Darlington Corporation Light Railways – 100 Years Since Closure

On 10th April 1926, Darlington Corporation Light Railways’ last tramway route was taken over by trolleybuses. Trams were still called upon during peak periods for a short while afterwards until teething problems affecting the new vehicles were resolved.

Although the Corporation tramway had only operated for 24 years by then, the first tramcars had appeared on Darlington’s streets some 64 years earlier. On 1st January 1862, it became the third place in the country to operate a street tramway. Only Birkenhead and Bayswater in London predated it, in 1860 and 1861. All three pioneering horse-drawn tramways owed their origins to George Francis Train, the colourful American entrepreneur who patented the system and established the operating companies, before moving on to various other ventures overseas.

Like its predecessors, the Darlington Street Railroad Company operated a short single track line using horses to propel light-weight single deck tramcars. Darlington’s two cars were called Wellington and Nelson, though very little is known about them apart from their names. Despite their popularity with the travelling public, the L-shaped step rails that they ran on were not flush with the surface of the road. This obstructed the passage of other wheeled vehicles and attracted hostility from other road users. Another problem was that the brass tokens issued to passengers were easily forged, depriving the company of revenue.

Consequently, Darlington’s first tramway only operated for three years before closing on 8th January 1865, after the company went into liquidation. One of the final straws was a claim for £50 compensation after one of its tramcars ran over a prize greyhound!

A second tramway was established by the Stockton and Darlington Steam Tramways Company in 1880 which, despite its name, also relied on horse-drawn tramcars for its Darlington operations. Some steam trams were employed on the company’s separate Stockton system.

This was eventually taken over by Darlington council in 1902 with a view to converting the system to electric traction, utilising its newly constructed power station. In doing so, Darlington became the first municipality in the country to take advantage of the Light Railways Act of 1896, which made it easier to obtain approval for tramways without the need for a private Act of Parliament.

The new tramway was formally opened on 25th May 1904 by the Mayoress, Mrs. A. Henderson, who drove the first tramcar. It was so successful that the initial fleet of 16 single deck Milnes tramcars had to be supplemented by two double deck 56-seater trams from Preston-based United Electric Car Company.

 

A further eight tramcars were bought second-hand from Sheerness and District Tramways, which had the dubious distinction of becoming the first electric tramway in the country to be abandoned. This was chiefly because war-time restrictions made it impossible to obtain parts from Siemens, who provided the overhead bow collectors that the tramcars relied on.

The tramway appears to have weathered the deprivations and maintenance backlog resulting from the Great War in better shape than many, as it was still contemplating adding extensions to the network as late as 1923. This proposal prompted the commissioning of a report on the future direction of public transport in Darlington.

The report was undertaken by the General Manager of Wolverhampton Tramways but, in view of the latter’s recent adoption of trolleybuses, perhaps it is not surprising that a similar course of action was recommended for Darlington. This would enable it to avoid the expensive investment in much-needed track renewals, while continuing to benefit from its own domestic power supply.

The decision to abandon the tramway in favour of trolleybuses was taken on 3rd July 1924. The conversion process was virtually completed between 16th January and 10th April 1926. The fleet of 24 tramcars was offered for sale but only the two double deck cars found buyers, being snapped up by Dover Corporation Tramways at £350 for the pair.

 

Twenty single deck Straker-Clough trolley buses with centre-entrance bodies built by Roe were purchased to replace them. This system continued to operate until the mid-1950s.

Although none of Darlington’s tramcars survived into preservation, the National Tramway Museum has on display a model of one of the initial fleet of single-deck electric tramcars built for the Light Railway. This model was built by Robert Whetstone, a well-known tram model maker during the 1960s and 1970s who lived and worked in Birmingham.

 

With thanks to Museum volunteer Jim Dignan for producing this article.