1900
For further reconstruction of the system, a purchase was made of 1,500 tons of rail from The Lorrain Steel Company in January, and work continued rapidly on the completing of the system. Several alterations were made to the layout during the year, including the Water Street triangle, which was completely re-laid, leaving a single ‘Y’ junction to allow the Cemetery route trams to enter via Ainsworth Street and leave via the original lines along Penny Street. The line from Sudell Cross along Richmond Terrace and joining the Ainsworth Street lines was at long last built, inbound Preston Road cars now crossed the top of Water Street and over Salford Bridge to reach the Boulevard. The line running across the Boulevard was doubled from the southern end of the loop all the way down Railway Road. A triangle was installed at the junction of Jubilee Street and the Boulevard, and a short line from this point down Bridge Street, this was to allow inbound Witton cars to ‘reverse’ due to the side mounted poles and masts. The double siding in front of the Adelphi Hotel was extended to form a long loop. The line along Larkhill Street, built in 1889, was taken up. A temporary depot was constructed at the electric power station on Jubilee Street, this small depot was built by the reconstructing of the old gas works building on the site. It was used for the assembly of new tramcars as they arrived, before being driven to Intack depot. This depot was only two roads and could only hold six cars at any one time.

Proposed Extensions to routes
In February an Act of Parliament was sought and granted for further reconstruction of routes, which meant the doubling of the old Company lines, the construction of two extensions to existing routes and the construction of two complete new routes.
The extensions were as follows:

No.1...From Witton Stocks (Spring Lane) along Preston Old Road and terminate at the junction with Green Lane, a total distance of 5 furlongs, 2.45 chains.

A change in the Municipal Boundaries due to come into effect in 1901, taking the townships of Livesey and Witton into the Borough of Blackburn, allowed this route to terminate at Green Lane, otherwise the line would have had to terminate at Feniscliffe Bridge (then called Finniscliffe), which had been the intended terminus for the original Company lines!
No.2....From the Cemetery along Whalley New Road, through Roe Lee, Brownhill and to terminate near to the Borough Boundary with Wilpshire, a total distance of 1 mile, 3 furlongs and 4.6 chains.

The new routes authorised were as follows:-
No.1....from the junction with the existing tramway at Darwen Street Bridge, where a cross-over junction was to be installed, along Park Road, Lower Audley, Audley Range, Queen’s Park Road and terminate outside the entrance to Queen’s Park, a total distance of 7 furlongs, 9.40 chains. This route to be known as the ‘Audley’ route.
No.2....from Furthergate, at it’s junction with Burnley Road, to proceed along Burnley Road and terminate at Whitebirk Bridge at the Borough Boundary with Rishton, a total distance of 5 furlongs 1.56 chains. This route to be known as the ‘Burnley Road’ route.
For the construction of the Burnley Road route a loan was sanctioned for £15,000.
In March 1900 the Tramways Committee received a deputation from Rishton Urban District Council with proposals for the Corporation to consider the laying of lines from the terminus of the proposed Burnley Road route at Whitebirk to the canal bridge, High Street, Rishton. The Borough Engineer was requested to look into the costs involved and to report at the earliest time.

At the end of May the Tramways Managers report for the first year of the Municipal’s regime was issued:

On the Darwen section the number of passengers carried was 2,814,876 and the mileage run was 278,241. receipts averaged at 12.37d. per mile, and working expenses averaging 7.25d. per mile, the manager reported that the total receipts on this section were 20% in excess of the previous year worked by the late Blackburn & Over Darwen Company. The net profit on this section, after paying the Darwen Corporation their share of the profits and putting away interest and sinking funds on the capital, was £1,154.

The number of passengers travelling on the steam car sections of Church and Cemetery was 2,152,093 and miles run was 268,206. The receipts on the Church section averaged 11.99d. per mile and on the Cemetery route 10.80d. per mile. The working expenses of the two sections averaged at 6.92d. per mile.

On the two electric routes of Preston Road and Witton, the total number of passengers carried was 2,079,633 and the total mileage run was 169,912. receipts averaged 15.11d. per mile on the Preston Road section and 9.25d. per mile on the Witton section. The averaged combined working expenses of these two routes amounted to 6.20d. per mile. Total receipts on the electric sections was 65% higher than the previous year’s working.

The Manager reported a loss on the year’s working of £4,452,12s.2d. which was accounted for in the following manner:

Total receipts £23,246.5s.6d.
Total Working Expenses £19,812.17s.1d.

Leaving a balance of £3,433.5s.5d. as gross profit. However, the charges of interest and sinking fund amounted to £7,856.1s.7d. giving the first year’s loss.

Last night Thomas Eastwood (66) a super annuated moulder of 203 Whalley Old Road, died in a tramcar on the Cemetery route. For the past three months he had suffered from bronchitis and last night he left home shortly after seven o'clock to go to the clubhouse in town for the purpose of drawing his pension. He obtained his money, and as he appeared ill he was assisted to the tramcar. When inside the car he became worse and on Bastwell being reached Dr Lax was summoned, but Eastwood died almost immediately. The body was removed to the mortuary at the Town Hall.

Blackburn Weekly Telegraph 3rd February 1900

Principal items of working expenditure were a rise in the price of coal which increased the price of the hard coke used by the department from 17s. to £1. 3s. per ton. Repairs on the steam loco’s was £1,080, repairs to the permanent way was £500. The rates and taxes since the Corporation took over increased from £337 to £610 per annum. Wages paid on the steam tram sections amounted to £300 in excess of last year, and on the electric sections were increased by £800 due to shortening the hours and working two shifts.

The wages of the drivers with over 4 years service was increased in June by 3d. per day. At the same time it was decided by the Corporation to the continuation of a grant of £5 .5s. per annum to the Blackburn & East Lancashire Infirmary, originally paid by the Blackburn & Over Darwen Company.

Special trip for end of Steam
In anticipation of the withdrawal of the steam trams, a special trip was made in their honour on Thursday June 28th, when a party of 40 boarded the car and engine for the trip through neighbouring systems. It began at Darwen Whitehall and ended up in the Rossendale Valley, a total distance of more than 20 miles. The tram carried Civic Dignitaries, including the Mayor in all his regalia, the Town Clerk, complete with ceremonial wig and gown, and the Chief Constable in his helmet and uniform and sporting a sword. It most have been a most impressive occasion and along the route ceremonial stops were made in each Township. A dinner was arranged at Commercial Hotel, Church, where the party posed for photographs and, after which, the distinguished party renewed their historic journey on to Accrington, Haslingden, Rawtenstall and Waterfoot. The entire trip is recorded as having taken some 4½ hours, including stops and speech making.

In early summer work on the reconstruction of the Church and Cemetery sections commenced, the Tramways Manager urging that the electrification of the remaining sections of the system should be carried out as soon as possible, so as to alley the ever increasing costs of the steam trams.

