new info added:

11.03.2007

1908
Town Centre re-arrangements
In this year new lines were constructed and a re-arrangement of the town centre termini was undertaken in the hope of improving the efficiency of the services. The terminus for the Darwen and Audley routes was diverted to the Boulevard, entering via Jubilee Street, with a new line being constructed for outward journey’s from the Church Street-Victoria Street junction and continuing along Church Street and Darwen Street, joining the existing lines at the old reversing triangle, creating a neat one-way system. The old reversing triangle had it’s lines within St. Peter Street extended further down to join with the Witton/Cherry Tree lines becoming the outward route for trams to Cherry Tree, after again traversing the new lines along Church Street/Darwen Street. the inward route remained as before and, again a neat one-way system was put into operation.

Sur, Aw want yo’ to do me a favour if yo’ will, beside sattling a dispute between me an’ eawr Tum. Yo’ see, it’s this way, Aw live on Accrington Rooad, where t’ trams runs, an’ sometimes ov a neet, when yo’ want to goa to sleep, yo’d think yo’ were i’ Italy when th’ earthquakes were on. Well, eawr Tum wer sleepin’ wi’ us last week an’ next morni’ he ses, “Aw’ll tell tha wod, owd mon, them trams meks a thunderin’ noise” Aw ses, “Aw know thad, but they corn’d do nowt to sattle ‘em”. “Heaw’s thad” he ses “why” aw ses “we’ve a teawn ceauncillor lives on here, an’ tha can bet if owt could ha’ bin done to stop th’ noise they’d ha’ done it befooar neaw” “oh, nonsence” he ses “thad isn’d id at o’. Th’ reason is ‘at fooak abeawt here is soa used to th’ noise o’ th’ factory that they couldn’t sleep if o wer quate. So they mek th’ noise a porpus” Well, to sattle id, we agreed to write to th’ “Tallygraff” for, as eawr Tum ses, th’ editor is sure to know, an’ beside he might know t’ chairmon o’ th’ trams an’ put a good word in for us. Onyway, we’re anxiously waitin’ for sattle th’ dispute, an’ aw hooap yo’ll do yo’r best for us JACK BLACKBURN

Northern Daily Telegraph 22nd October 1908

Special arrangements were made with the Railway Company to extend the line along Bridge Street further down towards the goods yard entrance. This line was for the continued use of cars reversing (surprisingly, this practice still continued even after the over-head lines had been re-aligned and trolley poles mounted centrally on the roofs in 1927-29, indeed Darwen Corporation trams retained side mounted trolley poles and therefore always had to ‘reverse’ into the Boulevard. This line was also used for the loading of ‘Football Specials’ to help cope with the pressure of traffic on the Boulevard on match days. Off duty cars were also stored on this line during slack times of the week.

Another important alteration was the construction of a line from Railway Road, over Salford Bridge and up Eanam to join the Accrington route at the junction of High Street. Inward Accrington/Church cars now turned right from High Street onto the Boulevard down Railway Road and terminated on Salford Bridge. At the end of Railway Road a cross-over was installed to enable trams on the Darwen, Preston road, Audley and Cherry Tree routes to cross to the new line up Eanam to allow ease of return to Intack Depot. Previous to this cars from these routes had to ‘reverse trolleys’ in Railway Road and proceed via High Street. For the same ease of return to the depot, a crossover line was constructed from the water Street ‘Y’ to the new line on Salford Bridge for use by Wilpshire cars. All this made a much more convenient layout.

In the Parliamentary notices for the above alterations, powers were also sought and granted to enable the Corporation to operate omnibuses, “...propelled by either animal or mechanical power within and beyond the Borough...”

With these alterations, it now meant that all the routes left the town centre via a different road to which they had entered, with the exception of the Preston Road-Town Centre only and Preston Road - Cherry Tree through service. Many people have commented over the years to varying degrees regarding the merits of Blackburn’s one-way system (these comments even extend to the present day!!), however, the Corporation wanted to get away from the congestion problems, experienced by other towns, caused by too many trams travelling down too few streets that were too narrow and a one-way system was the only practical answer, without wholesale redevelopment of streets and buildings. The Blackburn Weekly Telegraph reported in December 1908, that if the roads were wider and the corners less awkward, the best route for the Cherry Tree cars would be up Church Street to Northgate and straight down King Street, instead of “...crawling along the devious back way...”. All these problems had been caused, it was stated, by those who allowed the town to develop on such “ill-planned lines”. These extensions and alterations completed the system and apart from minor amendments to track work the layout remained the same throughout the rest of operations.

