramway would no longer be required, instead a rental charge of £80 per annum was imposed.

As well as Mr Cramp and Mr Farrell, other key employees of the Company included: Mr G.S.Price, Cashier; Mr J.H.Cowell, Inspector; and Mr Wilson, Locomotive Superintendent. In Total there were around 35 employees of the Company.

During the re-negotiations of the contract in October, the dates for commencement and completion of each section were also amended:-

The routes themselves were amended slightly on construction from those in the original act and became as follows:-

HORSE ROUTES

WITTON... This route had its town centre terminus outside the White Bull Hotel at Salford Bridge. The lines went up Railway Road and ran across the Boulevard. The trams then made their way out of town via Jubilee Street, Mill Lane, Mincing Lane (then called Back Lane) and into St. Peter Street, Freckleton street and then joined King Street and traveled along Whalley Banks and Redlam Brow to the Griffin Inn at Witton.

BILLINGE...This route terminated near to Salford Bridge outside the White Bull Hotel, where a section of double track formed a loop, which crossed Salford Bridge into Water Street. The line went up Church Street and right into Victoria Street, left into Town Hall Street and right into King William Street, through Sudell Cross, the line then proceeded up Preston New Road to the Billinge terminus.

STEAM ROUTES

CHURCH...This route terminated in a siding in Water Street and proceeded to Church by first crossing Salford Bridge, up Railway Road, left into High Street and joining Furthergate. From here the line continued along Bottomgate and Accrington Road to Intack and then along Redcap and ‘over the top’ to Church. A junction was formed with the Accrington system at Church, though there was no through running.

CEMETERY...Again the terminus for this route was the siding in Water Street and after a sharp left turn around the Bay Horse pub, the line proceeded up Penny Street, Larkhill and continued along Whalley New Road to The Cemetery. .

Construction of System
Once the contract had been signed between the Corporation and the Company, the latter began to arrange for the construction, which was to be carried out by The Construction Company, London, a firm owned by Messrs Cosh & Cramp. The labour organisation was to be dealt with by a Mr Taylor, under the supervision of Mr Chadwell, Company Engineer. At the same time contracts for the construction of rolling stock were arranged. For locomotive power an order was placed with Thomas Green & Co. Ltd of Leeds for the supply of eight steam engines, at a cost of £5,600, equal to £700 per engine. For the trailers the Ashbury Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. Ltd. of Manchester were contracted to supply eight double-deck bogie cars, for £1,600, or £200 each. After delays caused through negotiations and organisations, work began in earnest on the Church route in early December, though the work was to take longer than had first been arranged.

The rail used for the construction of the system was of two slightly differing types, that used on the steam routes was of the ‘Neptune’ style weighing 88lbs per yard. The groove of the rail was 11/16 inch and had a 7ins. base. The rail used on the horse routes was of the same styling, but was lighter at 84lbs per yard and only a 6 ins. base, the groove being the same as for the steam, and in both instances the rail depth was 6 ins. Rail was made from “...best Bessemer steel...”. Tie bars, made of 1½ ins. x ½ ins. flat iron bar, 4ft 4 ins. in length, were installed every 9ft. and the rails were joined by fishplates made of Staffordshire steel and were 1ft. 6 ins. long and secured with ¾ins. bolts. The rails were obtained in 27ft. lengths, though it was agreed that lengths of 6, 7, 8 and 10 feet could be used. All bolts were made from homogeneous rivet iron and were ins. in diameter with Whitworth thread, and capable of standing the strain of 24 tons per square inch. The solid and moving parts of the points were made from best quality crucible cast steel and were fitted to the rail sections by means of No.2¾ins. screwed bolts. At least 6 ins. deep concrete was to be used under the tram rails and paving to the width of 7 ft. 6 ins. on single track and 15 ft. on double track. The concrete was composed of one measure of Portland cement, two measures of washed sand and four measures of broken stone or hard bricks to a uniform size. Cement samples were tested by being sifted through a No.50 gauge wire sieve, and were not to leave a residue of more than 10%. In laying the rails no bending or straightening of rails was allowed with a hammer, this task had to be completed by means of an hydraulic or screw press. The joints of the rails were not to be opposite each other, though the holes for the tie-bars were, so that the joints of the paving were kept in line with the rails. Where the lines were doubled the two inner rails were to be at the same level and the outer rails ¾ins. lower, except on curves where the outside rails had to be the same as the inner.