At the same time two plots of land adjacent to Intack depot were purchased for the purpose of extending the building so that the whole fleet could be housed under on roof work commenced on the extension in mid-summer, the estimated cost of this building work being £16,000.

Trams to Rishton
An independent Company by the name of Blackburn, Rishton & Whalley Light Railway Co. had been formed with the intention of connecting Blackburn, Burnley and Accrington by means of a 4ft gauge tramway network. Their proposals were put to Blackburn Corporation in August 1900, which was to lay lines from the terminus of the Clayton-Le-Moors route in Accrington, from the Padiham terminus of the Burnley system and from the Whitebirk terminus of the proposed Burnley Road route Blackburn via Rishton and Great Harwood, all lines to meet at Whalley. At the Blackburn end, the Company requested permission of running powers over the proposed Burnley Road route. The Corporation agreed to this, providing similar running powers were granted by the Company to allow Corporation cars to traverse over the Company lines to the Rishton boundary at Hyndburn Brook. The Tramways Committee also stated that the current was to be supplied by the Corporation to the Company at a price of 1½d. per unit at a pressure of 500 to 550 volts for use on the section within the district of Rishton. All equipment within Rishton was to be supplied by the Company, and all within the Borough by Blackburn but at the Company’s expense. The Committee also insisted on a clause in any contract should state that a compulsory purchase of the Company lines within Rishton could be made should the Company go into liquidation or that the Borough of Blackburn be so extended as to include the district of Rishton. The Company eventually lost interest in the project, powers were never granted, and the Company disappeared without trace. It seems a pity as apart from the magnificent journey these lines would have provided, this would have made a very large 4ft gauge network of interconnecting systems, giving the possibilities of a journey from Darwen to Colne by way of Blackburn, Accrington or Whalley and Burnley.

New Milnes Cars Arrive
Also in August the first batch of the new cars arrived from G.F.Milnes by rail at Blythe’s sidings near Church, and were taken by road to Intack depot where they were fully assembled. These 20 cars were allocated the numbers 36-55. Again they were open top, but, as per the Committee’s specifications, were enclosed around the platforms. Unlike the ‘Siemens’ cars, these trams had bogies of the equal wheel format, which were Peckham 14B, a type used by only one other operator in the U.K., Birkenhead. Four 20h.p. motors were fitted being GE 52-6T type. Each tram weighed 13 tons unladen and the total cost was £39,269.6s.3d., which was equivalent to £981.13s.1½d. per car. Although higher than might have been expected for this size of tramcar, the cost reflected the four motor equipment.

Several reasons were given for ordering this type of tramcar. By having 4 motors the power was evenly supplied to each of the axles making better adhesion through the wheels to the rail, better braking and picking up a greater speed from a stand-still without the judder that was so often a problem on two motored trams. All this put much less wear and tear on the wheels and brakes and a much more economical use of power. Because of the irregular traffic at various times of the day, i.e. at certain times running comparatively empty and at other times over-crowded, it was felt that large capacity bogie trams would cope better with this type of operations. These cars had a seating capacity of 72 as opposed to the 60 of the ‘Siemens’ cars. To make up for the loss of revenue at quiet times thay were capable of accommodating a large amount of passengers when required. These new trams had a long bamboo pole, which was attached to one of the sole bars, for the changing of the trolley poles. With the side mounted running wires in parts of the system, the normal rope secured to the trolley head, to facilitate easy changing around of the pole, would have caught on passing traffic and other trams.

Sufficient rails had been laid at the Intack depot extension to accommodate these trams by the time they arrived.

With the arrival of these new cars several of the steam trailers were withdrawn from service, one of the Ashbury cars was sold to Accrington, becoming No.19 in that fleet.
In September a water car was bought from Hurst Nelson & Company Limited of Motherwell and given the No.1, It’s duties involved the cleaning out of the muck and dirt that accumulated in the grooves of the rails, and to help with this task a large scrubbing brush was attached to each end. It proved very unpopular, especially amongst those caught in the artificial ‘rain’ it created as it went along. Like the ‘Milnes’ cars the order for this car went to B.T.H.Ltd, who sub-contracted the order to Hurst Nelson Limited, the cost of this vehicle was £781.190s.0d.

Electric Services to Intack begin
By October 1900, the route to Intack, along Accrington Road, had been sufficiently electrified to allow a service to begin, and so a mixed electric and steam service was operated with electric cars running as far as Intack and the steam engines from Intack on to Church.

On October 16th, the route to Darwen was opened to electric traffic, though being operated with Darwen Corporation cars only, Blackburn owned rails being to the Borough Boundary at the top of Craven’s Brow. For this service, Darwen purchased 10 high capacity bogie cars, No.’1-10, built by G.F.Milnes, not too dissimilar in appearance to Blackburn’s ‘Siemens’ cars. With the opening of the Darwen section the steam cars and trailers at Darwen depot were transferred back to Intack and were used on the remaining steam routes, though the trailers, the ‘Milnes’, were mostly to be found on the Cemetery section.

A new time-table for ‘early cars’ or workmen’s cars was introduced in November:

Accrington Road...Blackburn to Church 5:10a.m. then every 20 minutes until 8:10a.m.
Darwen section...Blackburn to Darwen 5:00a.m. then every 20 minutes until 8:10a.m.
Cemetery section....Salford Bridge to Cemetery 5:00a.m. then every 20 minutes until 8:10a.m.
Witton section...Railway Station to Witton....5:00a.m. then every 20 minutes until 7:20a.m.
Preston Road section....Station to Billinge End 5:40a.m. then every 30 minutes until 8:00a.m.
After the above times, a ten-minute service commenced running on the Darwen route.

On December 1st, Blackburn cars began running on the Darwen route. As the cars, at this time, carried no indicator blinds, a route board stating ‘Darwen’ was placed on the dash panels. Blackburn provided 4 cars for this joint service.

1901
First Accidents of the Electric Era
Blackburn’s first serious accident since electrification occurred on Wednesday March 27th, 1901, when ‘Milnes’ car No.41 was in collision with a Darwen car near to Ewood, ten people were injured, though luckily there were no fatalities. The car had left Blackburn Boulevard at 7:00p.m. in the charge of Driver Edward Harwood, having reached Tweed Street the driver stopped to pick up Richard Knowles, a man who was learning to be a tram driver. Just prior to the interlacing track, near to 532 Bolton road, Harwood disconected the electric power, as is customary, and left Knowles in charge, whilst he stooped to pick up his tea can, upon looking up he saw the Darwen car approaching from the opposite direction along the interlaced track, he pushed Knowles out of the way and applied both the electric and hand brake, but was too late to prevent the crash. With the Blackburn cars being heavier than those belonging to Darwen, the latter came off the worst, the whole of the front end was smashed. The driver of the Darwen car, George Richards, had to be pulled out from the debris having been trapped between the framework of the cars. He sustained a compound fracture of his right leg, which resulted in amputation. The conductor, Ernest Haworth, sustained a fracture to his right ankle. Driver Harwood had a more fortunate escape than his counterparts on the Darwen tram, though it would appear his head went through one of the platform windows, receiving a severe cut to his ear requiring 8 stitches. One of the passengers on the Blackburn tram was injured when he was thrown onto road from the platform when the crash happened.