At the same time as the alterations to the track layout, the over-head line on the Boulevard was re-arranged, which led to several oddities. The furthest loop from the Railway station, used by in coming Cherry Tree, Darwen and Audley route cars, had two wires leading from the reversing triangle in Bridge Street, one for cars out going to Darwen and Audley, the other for cars to Preston road. These wires ran all the way down Railway Road, and half way along Church Street before the Preston Road route veered off into Victoria Street. cars entering from Preston road used the nearest to the railway station loop, the wire for this line only proceeded to the end of the loop. Cars ran beyond the loop junction for their trolley’s to be changed before moving onto the other loop line and then proceeding out of the Boulevard via either the Preston Road or Cherry Tree wires. This was all the result of the want for the use of as few over-head frogs as possible, a very American idea. In Railway Road, cars wishing to cross over onto the other line had to stop and have their trolleys changed onto the opposite wire before proceeding, though in practice this was used only for cars returning to the depot, and normal services were not disrupted by these manouvres.

New Single-Deck Cars arrive
The second batch of single-deck cars arrived from U.E.C. Limited in June and were numbered 82 - 87. They were virtually identical to the first batch, but with exception of equal wheel bulkheads, though still off-set and fixed glazing in the end saloon windows. In addition longnitudal seating was fitted throughout. (Full details can be found in the ‘Fleet List' section Page ). The total cost of these 12 single-deck cars £8,987.10s. which was equivalent to £741. 9s. 2d. each.

The ‘Football Specials’ to Ewood on Saturdays were constantly over-crowded, and in an effort to help the situation, after advice from the Police, it was decided to attempt to reduce the number of passengers by increasing the fare. This was duly increased from 1d. to the Albion Inn and 1½d. to the Boundary to 2d.. It had been found that this procedure had been adopted by many authorities with successful results. The ordinary fare for these sections were not effected by these changes.

To improve the services for passengers, roller destination blinds were fitted to all open top cars, the U.E.C. single-deck cars had these fitted from new.

Toastrack Tram
During the early years of the century there had been a clamour for toastrack trams in many towns, that is to say, trams with completely open side, much favoured at seaside resorts such as Blackpool, Southport and Llandudno. Believing that the climate in Blackburn was not best suited to this type of tram the Committee always declined the idea. However, by 1908 the clamour was so great that they bowed to public pressure and decided to build one. The car, No.88, made it’s debut in the Summer of 1908, and was on new frames, but using the trucks and electrical equipment from the scrapped water car No.1. The tram was constructed at Intack Depot and once in service proved to be the ‘white elephant’ the Committee always thought it would be, as few people would ride on it. At first it was used on the Wilpshire service, put was eventually tried on all routes, but with the same result. It was withdrawn from public service after only three or four years of spasmodic use.

1909
During the morning of January 2nd, 1909, there was a tremendous snow storm and many trams were held up. Following is a description from one of the conductors:

“The drivers of the open top cars which left for Darwen at 5:00a.m. fought their way bravely, but had to give in at the bottom of Craven’s Brow. Nor could the first tram from Darwen get beyond Ewood. There were a good number of passengers in all the three cars, consisting of mill people. A few started to walk, but most of them decided to wait until the weather calmed down, and it was about 8:30a.m. before they had all left us. Meanwhile several residents of Ewood brought hot coffee and refreshments which we handed round to the passengers as far as they would go, and several times during the morning they brought jugs of coffee for the tramway men. We were all glad when we got relieved at 2:00p.m. having been stuck in one place about eight hours.”

