Accrington Corporation Steam Tramways Co.
Accrington Corporation obtained the Accrington Corporation Tramways Act in 1882 to build a steam operated tramway in Accrington and Church. At the same time Blackburn was seeking to extend its tramway to Church[1]. Although it had proposed a standard 4' 8½" guage.to remove objection from Blackburn and to allow through running, the Corporation agreed to change to the narrow guage used by Blackburn, 4'.
The tramlines were started in 1884 and in 1886, with the tramlines complete, the Corporation leased operation to the Accrington Corporation Steam Tramways Company. In 1887 the Corporation extended the Baxenden route to Haslingdon to join with the Haslingdon Corporation tramway and Rawtenstall tramway contructed by the Accrington Corporation Steam Tramways Company. This gave a continuous route from Acrrington to Rawtenstall with Haslingdon Corporation leasing its tramway to the Accrington Corporation Steam Tramways Company. Although the system was connected to the Blackburn Corporation line at Church and the Rossendale Valley line at Rawenstall, no regular through running took place.
The company started with a fleet of 9 traction units and 10 tramcars. The choice of rail, Barker rails, were prone to wear and caused problems with the traction units, reulting in the company agreeing to maintain the track as part of their lease. The issues with the rails and a downturns in the cotton trade led to a period of low or no dividend. In 1891 it was declared that repairs were the cause of no dividends being declared[2]. There were also accidents mainly associated with other vehicles on the tramlines and horses being startled by the warning bell or steam release. By 1898 the company was prospering and had a fleet of 19 traction units, supllemented by 3 second hand traction unit from Blackburn Corporation in 1901.
In 1899 the company entered into a provisional agreement with the British Electric Traction Company to takeover the operation of the tramways for £55000 provided that the leases for the lines could be extended[3]. The shareholders voted to accept the offer but the Accrington, Haslingden and Rawtenstall Corporations refused to extend the leases. By late 1903 the British Electric Traction Company was no lnger interested and the company was in negotiations with the Corporations for the Corporations to take over the operations[4]
Accrington Corporation decided to take over operation of the tram lines it owned and convert them to electric operation when the lease expired in 1907. The Coporation offered the company £3000 for the 11 traction units and tramcars it required[5]. After arbitration the agreed value was £2227. This included the company operating the steam trams as required until the change over to electric operation was completed. The company ceased to operate on the Accrington tramway on 31st December 1907.
In 1907 the company was awarded £14203 in arbitration for Haslingden Corporation taking over the Haslingden operations and £4252 in arbitration for Rawtenstall Corporation taking over the Rawtenstall operations[6]. As with Accrington Corporation, Haslingden Corporation entered into an agreement with the company for the company to run the trams until the end of 1907. The company's remaining rolling stock was taken over by Haslingden and Rawtenstall Corporations on 1st January 1908. The Haslingden and Rawtenstall routes were electrified in 1908 and 1909 respectively. The Haslingden lines were leased to Accrington Corporation while Rawtenstall, having also taken over the Rossendale Valley Tramways Company, operated it's own tramways.
Accrington Corporation Steam Tramways commenced winding up in July 1908[7]
| Accrington Corporation Steam Tramways Co. | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Source | (-) | |
| Filename | AST.003 | |
| Value | 3d | |
| Add Desc. | Accrington * Haslingden 3d | |
| Size (mm) | 31 | |
| Manufacture | Zinc | |
| Notes | Circular ring away from edge | |
| ||
| Source | (Smith-5/A) | |
| Filename | AST.003a | |
| Value | 3d | |
| Add Desc. | Accrington * Haslingden 3d | |
| Size (mm) | 31 | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Notes | Circular ring away from edge | |
- ↑ Preston Herald, 20 May 1882, page 3
- ↑ Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 18 Feb 1891, page 3
- ↑ Lancashire Evening Post, 20 Jun 1899, page 4
- ↑ Preston Herald, 07 Oct 1903, page 2
- ↑ Haslingden Gazette, 07 Sep 1907, page 8
- ↑ Manchester Courier, 24 Aug 1907, page 9
- ↑ The London Gazette, 3 Jul 1908, Issue 28154, Page 4911