The news that a tramcar came into collision in Ainsworth Street on Tuesday night with a trap containing enough dynamite , nitro-glycerine and detonators to have blown up a considerable portion of the centre of Blackburn, sent a shudder through the town It is possible the explosives may have been packed in such a way that there was no real risk. On the other hand there might have been an awful disaster. And yet it is almost impossible to believe that the law permits the carriage of such dangerous stuff through public thoroughfares except under conditions which reduce the risk to a minimum. The regulations affecting the carriage of explosives ob the railway are most stringent. They surely cannot be less so about carrying them through the streets of a thickly populated town. What the law is on the point we do not know, but no doubt the authorities will make inquiry to see whether or not the proper precautions were taken.

Blackburn Times 16th February 1901

Just over two weeks later another incident occurred, this time to a steam car and trailer. The accident happened about noon on Friday April 12th, when the brake of the engine became jammed whilst stood in the Water Street terminus. The driver, Mr Ellis, got off to attend to it, but it suddenly freed itself and the car began to move back down the line, having narrowly escaped being caught between the car and engine, the driver jumped on board and applied the brakes, but was too late to prevent the car from crashing through the buffers, which gave way, and breaking through the iron railings at the end of the line and falling into the River Blakewater, had it gone another yard or so, the engine would have been dragged over as well. Only one passenger was on board at the time, and he had the presence of mind to jump clear before the fall. A crane was erected, and gradually, after experiencing much difficulties, the car was hoisted on a level with the street, when two engines were attached, and drew it onto the lines.

To give an air of luxury to the trams, clocks for the lower saloons were ordered from a Mr Whittle, but it was found that the clocks supplied were not to specification and, though they were fitted to the ‘Siemens’ cars, no clocks were fitted to the ‘Milnes’ cars. Though it is not known as to whether those fitted to the ‘Siemens’ cars were those supplied from Mr Whittle or from another source.

In May 1901, a serious accident was averted which could have caused great embarrassment to the Corporation. On the 12th of that month, ‘Milnes’ car No.64 had arrived at the Colliers Arms in Darwen when the driver and conductor, against regulations, left the tram unattended. It was surmised that he movements caused by passengers boarding the tram freed the brakes and the tram, with no one in charge began to move and picked up speed as it went down Bolton Road. A Mr Hugh Whalley ran after the tram and managed to board it and bring it to a halt some 16 yards short of the single-track section, along which a fully laden Darwen car was proceeding towards the terminus. A gratuity of £2.3s.0d. was given to Mr Whalley and the driver, Mr William Howerd, was dismissed from service.

On May 14th what the Blackburn Weekly Standard described as “...some little mishap...” took place near to Novas, on the Darwen section. In the evening a tramcar full of passengers ground to a halt, causing a severe hold-up. The cause of the inaction was a lose conducting finger which failed to come into proper contact with the over-head wire. The driver managed to run the car as far as Ewood, when the passengers were requested to leave the car and take the next car following close behind. The defective car then returned to Jubilee Street depot, where matters were soon rectified.

Second Annual Report
In late May the second annual report of the Tramway Manager was issued. It was reported that during the year 4 miles 4 furlongs and 3.41 chains of double track had been re-laid as follows:

Darwen section.………..2 mile, 1 furlong .09½ chains
Preston Road section....1 mile, 1 furlong 9.09 chains
Cemetery section……....1 mile, 1 furlong 2.40 chains

Of single track, a total of 2 furlongs 7.91 chains had been re-laid, 6.71 chains on the Darwen section and 2 furlongs 1.2 chains on the Cemetery section. The total length of tramways now owned by the Corporation amounted to 19 miles 4 furlongs and 9.67 chains, divided as:

Double track..……..8 miles 2 furlongs and 0.48 chains
Single track.....……3 miles 0 furlongs 8.71 chains

It was reported that for the construction of the Darwen section last year, 143 traction poles had been erected and 4 miles 774 yards of trolley wire installed, along with 7,883 yards of ducts for feeder cables and 4 miles 810 yards of cables. On the Cemetery route the work was completed on the erection of 82 poles and the installation of ducts for feeder wire, and on the Church section, 249 poles had been erected and the work of laying the cables was nearing completion. Mr Giles stated that he hoped the work on the latter two named sections would be complete within the next two months.

Mr Giles further reported that: “The amount of the Capital account on 31st March, 1900 was £179,417. The additional capital expenditure during the year to 24th, March, 1901 amonuts in all to £98,088, and was principally in connection with the conversion of the system to electric traction. The amount borrowed for capital purposes is now £215,478”

At this time the rolling stock consisted of:

28 Electric Cars
17 Steam Engines
17 Trailers
1 Water Car
2 Lorries
4 Trolley wagons
3 Tower Wagons
3 Carts

The following is a summary of the year’s working:

Mr Giles further went on to state:
“Unfortunately, the upkeep of the steam engines and cars have been very high during the last year, notwithstanding every care to keep the expenses as low as possible, but this rolling stock is very old, and the expense of upkeep must be sacrificed to conform to Board of Trade regulations.
“The electric expenses are higher than what they will be when the sections are working, on account of sundry expenses incurred in the handling of new cars as they are delivered, and this amount can only be placed against the revenue.
“The receipts per car mile on all sections are not as high as I anticipated, partly owing to the large amount of mileage run in the early hours of the morning for experiment.
“In view of the increasing expenditure of capital entailing large repayments from year to year, and considering that the balance on the previous year’s working has to be carried forward, ways and means should be thoroughly discussed by the Committee to increase the revenue, and I suggest for your consideration a revision of the fares.
“I have taken into account the fact that we have, by our penny fares, educated the public into the habit of using the cars, and I do not anticipate much decrease in the number of passengers if the fares are raised.”

At this time many Tramway Authorities believed in the theory that cheap fares were bound to pay. This had been the case in Glasgow, where ½d. fares were introduced with a lot of success because Glasgow had a ‘floating population’ of thousands. As stated earlier 1d. fares had been introduced in Blackburn around the time of commencement of electric operations, but these, as stated in Mr Giles’ report, were not paying, so, after much discussion at Committee level, it was decided a new fare structure would be introduced as of July 11th.

Second Batch of Trams
In early June the second batch of cars, No.’s 56-75 arrived from the Hadley Works of G.F. Milnes, and after being fully assembled at Intack and Jubilee Street depots, began to enter service over the following weeks. With the arrival of the ‘Milnes’ cars, as No.’s 36-75 became known, several more of the steam engines and trailers were withdrawn from service. Only a handful remaining in use until full electrification was completed on the Cemetery and Church sections.