In late February a rather curious mishap happened when, at about 8:30a.m. on the 24th, a down car from Billinge was approaching Richmond Terrace when the trolley pole came off the wire. The trolley arm swung round and got stuck in the scrollwork of one of the traction poles at Sudell Cross. Traffic on the line was held up for some time. In March, the workmen’s cars on the Witton to Cherry Tree sections were discontinued during the morning service, although the evening service was not effected. a 10-minute service, however, would still operate between the Boulevard and Witton. These alterations would only be effective for Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. At the same time the upward fare on the Preston Road route was altered to 1½d., but the down journey would remain at 1d. and two 1d. stages were introduced from the Boulevard to Adelaide Terrace and from Sudell Cross to Billinge End.

In May 1909, the Committee decided that the employees of the tramways would be issued with a new uniform, and that a supply of uniforms be obtained through open tenders. The services of a tailor was made at Intack depot for repairs to uniforms as required. In the same month a Mr J W Jepson was charged with using foul language on a tramcar travelling to Darwen and was duly fined the sum of £1.!!

Trams receive indicator blinds
From around this time section indicator blinds of the roller type were fitted to all cars. These were fitted inside the saloon of the cars and as with the destination blinds were illuminated.

During 1909 the ‘smokers’ sections of the U.E.C. single-deck cars were receiving much criticism. The problem was that, although both end sections were smokers sections, smokers could only sit in the ‘rear’ section during a journey. Several letters were received by the local newspapers, stating that people were constantly having to be asked to refrain from smoking in the ‘front’ section, and, on Market days, when strangers came to town, mistakes were bound to happen, as well as people looking bewildered at being told not to smoke in the smokers compartment. It was suggested that a notice should be displayed at each end of the car stating ‘Smoking Allowed at Rear of Car Only’. The Corporation got out of the problem rather neatly by abandoning the ‘rear end only’ rule, and allowed smokers to smoke in either end during a journey.

Tramways Finance
The Council, around this time, began to ask questions regarding the financial state of the tramways, and it was left to Councillor Higham to argue the case for the tramways. The profit of £805 at year end March 1908, had been replaced by a loss of £4,800 and the Council wanted to know why. Mr Higham replied that the majority of this was accounted for by the large expenditure on the Permanent Way, which amounted to some £3,770 alone. There had also been a falling off in car receipts per car mile, equal to £1,414. He also stated that the undertaking had started off with entirely borrowed capital and that no money had been taken from the ratepayers. Some £330,000 had initially been borrowed of which £100,000 had been paid off, out of revenue, and only £32,000 from the rates. If a private company had begun, borrowed such a large amount, and paid the money as stated, they would not fail to congratulate themselves on having such a good business and a good asset. Mr Higham also stated that £3,873 had been spent on the tramcars and improvements to them in the belief of keeping the cars in good condition so as to be certain of the comfort and safety of the passengers. He also challenged members of the Council to go to Intack depot to see for themselves the work involved in maintaining the cars, and they would see that no less a sum than that spent would be sufficient.

Some alarm was caused on Thursday afternoon, when the driver of a Billinge to Station tram was seen to collapse and fall on his platform just as the car was reaching Richmond Terrace. PC Kenyon shouted tot he conductor, who was on the roof of the car, and he, hurrying down, at once shut off the current and applied the brake. Some passengers became alarmed, and two ladies fell on to the roadway in their haste to leave the car. It was ascertained that the driver, James Ratcliffe, of 12 Vincent Street, had fainted at his post

Blackburn Weekly Telegraph 23rd July 1910

1910
Tramway Social Club
In early 1910 the General Manger, Mr Cowell, came up with the idea of the tramwaymen forming a social club, and in February these plans came to fruition with the formal opening of such a club in Flemming Square, the ceremony being performed by Councillor Higham. The building provided amongst other things, a billiard room with full-size table, a reading room and a games room. The club, it was stated, was to be run on temperance lines, and no gambling would take place. A piano was also purchased for use during evening social gatherings. At the time of the opening, of the 170 employees in the various departments, 120 had already joined.

The famous Irwell springs Band played to an audience in Queen’s Park on the afternoon and evening of July 14th, 1910. The members of the band had travelled from Bacup to Blackburn on one of the U.E.C. single-deck cars, and along the journey they passed through 8 different Boroughs and Townships. This was the first occasion that such a trip had been made by a tramcar.

A 30h.p. chain-driven Halley Tower wagon, Reg. No.CB 17, was purchased by the Corporation for use by the over-head line department, and proved to be a great success.

