Darlington is a large town of County Durham, in the NE of England, south of Durham and west of Middlesbrough. Starting as an Anglo-Saxon settlement by the 8th century, its name has changed many times over the centuries. Today, Darlington is home to many UK Government departments but it also has a rich engineering heritage, especially in the area of railways. Its name will be forever remembered for the Stockton and Darlington Railway, opened in 1825 with Stephenson's 'Locomotion No.1', which kick-started the modern railway age.
The town almost started the tramway revolution as well with a horse tramway, between 1862 and 1865, operated by George Francis Train's Darlington Street Railroad. Fifteen years later, in 1880, another horse tramway, on 3ft gauge, was opened by the Stockton and Darlington Steam Tramways Company, even though steam was never used on the line. In 1896, ownership of the tramway passed to the Imperial Tramways Company (ITCo) who obtained powers in 1899 to rebuild and electrify the system. Their plans came to nothing as it was clear that the corporation had plans of its own. Darlington Corporation became a tramway owner on the 24th January 1902, when it purchased the horse tramway from ITCo.
Darlington was the first municipality to take advantage of the Light Railways Act 1896 and its tramways were authorised by this Act. It defined a class of railways which did not require specific legislation to construct - companies could simply plan a line under the auspices of the new Act and, having obtained a light railway order, build and operate it. In legal terms, a light railway under the Act is not a tramway but, in this and some other cases, it had all the elements of a normal street tramway.
The corporation acquired powers in July 1902 to build and operate an electric tramway on 3ft 6in gauge while, in the meantime, leasing operation of its newly acquired horse tramway to a Mr C J O'Dowd who ran the tramway for the last 19 months of its life, the last horse tram running on the 18th August 1903. The contractor for the new permanent way was Messrs J. G. White and Company. The overhead wires were erected by Brush Electrical Equipment Company and a depot was erected in Haughton Road.
On 25 May 1904, the system was inspected by the Board of Trade and passed fit for public use. It was opened by the Mayoress Mrs A. Henderson, who drove the first car on 1st June 1904, with inauguration of the new electric services starting the next day.
Our postcard shows trams 1, 2 and probably 3 lined up at the opening ceremony in the town centre. Mayoress Mrs A. Henderson, in the light-coloured coat, is being instructed about the controls on the first car. Mrs J.J. Wilkes (wife of the previous mayor) drove car 2. This unposted card was published by Walker & Wilson of Darlington.
In 1903 the corporation purchased 16 single-deck cars on McGuire trucks from G.F. Milnes & Co. and fitted with 2x 45hp Westinghouse motors and Westinghouse controllers. By 1912, the traffic had increased to such an extent that two double-deck balcony 56-seater cars (fitted with Siemens electrical equipment) were purchased in 1913 from the United Electric Car Company of Preston. In 1918, eight cars were obtained second hand from the Sheerness and District Tramways, which had closed the previous year. Six of these were put into service, and the remainder were used for spare parts. They were originally built by Brush in 1903.
This early view (left) from c.1905 shows tram 10 of the original fleet at the Cockerton terminus to the north-west of the town centre. It has only just arrived because the conductor has not yet turned the trolley pole for the return journey. This tranquil scene is still recognisable today, albeit not now so tranquil. This route was converted to trolleybus operation in February 1926, but was extended northwards to Faverdale. This attractive card was posted in November 1910 from Darlington to Newcastle on Tyne and published by Blum & Degen of London in their 'Kromo' series as no.21667/x.
This souvenir postcard (right), published by the Northern Echo newspaper, shows the first two trams during the opening of the tramway system. Car 1 is being driven by the Mayoress Mrs Henderson, while car 2 is in the hands of Mrs Wilkes, the wife of the previous mayor. This card has not been posted.
The system was just 4.87 miles long, and comprised four lines that converged at the Clock Tower on High Row. From there, lines ran north-westwards along Woodland Road to Cockerton; northwards along Northgate, North Road and Durham Road to Harrowgate Hill, and eastwards along Tubwell Row and Bridge Row to the River Skerne. At this point, the lines divided with one heading north-eastwards via Clay Row, Freemans Place and Haughton Road, to a terminus near Barton St, and the other continuing eastwards along Parkgate and Yarm Road to Eastbourne. Although the corporation, and before it the ITCo, held vague hopes of building an extension eastwards to Stockton, the corporation system remained isolated all its life.
The system closed on 10th April 1926 and services were replaced by Darlington Corporation trolleybuses. In the fullness of time, the trolleybus system was closed on 31 July 1957 to be replaced by buses.
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