By the time of the arrival of this batch of cars all nine roads of Intack depot were complete allowing space for seventy-two vehicles, though not all the building was complete.

A workman, Joseph Boyes, in the employ of the Tramways Department, was killed after falling from a derrick whilst engaged on over-head work in late June, and a letter of condolence was sent by the Corporation to his family. Also in late June the roof of the depot at Jubilee Street depot was repaired with new slates.

An inspection of the Cemetery route was made on the afternoon of Wednesday July 3rd by Major Drewitt of the Board of Trade, who was accompanied on a special trip by Mr Cowell, Mr Giles and members of the Tramways Committee. Afterwards the Major declared the route perfectly satisfactory for passenger traffic.

Routes to Cemetery & Church open
The routes to the Cemetery and Church were officially opened to electric cars from July 4th and 9th respectively, and additional fares and stages were introduced on the Church section. A new stage from the Boulevard to Borough Boundary (Intack) was instated with a fare of 1½d. and a 5d. return Boulevard - Church - Boulevard was also introduced.

When the new routes were opened this closed the first chapter in the history of Blackburn Tramways with the demise of the steam tram. All remaining engines and cars were withdrawn from service. Towards the end of the steam operations the engines were beginning to show their age, no longer did they conform to the regulations as regards to having to consume their own smoke, hence one of the reasons for purchasing the engines from North Staffordshire, this allowed the Corporation to conform to all regulations and keep the system going until full electrification.

The new fare increases, introduced on July 11thth, was proving somewhat unpopular. As a protest against the new tariffs, the residents of Preston New Road had vowed to walk rather than take the tram, though this ‘strike’ did not last long. One point of the increases which led to some difficulty was several reported instances on the workmen’s cars, running between 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock in the evening, whereby passengers who did not come under the ordinary description of ‘workmen’ were tendering a1d. fare foe a full journey instead of the new 1½d. fare. These reports prompted the Blackburn Weekly Telegraph to ask the question “What is a workman?”, a definition of which the paper stated was as difficult as that of a drunkard. However, the paper went on to state:
“Broadly speaking, of course, all men who work are workmen. But the dictionary gives a more restricted meaning to the word. ‘A workman is any man employed in labour; especially manual labour; a craftsman; by way of eminence, a skilful artificer or labourer.’ This definition certainly excludes a manufacturer at which no one will complain; but it excludes also the clerk and the shopman, which is clearly unfair. the clerk and the shopman are often far more deserving of the trifling privileges of ‘workman’ than those whose form of work is manual labour.”

The figures relating to traffic on the tramways since the increase came into effect confirmed the general prophecy that there would be a reduction in the number of passengers and an increase in the amount of receipts. Figures showed that for the 5 days ending Wednesday July 17th, 88,448 passengers paid £493,7s.1d. as against the £460.2s.5d. paid by 97,369 passengers on the corresponding days the previous week.

In early August it was decided to delay the start of construction of the 20 cars on order at Dick, Kerr’s until May 1902 and, at the same time, after a visit by a sub-committee to the Preston works of Dick, Kerr Ltd, that the specifications for the motors were altered, and although no records survive to show what these were, one can safely assume it was to insist on the fitting of 4 x 20h.p. motors instead of 2 x 35h.p. motors.

The Corporation had to pay compensation to a Mrs Foster in November, who was hit by a bundle of newspapers being thrown from a stationary car by a conductor.

Floods hits Town centre
On November 8th after several days of torrential rain the River Blakewater burst it’s banks in the Town centre causing havoc with the tram service. For a time they presented the curious spectacle of looking like ‘steamboats’ moving through the lake in Ainsworth Street and Penny Street. Later on the Billinge section cars came no further into town than Victoria Street and on the Cemetery section the route was worked from a point halfway up Penny Street to Bastwell Road, which was the boundary of the severe floods in the district.

By the end of 1901 there had been many complaints from passengers as to the lack of information on the trams as to their destinations, and so to help alleviate the problem, route boards were fitted to the sides of the cars along the decency panels.

Figures for the 9 months ending December 31st 1901:

Income:
Traffic Receipts......£28,638.17s. 8d.
Parcels Receipts….....£245.12s. 9d.
Rent and other
sundries.....................£166.18s. 6d.
Bank Interest.............£116.12s.11d.
Expenses:
Engines - Wages..............£1,084. 2s. 6d.
- Fuel..................£1,395.18s. 1d.
- Water.....................£74. 2s.10d.
- Repairs & Store.....£386. 6s. 8d.
Boiler Insurance.......................£8.18s. 6d.
Electric Current..................£5,279.12s. 3d.
Traffic Expenses:
Wages................…...........£6,463. 6s. 5d.
Printing & Stationary..........…£165. 1s. 0d.
Insurance & Compensation:
For accidents..…...…£2,421.12s. 1d.
Car repairs...…..…....£2,149. 8s. 1d.
Car licenses....….….......£34.10s. 0d.

Along with sundry expenses, such as auditors fees of £26. 5s. 0d., the total expenses were £22,540.19s. 5d. but added to this were £4,808. 5s. 0d. for installments of loans and £6,230.11s. 4d. interest on sinking funds, thus making a grand total of £33,599.15s. 9d. deducting the total income of £29,168. 1s.10d. left a loss of £4,431.12s. 1d.

In November the steam engines and trailers were put up for sale by auction. Of the ‘Green’s’ loco’s four went to The Accrington Steam Tramways Company along with a further three trailers which became that Company’s No.’s 20-22. In addition one loco was sold to The Rossendale Valley Tramways Company.

1902
To help the unloading of Football Specials on match days, a siding was constructed in Kidder Street, at the side of the Blackburn Rovers Football Ground at Ewood on Bolton Road. This siding proved very popular with the fans as most tended to stay on the top decks of the cars and so watch the matches without paying. However, the residents were most incensed by this and a solicitors letter on behalf of the residents was sent to the Corporation requesting that this practice should not continue, and to this request, the Corporation duly obliged, instructing crews that all passengers must alight from the trams waiting in Kidder Street. (This line was still in situ up until the redevelopment of Blackburn Rovers Football ground in the Summer of 1993; the track being lifted in late May, early June).

Extension of Cemetery route
In late February the Committee gave their consent for the construction to begin on the extension of the Cemetery route, lines to be laid to the Borough Boundary with Wilpshire near to the Bull’s Head public house. The cost of this work amounted to £15,000 though no new purchases of rails was required, as the Corporation had sufficiently stock piled rails at competitive prices prior to this date. It was also decided at this time to allow all children under the age of 12 years to ride for a penny fare on each existing section within the Borough.