Further reductions in Working Hours
During 1910 employees had their hours of work reduced from 70 hours a week by 6 hours, and in November it was decided in the interests of safety that all drivers and conductors should undergo a medical inspection and that any man going off work sick or injured be so examined before resummimg his duties.

From late 1910 round-ended decency panels were fitted to all the ‘Milnes’ class of cars, though they retained their olive green livery, and gave the cars a more pleasant look.
During this time the whole question of economy was looked into and a notice was issued too the drivers to enable a saving in both running costs and wear and tear on equipment, these guidelines superseding those issued in the 1907 rule book:

Economy In Car Driving
Every motor when running generates a back electro motive force, or, to use a simpler phrase, a ‘back pressure’. This ‘back pressure’ increases as the speed of the motor increases and it opposes the current entering the motor from the trolley line. It will, therefore, be seen that at a slow speed the motors are not capable of resisting high pressure current being thrown upon them, therefore, the power should be applied with care, whilst at high speed the current can be put on rapidly and with less waste in resistance. So that supposing a car is travelling at full speed when current is thrown off, providing the cars maintains that speed, the current may be thrown on as quickly as possible.
Waste Of Current On 1st & 5th Notches
It is found that when a car being driven on the first notch of the controller from 20% to 40% of the current is being wasted in resistance, which is equivalent to 4s. to 8s. in the £. Also if the car is allowed to travel in the fifth notch, there is a waste of 14% to 33%, which is equivalent to 2s.10d. to 6s. in the £. Therefore it is advisable that these notches should be used as little as possible.
Use Full Time In Doing A Journey
A car will consume from 2 to 3 times the amount of power when running on the last notch in parallel to what it would consume if it was driven on the last notch in series. It is, therefore, obvious that it is much more economical to take the full allotted time in doing each journey using the last notch in series as much as possible. For this reason the cars travelling to the depot at night should be driven on the forth notch where instructions have been given to do so.
Sanding When Stopping Whilst Ascending An Incline
When a car is ascending an incline, and a stop has to be made, the rail should be dusted with sand when the car is coming to a stop, it will then be started more easily immediately power is applied. If, However, this point has been neglected, a large amount of power will be wasted:

First...by having to remain on the first notch of the controller much longer than is necessary.
Second...there is a large amount of energy wasted in friction owing to the wheels slipping round on the rails.
Third...considerable wear on tyres of wheels
Forth...an extraordinary amount of sand has to be wasted to get the tram away.
Fifth...a certain amount of energy is wasted in penetrating so much sand.

1911-1914
On Wednesday September 20th, 1911, tram traffic along Church Street was held up between 8:45a.m. and 3:15p.m. after a heavy wagon, belonging to J H Ashworth, carriers of Feniscowles, broke an axle, shedding it’s load over the tracks. As a temporary measure whilst the wagon and load were removed the terminal point for the Darwen, Cherry Tree and queen’s Park Audley routes was diverted to the loop line on Darwen Street.

A Tangye lathe machine for turning steel tyres and wheels was purchased at a price of £400 and was duly installed at Intack depot. Previously when a steel tyre had to be turned it had to be sub-contracted out and each tyre cost 5s., with the installation of this new machine the cost was reduced to 2s. and it was hoped that by the end of 12 months the lathe would have paid for itself, making it a very valuable aquisistion to the department.

In connection with the coronation of King George V in 1911, all employees of the department were given a day’s holiday on Coronation Day.

In 1912 it was felt that the siding along Kidder Street at the side of Blackburn Rovers football ground was not sufficient to handle the amount of traffic on match days. It must be remembered that then, as now, Blackburn Rovers were amongst the top clubs in England, and crowds were always high, averaging around 22,000, though for local ‘derby’ matches such as against Burnley, attracted crowds of 48,000 plus. But, unlike today, the majority of people attending the match arrived by public transport. So to alleviate the problems of moving every body after the matches a third line, or loop, was installed in Bolton Road outside the ground for the storage of cars whilst the matches were in progress. This line was used by trams from both Blackburn and Darwen and it made the task of ‘getting away when the rush occurred at the end of the matches much easier.