1887 - Tramway Opening
By the end of May, 1887 five engines had arrived from Green’s & Co. along with one of the trailers from the Ashbury Company, and as Intack depot was not yet ready to accept them, arrangements were made with the Accrington Steam Tramways Company to temporarily house the vehicles in their depot in Ellison Street, Accrington.

On Wednesday May 25th, Major-General Hutchinson of the Board of Trade came to inspect the completed line. On Thursday he met with Mr McCallam, the Borough Engineer and in the company of Mr Cramp walked behind a car to Church, where they were met by a party of Councillors, Aldermen and members of the Highways Committee. After a close examination of the mechanical construction of the engines, the new patent braking system was tested on the return journey, especially on the steeper gradients of Furthergate and Eanam. Afterwards the Inspector stated that he was perfectly satisfied with both the engines and the roadway.

Church Route Opening
The route to Church (45 & 46 Vict.c.243) was officially opened on Saturday May 28th. This new tram service in Blackburn brought huge crowds of people onto the streets and between the Saturday of the opening and the following Tuesday night 11,900 passengers had been carried. Although this coincided with a Whitsuntide holiday the success gave the directors of the Company hope that all the shares in the Company would be taken up. On the Thursday after the opening a banquet was given by the Directors at the White Bull Hotel.

The balance of three further engines soon arrived from Thomas Green’s & Co. and seven more trailers from Ashbury. The engines were painted olive green below the windows of two slightly different shades and the window surrounds were painted ivory. The trailers were painted olive green and Ivory, the latter being confined to window surrounds and the rocker panels. Seating was for 60 passengers, 30 in the lower, or inside, seated on longnitudal cushioned seating. The upper saloon, or outside, was totally enclosed and also seated 30, but on wooden ‘garden seats’. The engines were numbered 1-7 and the trailers numbered 1-8.

There were two depots constructed, one at Intack, was for the engines and trailers on the Church and Cemetery routes, and one at Simmons Street for the trailers used on the Witton (Griffin Inn) and Billinge (Preston New Road) routes with stables for holding up to 85 horses behind the depot (Though at one time the Company owned 104 horses). Some small stables were also constructed at Intack. The Tramway offices of the Company were also established at 9, Railway Road.

Other routes opened as follows:

On Friday June 3rd, 1887 what most have been the first ever accident on Blackburn’s tramways occurred, when at around 9:0a.m. a lorry was proceeding along Furthergate when, according to accounts, the vehicle collided with a tram engine. The consequence of the collision was that the lorry was over turned and it’s heavy load of cotton fell into the road. A number of men were engaged for over an hour to right the lorry and stack the cotton straight, and the tram service was held up for this period of time.

On Tuesday August 30th a driver named Richard Dabbin, in the employ of the Blackburn & District Omnibus Company was driving two horses attached to the omnibus down Eanam, when the horses shied at a steam tram engine coming in the opposite direction, and ran onto the footpath. The vehicle collided with a lamp-post, which broke, the driver of the bus received a severe shaking, but no further damage was done.

Further Construction
Intack depot was soon completed, and on September 16th work commenced on the Cemetery route, and by the 24th over 400 yards of permanent way had been completed. The contractors anticipating that work should be completed within six weeks. However, problems were to beset this section in the form of protests from shop keepers of Penny Street stating that they objected to the fact that the engines would be working very hard up Penny Street and emitting smoke. The shop-keepers won the day, as the Board of Trade refused permission for the Tramways Company to run their trams up Penny Street. At this point negotiations with the Corporation were entered into. The Company was most annoyed that the Corporation had given permission for the Penny Street line to be built and was now telling the Company that they couldn’t run their cars along it. An agreement was eventually reached whereby the Company would construct a new line along Regent Street, from it’s junction with Penny Street and then proceed along Ainsworth Street through to Water Street. The problem, however, was that Ainsworth Street did not go to Regent Street and so a new road had to be built from St. John’s Church on Ainsworth Street through to Regent Street, and involved the purchase and demolition of several buildings. For all this work the Corporation agreed to pay the sum of £1,000 in compensation!

For work on the Cemetery route four further trailers were ordered, this order being placed with the Falcon Engine & Car Works Ltd. of Loughborough, (later to be known as Brush), an order for another six engines had been ordered from Thomas Green’s & Co. in mid-July and by the end of the year four of these engines had arrived.