By February, receipts for the tramways had increased from £2,228.6s.6d. in January to “2,7942s.7d. in February 1902, but the miles run and passengers carried were down for the same period, this was a sign that the initial novelty of the trams had worn off. On May 14th the extenuation of the Cemetery route to Wilpshire was officially opened and a single fare from Salford Bridge to Wilpshire of 2d. was introduced. An interesting curiosity was that the trams themselves never actually went to Wilpshire, the line terminating some 50 yards before the Borough boundary. The Borough engineer reported on the costs of the proposed Burnley Road route and the proposal of the Rishton Urban District Council of 1900, and it was deemed that both suggestions were not economical and. so, with regret, the decision was taken to abandon the planned Burnley Road route.

On April 12th Henry Haworth, a tramway ticket inspector in the employee of Blackburn Corporation was attempting to board the front of a tramcar in Whalley New Road, which was proceeding in the direction of Town, when he was knocked down by another tram car proceeding.

in the opposite direction. He was pushed along the ground for some distance before the car could be brought to a halt. He was conveyed to Town on the incoming tramcar and then taken to his home in Redlam. He sustained bruises to his right leg and left thigh and was suffering severely from shock.

In May Mr C Barber, the Assistant Engineer, was appointed as Works Engineer and Traffic Manager with Bournemouth Tramways, and before leaving Blackburn, at a presentation held on his behalf, was presented with a silver cigarette case by Mr Giles.

The extension to Intack depot was completed in this year and all cars were now housed there. The depot at Simmons Street was turned over to the Permanent Way department, being used as a storage depot for materials, rails, sand, wires etc...

Two instances of trolley wire snapping occurred within 6 weeks of each other. The first, on Wednesday August 20th, happened at Sudell Cross on the Preston Road section, when a car, which was proceeding towards town, had just passed the last pole on the straight run along Sudell Cross prior to entering the curve into Richmond Terrace, when the trolley wire snapped and the wire fell into the roadway. Coming into contact with the up lines the ‘live’ wire fused with a subdued report and gave forth a flash of electricity which considerably startled passers by. The conductor of the car immediately donned a pair of rubber gloves, jumped from the car and held the broken wire off the ground whilst a police constable directed traffic on the other side of the road and performed a part in keeping a passing flock of sheep out of danger. The task of fixing up the wire was set about as speedily as possible, though tram services were held up for about 45 minutes.

The second incident happened in early October, near to Sharples Street on the Darwen section. ‘Milnes’ car No. 52 had just passed that point when the wire snapped and fell into the road. P.C. J. Hilton had seen the accident and kept anyone from approaching until the Borough Electricians could arrive and cut off the current.

A supply of spares were ordered and included car wheels from Hadfield Steel Foundary Company Limited of Sheffield, motors from B.T.H. Ltd. and trolley wire from F.Smith & Co. Having now gained a small experience of tramway operations, the Corporation looked at the running costs, and a report into these felt that the 48 cars in stock were, at that time, sufficient for the routes operated. Approximately 40 cars were used on certain days of the week in Summer and 35 cars in Winter, but on average 20 cars were used on all routes with 35 on Saturdays. The decision was taken, therefore, to cancel the order of 20 cars with Dick, Kerr Limited. However some work on the contract had already been carried out by Dick, Kerr’s and they demanded compensation of £900, a figure of £750 was eventually agreed upon by both parties and was duly paid. In the same report it was disclosed that a fully laden car would earn receipts of about £1,800 per annum.

The type of upper deck lights, fitted as new to the ‘Milnes’ cars, were from around this time fitted to the upper decks of the ‘Siemens’ class of car.

1903
In early January an outbreak of smallpox in the Town prompted the Medical Officer of the Health Committee to advise the Tramways Committee that all men employed on the trams should be vacinated against the decease, and this was duly agreed and accomplished.

In late January figures for the 9 months ending December 31st, 1902 were issued:
Income:

Traffic revenue..............£32,832. 5s. 3d.(equal to 12.15d. per car mile)
Parcels receipts................£218. 7s. 1d.
Contracts..........................£129. 7s. 6d.
Rent & other sundries........£110.12s. 8d.
Expenditure:
Electric current..............£7,222.13s. 0d.(equal to 2.67 per car mile)
Traffic expenses.............£6,320. 3s. 2d.
Maintenance of
tramcars.......................£2,795. 1s. 9d.
Permanent Way............£1,545. 1s. 9d.
General expenses..........£2,103. 3s.11d.
General:
Interest on loans from public works
commissioners and private loans.....…..£6,612. 9s. 1d.
Sinking funds on loans…...……….........£4,043.10s. 3d.

 

Cherry Tree route Extension begins
At the end of January work commenced on the construction of the Witton extension to Cherry Tree and the new route to Audley, and a proposal to extend the Preston Road route from it’s terminus at Billinge End along Revidge Road as far as Brantfell Road was put forward (this proposal was a shorter version of that in the 1897 Act). Unfortunately for the Tramways Department, there was strong public support against the plan by the residents of the Revidge area. The idea was to bring what was described as ‘holiday traffic’ up Revidge Road to the northern entrance to Corporation Park, however, the residents won the day, and the scheme was abandoned.

For the construction of the Cherry Tree and Audley routes rails, points and traction poles were ordered from Walter Scott Limited of Hadfields and J.Russell and Son’s. The Town Centre terminal point for the Audley route was designated as the same as for the Darwen route cars in Darwen Street. The Cherry Tree route was opened with due celebrations from the Committee on October 7th, and Audley was opened on December 4th. During their construction the National Telegraph Company Limited had to move several of their poles and wires which resulted in the Corporation paying the sum of £27.18s. 6d. in compensation.

The Regent Street depot, which had never been electrified, was transferred to the Water Works department, for use as a workshop. Around this time it was decided in the interests of safety that all the trams should be fitted with headlamps, and these were subsequently on the middle of the dash panel.

As well as the main routes, there were several short workings which were operated mainly at slack times in mid-week and on Sundays or, as in the instance of the Roe Lee service, as workmen’s cars

There was no short workings on either the Preston Road or Audley routes.
Traffic Returns for 1903 showed a slight increase, with passengers carried averaging 630,000 per month, and receipts averaging £2,555 per month.