As of March 26th 1912, tram drivers, conductors and car-cleaners were granted a wage increase of a farthing (¼d.) per hour. Their wage now compared favourably with other towns.

To give a better service to passengers a report was submitted in July, with regards to the erecting of shelters at various locations on the routes. It was decided that 6 should be built at Darwen Boundary, the Infirmary, Cherry Tree terminus, Billinge, Wilpshire terminus and Queen’s park terminus, though for reasons now unknown, none of these shelters were actually erected.

In November it was decided to fit a 4th car with a top cover and ‘Milnes’ car No.62 was re-built to the same design as No.61, that is to say with drop frame windows in the main saloon. The Committee also stated that due to the limitations of these cars owing to the height, that no more cars should be converted until a solution to the problem had been discovered. This problem was to tax the brains of the tramway department for another 13 years!

In December a quantity of trolley masts were purchased from Burnley Corporation, who were in the process of top covering their cars, for a cost of £6.0s.0d. To continue the programme of improving the conditions for the waiting passengers, in early 1913 a veranda for a shelter was fitted to the premises of 597 Bolton Road, Ewood, with the agreement of the owner of the house.

Figures from the Committee Pay-Bills for 1913:

J H Cowell(General Manager) One months salary............£34, 8s. 4d.
4 Weeks wages of clerks and workmen.....................£1,830,15s. 1d.
Alfred Clare & Co.Ticket punches....................................£8,14s. 8d.
London Transfer Depot Transfers.....................................£3,10s. 1d.
B.T.H.Co. Ltd.gear wheel, motor, controller and pinions..£294, 8s. 9d.
‘Siemens’ - 2 motors..…..............................................£265, 0s. 0d.

NOTE:The ‘Siemens’ motors from the above list were fitted to ‘Siemens’ car No. 29 along with ‘Siemens’ TH2 controllers in August 1913.

Joseph Cooper, of Blackburn, was charged at Accrington Police Court on Saturday with being drunk and riotous - PC Cunliffe said on Friday night he saw prisoner drunk in Peel Street and he wanted to get on a tramcar to Blackburn. The driver refused to let him get on the car, and then the prisoner struck the driver and used obscene language, and was taken into custody. Prisoner pleased to be dealt with leniently, as that was his first appearance, and he had had two children. He said he met some friends at Accrington and got too much drink

Blackburn Times 16th August 1913

Traffic returns continued to show substantial increases, as from between February 1909 and February 1914, passengers per month rose from 705,972 to 1,227,205. Mileage during the same period also increased from 90,262 to 109,081 and, as a consequence, receipts rose by 70.87% from £,3998 to £6,831.

In the Spring of 1914 in readiness for Permanent way work in the Summer, rails to the value of £600 were ordered from Walter Scott Limited of Leeds, and trolley poles were purchased from Brecknell, Munroe & Rogers Limited for £12,12s. 0d. At this time the tramways provided employment for a large number of both administrative and manual workers. The winter staff of about 265 was increased in the Summer to well over 300 when most of the repairs to the permanent way were undertaken. The extra men being taken on from the Corporation Gas Department, whose slack period coincided with the busy period on the tramways.

Although the trams ran from morning to night, year in year out, there were few accidents, which was not only a credit to the efficiency of the Permanent Way workmen, but to the care exercised by the drivers. A further reason for this freedom of mishaps was the liberal use of sand, which was invaluable on tramways. Because of the way the rails reacted in different weather conditions, the wheels would sometimes fail to bite properly, or would reveal a tendency to skid, that was the time that the sand was used. The use of sand also helped in the braking of the car, more so in wet and damp conditions, and also on inclines and descents the drivers favoured even more on the step sections of the routes, in particular Craven’s Brow; the descent and climb along the ‘country’ section of the Church route and along most of the length of Preston New Road, along which the water car No.1 had spend many hours cleaning out the vast amount of sand collected in the groove of the rails. The passer-by could easily distinguish when sand was being used, as a distinctive crunching sound accompanied the movement of the tram. Before a tram left Intack depot in a morning every sand bag was filled, and an additional 12 bags were carried under the seats for emergency purposes. During 1914 it was reported that Mr Cowell and the Tramways Department were experimenting with a new mixture of sand and the fine hard grit of powdered clinkers.

