Accrington Corporation Transport
In 1905, Accrington Corporation obtained authority to purchase the Company, which it subsequently did on the 20th September 1907 for the sum of £2,227, but even before this the Corporation had made a start on electrifying and reconstructing the tramway. On the 2nd August 1907 the first electrified route, a double track line following the route of the former steam tram to Church and then continuing as a single track for a further 1¼ miles to Oswaldtwistle, was opened. The reconstructed single-track line to Clayton-le-Moors opened on the 20th September, extended a further few hundred yards to the canal bridge, and on the 26th October a single track line to the Cemetery at Huncoat was opened. The line to Baxenden Station (a combination of double- and single-line track) opened on the 1st January 1908.
The initial rolling stock consisted of 4 (Nos. 1-4), Brush 32-seat single-deckers and 14 (Nos. 5-18) Brush 50-seat double-deckers, resplendent in a bright red and cream livery. The following year two more single-deckers arrived (Nos. 5-6, the double-deckers previously numbered 5-6 being re-numbered 19-20 to make way), again from Brush of Loughborough, who were to supply all of the Corporations’ tramcars. The former steam tram depot on Ellison Street was rebuilt to accommodate the new electric cars.
An extension of the Baxenden line to the Commercial Hotel in the centre of Haslingden was completed on 28th September 1908 and further extended to Lockgate (on the Haslingden/Rawtenstall boundary) on the 20th October 1908, where it met with the tracks of Rawtenstall Corporation. Due to disagreements between the two councils, through running did not commence until 1st April 1910.
Further single- and double-deck cars were added to the Accrington Corporation fleet over the next few years until 1926, when the final two cars (Nos. 42-43) were delivered. Being of the ‘low-floor’ double-deck type, they were able to squeeze (by just 3 inches!) under a low railway bridge at Church and spent most of their lives working the Oswaldtwistle section, formerly the preserve of the single-deck cars.