Bye-Laws
In November Blackburn Corporation published the bye-laws of the Tramways, and this included some, now very amusing rules, which in retrospect appear very antiquated, and we feel it is worth listing some of them:-
3. Every person shall enter or depart from a car by the step of the hindermost or conductors platform, and not otherwise, unless so directed by the conductor.
4. No person shall enter or mount or attempt to enter or mount any car arriving or standing at a terminus, stopping place, or other place, until such passengers as may be upon the car and as desire to alight shall have alighted.
5. No person shall enter, board, mount, or leave, or attempt to enter, board, mount or leave any car whilst in motion.
6. No person shall smoke or carry a lighted pip[e, cigar or cigarette inside any car.
7. No passenger or other person shall, while travelling in or upon any car, play or perform upon any musical instrument, or distribute advertisement or tracts of any kind, or beg or attempt to collect any money. alms or subscriptions, or sell any article, or play any game or gamble, or deposit remnants of food or fruit in or on any car.
8. No person shall swear or use obscene language, or conduct himself offensively, whilst in or upon any car, or spit or commit any nuisance in or upon any car or tramway station, or premises in connection with the tramway system, or in any way wilfully interfere with the comfort of any passenger.
9. No person who is in a state of intoxication, or affected with any dangerous, contagious or infectious disorder shall enter or mount upon any car.
11. No person whose dress or clothing might, in the opinion of the conductor, soil or injure the seats, linings or cushions of a car or the dress or clothing of any passenger, and no person who, in the opinion of the conductor, might for any reason be offensive to any passenger, shall be entitled to enter or remain in or upon any car.
16. No person not being a servant or officer of the Corporation acting in the performance of his duty shall travel or ride on the steps, platforms, outside rails, buffers, or guards of any car, or shall stand in any case on the outside or except by the express permission of the conductor, first obtained in the interior of the car.
19. No person shall enter, mount or travel in or upon any car with loaded firearms, or with any article, instrument or implement which may, in the opinion of the conductor, be dangerous, or offensive to any passenger.

1904
In an attempt to always try and have the maximum number of trams available for service, more spares were ordered which included two 35h.p. motors from Dick, Kerr Limited for use on the ‘Siemens’ cars. Although traffic returns in general were increasing, there had been a marked decrease during the Winter months and so the Tramways Committee approved a re-arrangement of the services commencing in November. With the exception of workmen’s cars there would be no morning service on any day of the week from Witton Stocks to Cherry Tree and there would be no trams at all on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. A ten-minute service would run, however, on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesday afternoons, from 12 noon on Saturday and Wednesday and from 1:20p.m. on Sunday. On all other routes the Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday services were to remain unchanged. The Audley route was altered on other days from a 15-minute service to a 30 minute one. On the Church route it was changed to a 10-minute service between the Boulevard and Intack and a 20-minute service between the Boulevard and Church. The Wilpshire route became a 20-minute service between Salford and the terminus and a 10-minute service from Salford to Roe Lee.

In view of these alterations the traffic returns on the effected routes on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays were as follows:

The working expenses of the tramways, apart from interest and sinking funds, amounted to 44d. per car mile.

1905
Tramway Manager Leaves
Mr Giles, the first Tramways Manager, left the authority in early 1905 and was replaced by Mr Cowell and Mr Johnson as joint managers. This arrangement did not last too long and Mr Johnson left towards the end of the year, and Mr Cowell was appointed as General Manager.

Due to the high cost involved in taking over the two Companies at the turn of the century, the Corporation were faced with substantial deficits and also with the task of renewing considerable portions of track and over-head. It was at this point that Mr Cowell devised a scheme which was to pay the Corporation great dividends and become the envy of other tramway systems. Baring in mind the report of 1902, showing that fully operational, the trams could pay their way, Mr Cowell introduced a scheme to provide for the continuous renewal and repair to track, over-head and rolling stock, portions of each being completed every year, thus ensuring that there would never come a time in Blackburn, when large sections of work would need to be done at once, which would involve massive financial investment and a considerable drain on the Corporation’s resources. A certain percentage of the operating profits were put aside each year and put into separate funds i.e.: Tramcar Maintenance fund; Permanent way fund; and Over-Head and Cables fund, this way repairs could be carried out without the need to sanction amounts required. Previous to this scheme being adopted a depreciation fund existed, which only took into account work that was required at that time, and not anticipated work. For example, it was reported that as much as £170 had been spent on repairs to a single tram, with the new scheme this money would already have been put to one side to cover this eventuality of large sums of money and work, and although the wisdom of the scheme was challenged at first by certain members of the Committee, it will be seen later it was a sound one.

This provision was especially important because of the ‘double accounting’ system used by municipal tramways and inherited from the railways. In this system a revenue account set out the costs and revenues of operating, ending in an operating profit which was then transferred to a net revenue or capital account where some or all of this profit would be applied to pay interest on loans, income tax, bank interest and rent of leased lines and land. Any balance remaining after this would go to an appropriate account where it would be allocated to reserve or renewal funds, sinking funds, repayments of mortgages and relief of rates. Renewal funds could easily be ‘squeezed out’, as Councillors not fully understanding the system would seize upon the operating profit in the revenue account and imagine that there was an overall profit which could go into the rate fund. By designating the renewal funds as percentages of the operating profits, Blackburn’s tramways avoided this kind of confusion though, as can be seen from the figures below, the ratepayers had to foot the bill for it in the early years.

1906
The first seven years were not happy ones from a financial point of view, and this was reflected in the loses after repayments on capital for these years:-

1899-1900..........£4,432
1900-1901..........£5,221
1901-1902..........£6,550
1902-1903..........£4,061
1903-1904..........£5,138
1904-1905..........£2,793
1905-1906..........£ 683

It may not be common knowledge that, under the 1870 Tramways Act, wherever track was laid in the public highway the Tramway Department had responsibilities for the maintenance of the roadway between the rails and 18 inches on either side, so that on a double track section, some 15ft of roadway was kept at the Tramways expense.

It needs to be borne in mind that at the time electric traction was in it’s infancy, it was not an ancient industry, and as the Corporation had no experience in this field they were as much pioneers as all other Tramway Authorities and had to learn by their mistakes. The most important factor in running a tramway system is the area and population which it serves. Blackburn was far from ideal in this respect as, with only two exceptions, all routes ran to a ‘dead end’ where few people lived. As a consequence there was no ‘floating population’ and except for Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays (Market Day), passengers were rather scarce. The Cherry Tree route was proving less profitable than the other routes and so from February 24th, 1906, services were reduced. In April, to help improve services on the Wilpshire section, the 1d. stage from Brookhouse Lane to St.James’s Road was extended on to Roe Lee, and the 1d. stage from Bastwell to Roe Lee was similarly extended to Brownhill.