To cope with the ever increasing business in the Parcels Department, a new office was built on land adjoining the existing premises in Calender Street.

TRAMWAYS COMMITTEE as of 25th March, 1914

The MAYOR (Alderman) John Higginson JP
Chairman: Alderman WILLIAM THOMPSON
Vice-Chairman: Alderman ALFRED NUTTALL JP

Enclosing the UEC Cars
The ‘Milnes’ class of cars No.’s 36-75, which had enclosed, wind-screened platforms from new, were always popular with the crews, especially during the Winter months, and it was decided to attempt to improve the working conditions of the other classes of cars by enclosing their platforms. After plans and designs had been drawn up it was decided to carry out the work at Intack depot’s bodyshop. Under this plan the U.E.C. single-deck cars No.’s 76-87 were chosen for the experiment and in May, 1914, car No.86 entered the workshop for this improvement. The new guise was deemed a great success and it was authorised for finances to be made available to convert all the U.E.C. cars over a 4-year period. No.’s 76 and 78 were similarly altered in September and December 1914 respectively. At the same time as the windscreens were added the original brake handles was replaced with vertical brakes, due to the confined space of the platforms. The design for the windscreens and the supervision of the work was carried out by Mr Wilf Rossall, who was the bodyshop foreman at Intack Depot.

At the same time as the first U.E.C. car went into the workshop for conversion an experiment was undertaken with one of the ‘Siemens’ cars. No.28 had its canopy extended over the platform and a round-ended decency panel was fitted. An ‘L’ shaped seat was fitted at each end, thereby increasing the seating capacity on the top deck to 36. The result was met with approval and it was announced that once all the U.E.C. cars had been converted a plan to reconstruct all the ‘Siemens’ cars would be put into operation. The livery of the new decency panel remained olive green.

Traffic receipts for the 1913-1914 period showd a increase in revenue: £67,093.0.0 compared to £62,365.17.7 for the prevous year. In addition the Parcels dept also showed an increase: ££2,310.19.4 compared to £2,194.2.0. Though to counter-act this Working Expenses also increased from £42,516.7.0 to £47,170.2.2

When all other incomes and expenses had been taken into account, the department was happy top report that NET profit had increased from £3,870.7.6 to £4,011.5.9

By the Summer of 1914 passenger traffic had increased to the extent that now, 32 cars were used on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and 50 on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with the whole fleet being in service when the Rovers were playing at home.
In July 1914, the Blackburn Times sent a reporter to Intack Depot to compile an article on the every-day workings of the depot:

‘A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES’
“....The average ratepayer regards the tram shed, as it is generally called, simply as a place for the storage of cars. Such a description, however, is utterly inadequate. It represents far more than a mere repository. That is one of it’s functions, but by no means the chief. It is a hive of industry, a workshop in which skilled artisans take real pride in their work, and in return are encouraged to give of their best. Run on business principles, there are no laggards in the establishment, which is splendidly managed. It’s efficiency as well as it’s compactness are no less remarkable than the variety of the duties expeditiously performed by the men on the spot. These works, which have an area approximately 7,000 square yards, cost £16,000 which is a considerable, though not excessive, amount, and it can be claimed that the results justify the expenditure....
“....In the principal shed, a long, lofty, and well-lighted building, there are nine lines or roads capable of accommodating the fleet of 61 trams owned by the Corporation, Down the right hand-side of the shed there are offices, store-rooms, and workshops; at the far end is the painting shop, where the finishing touches are applied to the cars; and on the left hand-side there is the oil-store, a brick building isolated from the rest, the joiners’ shop, where cars are taken to pieces; store-rooms for wood, wire and other materials; a motor-house ( formerly used as stables), a boiler-house and the old tram shed, now devoted to the requirements of the permanent way section. Throughout the arrangement of the premises is admirable, while the smartness and cleanliness of all the rooms, even those in which one might reasonably expect to encounter grimy evidence of industrialism, are beyond reproach. It has been said the employees exhibit genuine interest in their work. It can be added that they are house-proud. The writer has been in many workshops in different towns, but has never visited one which, from a spick and span standpoint, can compare with the tramway depot at Intack. Nor must it be supposed that the employees have nothing to do except wash and clean up the building. The depot is not over-staffed by any means. Car-cleaners, fitters, over-head workers, painters etc, number about 40, all of whom do a full days work for a full days pay. The neatness, the smartness and the general aspect of the works are a credit to the Manager, to the men and to the Corporation....
“....In passing through the time-keepers’ office one noted that it would be a difficult task to secure possession of the safe, as it is built into the wall with cement. A serviceable little office, furnished with a desk, shelves, drawers and a wash-basin is provided for the foreman; while in the men’s dressing room, which adjoins, there is a bathroom, with hot and cold water, large oven for cooking purposes and pegs for hats and coats. Heavy material, such as iron and steel bars, gear cases, lengths of cable and a weighing machine, occupies a ground store; and in the room above are lighter articles, including controller fittings, trolley fittings, insulating materials, lamps, glass goods and copper bonds. When rails are joined on the permanent way copper bonds are used, as required by the Board of Trade, to prevent leakage of electricity into the earth. Tests are made every month to ascertain whether there is any leakage. Passing a row of meters, which when fitted on cars record the consumption of current, served as a reminder that bonuses are offered as an inducement to drivers to economise the power as much as possible- an excellent plan that has proved it’s worth in practise. Next was a room whose shelves contained millions of tickets, arranged in bundles, the value varying from 1d. to 5d. from this almost inexhaustible supply the conductors’ boxes are replenished, a duty which is performed by a special clerk...
“.... Not far away is the tailor’s shop, where uniforms are repaired, the parcel boys in particular, finding plenty of work for the department. the sewing machine, run by electricity, is what the Americans would call a ‘speed merchant’ for it can rattle off 2,500 stitches a minute, travelling so swiftly that the eye can not follow the movements of the needle...
“....Downstairs a blacksmith and his striker were hard at work, the metal being heated in a fire blown by a small electric motor, in fact throughout the building electricity supplies the driving power, as well as the lighting. In the fitting-shop next door, there is some fine machinery, including a Tangye machine... In the armature winding shop the mechanic informed me that in each of the double deck cars there are four miles of copper wire for driving purposes. The winding of this wire is an important operation, as it has a direct bearing on the consumption of electricity, hence the mechanic shares in the bonus system offered to the drivers in connection with the running of the trams. The depot is so organised that there is no over-lapping and no waste of time in finding the particular article required. Throughout the stores are displayed in labelled racks and heavy articles, like steel tyres, brake blocks and gear wheels, are grouped so that they can be handled with ease. In cold weather, the premises are heated from boilers, which serve the double purpose of adding to the comfort of the employees and retarding the depreciation of the cars, especially in the winter. Formerly, when an ice-crusted tram arrived at the depot, salt was used as a thawing agency and the salt did considerable damage to the stock...
“....When a car develops a defect it goes to the depot, where it is thoroughly overhauled. It is nothing unusual for the mechanic to take a tram to pieces. The whole system, down to the minutest detail, is carefully supervised by Mr Cowell, who, though a strict disciplinarian, never forgets that the men under him are human and that praise, when earned, is never wasted. He enjoys the confidence and esteem of his men, who fully appreciate that he is an expert, not only in organisation, but in all matter connected with his department.”

During 1914 seventeen trams were overhauled and painted and tweleve cars were fitted with new steel tyred wheels.

In addition, tram equipment was provided for:

1 Siemens Interpole Equipment and cables..............£283.10.00
1 BTH, GE58 Equipment and cables.........................£248.00.00
1 new pair of Peckham Trucks with Axles & wheels.....£118.00.00
20meteres for Current Consumption........................£110.00.00

The Permanent Way Deptment replace 4½ miles of trolley wire and 5 miles of guard wire were removed. Four point controllers were adopted and the department reported these to be "a decided success"

A new tramway shelter was erected at Branch Road Lower Darwen at a cost of £49.7s.0d.

The brickwork in the depot pits at Intack required re-pointing during this year and over 2,000 square yards of brickwork were treated. The hot-water cylinder at Intack, used for washing the trams, required fixing and this was achieved at a cost of £38!