Top Covering the Milnes cars
The Tramways Committee instructed Mr Cowell to look at the possibilities of top covering the ‘Milnes’ class of cars and a delegation went to Liverpool, Manchester, Bolton, Salford and Oldham to look at the type of top covers fitted to their trams. A design, similar to that fitted to Manchester’s ‘Balloon’ cars was decided upon and although tenders were sought for the construction, notably from The Brush Electrical Car Company of Loughborough, the Corporation felt that financially it would be better to build it themselves. Sufficient timber was obtained from a firm in Liverpool to construct two top covers, and car’s No.’s 61 and 45 were selected for the experiment. The top covers were made from ash, oak, curry pine and pitch pine and blended in well with the shape of the original design. Car No.61 was the first to emerge from Intack Works on June 18th, 1906, and was duly inspected by the Tramways Committee followed by a journey to Billinge and then on to Cherry Tree. Owing to the height of this tram, only the bridgeless routes of Preston Road, Cherry Tree and Intack could be safely negotiated. The car entered service the following day with great admiration from the public. Car No.45 was placed into service 6 days later, it’s top cover differing slightly in design in having drop frames to the saloon windows (see ‘Fleet List’ page for complete details). The decency panels remained olive green in livery and the window frames were painted ivory to match the lower saloon, the drop-frames on No.45 were varnish wood, and the doomed roof of the cars were painted white. The experiment was deemed to be a success and it was authorised that two further cars should be thus converted. The cost of the first top covers was £146.18s.7d. each, which included all the cost of research. It was hoped that all subsequent top covers would cost between £20 and £30 less.

New Single-Deck trams ordered
The Audley section was showing poor returns by this time and the department felt that the use of high capacity bogie cars was not necessary and so ways of reducing costs were looked into. The Committee recommended that totally enclosed double-deck 4-wheel cars would be the answer and that 3 such cars should be ordered. Tenders were sought and the committee stated that cars to the design of Dick, Kerr Limited should be ordered. However, on the recommendation of Mr Cowell, this decision was altered to order 6 single-deck bogie cars. The tender for the construction of these cars was given to B.T.H. Limited who, after inquiring with the Brush Electrical Car Company, for sub-contracting, and discovering that this company could not guarantee a firm delivery date, placed the order with the United Electric Car Company Limited (U.E.C.). who were an amalgamation of tramcar manufacturers including Dick, Kerr Limited and G.F.Milnes, and these cars were to be built at the former Dick, Kerr works at Preston, to a design by G.F.Milnes. In fact it is believed the same drawings as used for Rochdale Corporation’s single-deck cars were used, with slight alterations and modifications, notably for the difference in gauge.

Traffic began to increase steadily and the returns for November 1906 showing a marked increase from the previous year:

Mileage 82,496....an increase of 2,208
Passengers 786,269....an increase of 83,413
Receipts £4,140.14s. 9d.....an increase of £317. 0s. 1d.
Expenses £2,578. 9s. 0d.....a decrease of £53. 3s. 7d.

All this showed that the trams were beginning to pay their way and that the problems of the initial years were coming to an end.

On Friday September 28th, ‘Siemens’ Car No.33, driven by Amos Walsh was travelling empty down Eanam, to go on to the Audley route, when it collided into the back of a lorry with terrific force, which resulted in the car being twisted onto the up track. The breakdown gang complete with jacks and other implements came down from Intack depot and it took 1½ hours to get the tram back on the tracks.

1907
The water Car, No.1, had proved a constant source of complaint from the public and it was decided to scrap the car with the bogies, wheels, electrical equipment and underframes being put into storage. To help maintain the condition of the street traction poles, and in the hope of making them last longer, they were all tar varnished, with this task being completed during the Summer. A parcels collecting and delivery service was established and although it began in a small way, employing just two boys, it soon grew and by 191 there were 42 boys at work in the department. This was not a dead-end job, as the youngsters could, and often did, obtain promotion. They were paid a wage of 1s.6d for 15 hours of work at weekends, and 3s.6d. Half time to 7s.0d.full-time per week.

Tramcar Advertising
In May 1907 new tenders for advertising on the tramcars were sought, and it is worth noting some of the specifications of the tenders:

ADVERTISING UPON TRAMWAY CARS
The contract shall be for a period of 5 or 7 years from and including the 1st day of September, 1907, to the 31st day of August, 1912 or 1914 (as the case may be), and thenceforward until the expiration of 6 calender months’ notice in writing given by either party, to the other of them at any time to terminate the agreement.

The contractor shall be entitled and required to advertise upon all the 54 tramway cars belonging to the Corporation on the spaces described in the schedule; but the Corporation do not bind themselves, nor shall they be required, to run any particular car or cars on any particular section or sections.

The design, colour, form, material, matter and method of fixing the advertisements shall be subject to the approval of the General Manager, and no such advertisements shall be fixed to or displayed upon any of the cars until such approval has been given.
The General manager shall have the power to disallow any advertisements, which he or the Tramways Committee shall consider to be of an objectionable, undesirable, indecent or seditious character.

The advertisements on the rocker panels shall be painted on the panels in approved colours, and the other outside advertisements shall be painted on boards or enamelled iron plates, set in moulded frames, as may be approved by the General Manager from time to time; and all the inside advertisements shall be on coloured glass of approved tints; preferably green, and any advertisement shall be repaired, re-painted or re-enamelled, or re-placed when, in the opinion of the General Manager, it becomes necessary, at the cost of the contractor.

The contractor shall, at his own expense, remove and re-place all advertisements from any car whenever the Corporation shall take it into their workshop for the purpose or re-painting or repairing.

The rent for the advertising rights shall be paid quarterly in advance on the 1st day of September, the 1st day of December, the 1st day of March, and the 1st day of June in each year of the said term.

SCHEDULE
‘SIEMENS’ Double Deck Cars:
OUTSIDE ADVERTISEMENTS
Side Boards: Side boards fixed above the car body and below the top rail, not exceeding 22ft. 10inches in length and 18inches in depth
Rocker Panels: Rocker panels not exceeding 21ft. 3½inches in length and 7½inches in depth.
End Boards: End boards above the car body and below the top rail, not exceeding 2ft,6½inches in length and 17inches in depth.
INSIDE ADVERTISEMENTS
Window Spaces: Window spaces in upper portions of windows, 10 spaces in number in each car, to be, to be coloured glass of approved tint, each not exceeding 3ft. 4½inches in length and 7½inches in depth.

‘MILNES’ Double Deck Cars:
OUTSIDE ADVERTISEMENTS
Side Boards: Side boards fixed the full length of the cars above the car body and below the top rail, not exceeding 31ft. 3inches in length and 18 inches in depth.
Rocker Panels: Rocker panels, not exceeding 21ft, 3inches in length and 11inches in depth.
End Boards: End boards above the platforms of the cars, three at each end, and not exceeding 24½inches by 18inches, 36½inches by 18inches, and 24½inches by 18inches respectively.
INSIDE ADVERTISEMENTS
Ventilator Windows: Ventilator windows, 20 in number in each car, to be on coloured glass of approved tints, each not exceeding 21¾inches in length and 5½inches in depth.

U.E.C.Single Deck Cars:
OUTSIDE ADVERTISEMENTS
Rocker Panels: Rocker panels, not exceeding 28ft. 2½inches in length and 14inches in depth.

No spaces other than the above will be allowed for advertisements except by special agreement.

Arrival of the Single-deck cars
On July 12th, the 6 single-deck cars arrived from the Preston works of U.E.C.Ltd. On arrival they were fitted with dwarf trolley masts, ordered from Brecknell, Munroe & Rogers Limited, in place of the standard long trolley pole, and an additional seat was fitted in each end compartment. They were described at the time as ‘combination cars, being divided into three compartments, with the end sections having drop-framed windows for smokers. Seating in the centre section was longnitudal and in the end sections seating was 2+1. They had open platforms and unequal offset bulkheads without vestibule doors. Electrically they were fitted with 2 x 35½h.p GE 58-4T motors and GE B18 controllers, both these items being supplied by B.T.H.Ltd. They were also fitted with the same Brill 22E maximum traction bogies as the ‘Siemens’ cars. They were numbered 76-81 and on Wednesday July 24th, car No.80 was given a trial run along the Audley route and pronounced a great success. These cars entered public service the following day and took over exclusive running of the Audley section, though they were used as ‘extra’ cars from time to time on other routes, in particular on the Preston Road - Town Centre only section on Sundays.

The tramway offices on Railway Road, taken over from the Company, were becoming over-crowded and so new premises were sought, which resulted in the Department moving to No.2 Salford.

This morning at Darwen a fish-hawker named Joshua Mellor, who gave his address as 28, Limbrick Blackburn, was fined 20s and costs for being drunk in charge of a horse and cart and obstructing a tramcar in Bolton Road

Northern Daily Telegraph 4th June 1907

The Wilpshire route was proving popular and a proposed extension was made to take the trams into Wilpshire village itself, terminating at the Red House (now the Wilpshire Hotel) and although these plans were approved, a petition of 96 residents, who were against the proposal, stating that they thought the extension was un-necessary, was received by the Committee, and despite some members arguing that working people from surrounding areas, such as Langho, came into town, the scheme was abandoned.

A rather strange and extraordinary ‘accident’ occurred on the night of August 3rd. For some days previous to this masons had been at work taking down and re-building the wall of the Trinity Wesleyan Church on Preston New Road. It was surmised that the disturbance of the soil had the effect of loosening the root-hold of a fine Elm tree standing in front of the church. At around 9:30p.m. the tree fell across the road, and in falling tore down some of the over-head wire, so violently that the iron arms of the standards were bent and broken. No cars or people were around at the time of the fall, though a tramcar travelling from Billinge was only about 50 yards away, but the driver managed to stop well clear of danger. Mr Stubbs, the Borough Engineer, Mr Wheelwright, the Electrical Engineer and several workmen were very quickly upon the scene. The roadway was cleared within an hour, but the trams on this section were at a standstill for the remainder of the night.

First Trams to Accrington
On August 3rd, Mr Cowell ran the first tram through to Accrington. The official opening ceremony of this section had taken place the previous day when a procession of five cars, 3 from Accrington Corporation and one each from Blackburn and Darwen, made a journey from Church to Accrington town centre. Blackburn’s representative tram was U.E.C. single-deck car No.81. Each tram was driven by a local dignitary from each of the authorities. The public service began in the afternoon of the 3rd. with cars from Blackburn only. All Accrington’s trams were top covered cars and could not negotiate the low bridge at Church so Blackburn had exclusive running of this service, through passengers could catch an Accrington tram to Church, then board a Blackburn car on a through ticket, part of the revenue going to Accrington Corporation. The agreement being that Accrington took all fares between Church and Accrington, and then paid Blackburn Corporation 4d. per car mile covered by Blackburn cars on Accrington lines. Briefly, Blackburn took 8d. for each return journey between Church and Accrington, the distance being 1 mile, and Accrington took the surplus. The cost of maintenance of the rails, over-head and the costs of current was, however, to be met solely by Accrington Corporation, this state of affairs was to continue for 10 years.

It may be interesting at this point to relate one or two accidents that occurred on the tramway in the space of one month:

From the Blackburn Times, August 10th, 1907
‘CAUGHT BY A TRAMCAR’
‘Late on Saturday night, Robert Hogg of Alice Street was attempting to cross the road in front of a tramcar going to Wilpshire as it was passing St. Michael’s Church, in order to board another tram approaching from the opposite direction, when he was caught by the side of the Wilpshire bound car, and knocked down. When carried to Dr. Lax’x surgery and examined he was found to be suffering a deep cut to the side of the head, and was removed to the Infirmary by horse ambulance.’

From Blackburn Times, August 31st, 1907
‘RAILWAY VAN COLLIDES WITH TRAMCAR’
‘On Saturday evening a horse and van belonging to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Company in the charge of Robert Margerison, coming out of Union Street, collided with a tramcar driven by William Norris proceeding along Ainsworth Street in the direction of Salford Bridge. The horses head struck one of the cabin windows smashing it, and so badly cut was the animal’s head that a veterinary surgeon had to attend.’

Also in August, on the 14th, ‘Milnes’ car No. 72, driven by Thomas Gregory, was travelling up Preston New Road when a blaze was noticed under the car by a pedestrian. The cable under the car at the No.1 end motor was rubbing against the axle causing the blaze. The driver cut off power to the motor and put the blaze out with sand, the car then proceeded on it’s way.

Passengers, mileage and, most importantly, receipts continued to show an increase throughout 1907. By the end of August passengers carried topped the 1,000,000 for the month mark for the first time, although this was partially attributed to the through running to Accrington.

The annual plant growing competition took place at Corporation park in August and it was decided to allow children carrying bulbs to or from the park to travel free on the trams. In September a purchase of bamboo poles for trolley pole reversing was made from Blackpool Corporation for £22.14s. 0d.

Another accident occurred when, on Sunday 7th October at about 8:20p.m., a tramcar, ‘Milnes’ car No. 67 collided with a wagonette in Whalley New Road between the Bull’s Head and the Brownhill Arms. [see picture] The wagonette was thrown to the side of the road, so forceful was the collision, that it was completely wrecked. Eight persons aboard the wagonette received injuries, though none serious. The cab of the tramcar was badly damaged and the driver received severe injuries. Twelve of the passengers were thrown violently into the road.

It is interesting, to give a comparison, that in October 1907, Glasgow Corporation took receipts of £19,689.2s.3d. for the first week of the month and Leeds Corporation, for the week ending 5th October, took traffic receipts of £6,635.1s.3d. compared to Blackburn’s average of just under £3,000 per month! By the end of the year mileage for December was 93,222, passengers carried were 855,191, and receipts were £4,671.15s..6d. and although these figures were down on those for August, they still showed an upward trend.

More New Trams Ordered
With an anticipation of a continued upward trend in tramway returns the committee were advised that it would be desirable to order more new tramcars to ensure a good service could always be maintained, and to this end it was decided that 6 further single-deck bogie cars should be ordered from U.E.C.Limited. To the same design as No.’s 76 - 81, the order for these cars being placed in December. Also in December, a third car, ‘Milnes’ car No. 49 was fitted with a top cover to the same design as that fitted to No.45