Accrington on Rails - The Tramways: A Complete History - Robert Kenyon

would stop. This move was approved and he was authorised to have similar red lamps fitted to tramway standards on all other sections of the tramway. November At another meeting of the Committee, the Tramways Manager submitted the following recommendations from the Works Committee - 1. It was reported that the Corporation of Haslingden had asked for a reduction in services to be considered, and a meeting between representatives from Accrington, Haslingden and Rawtenstall held at which the following changes had been agreed, which would take effect for a trial period of one month from the week commencing November 26 th . These would be - 2. The existing daily service runs at 15-minute intervals up until 12:30 and every 10 minutes thereafter. The proposed replacement service would operate at a frequency of every 15 minutes throughout the day, with the exception of Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays which would remain unchanged. 3. On recommendation of the Tramway Manager, the Sunday services would be altered as follows between the hours of 09:40 and 13:00. The existing service on the Clayton Section is every 12- minutes, and the Baxenden Section is every 15-minutes. The replacement service would run at every 20 minutes in each direction. A letter was received from the Ministry of Transport reminding the Council that their Temporary Increase of Charges Order 1923 would expire on March 31 st next, and if they wished to renew this Order, it would be necessary for their application to be in by December 31 st next. It was resolved the Corporation should make their application accordingly. December The Electricity & Tramways Committee met, and the Tramway Manager along with Councillor Lambert reported on having met with the Tramway Authorities in Bolton, which was convened to discuss the growing activity of Motor Omnibus Companies, at which the following resolution was unanimously passed - “Where there are ‘reasonable grounds’ for a refusal of operating licences, this meeting advises local authorities not to grant them, and pledges to support them in such refusals. Furthermore, where one application affects more than a single authority, these authorities should be advised to confer with each other before taking separate actions.” It was resolved the Committee approve the course of action embodied in this resolution. The Tramway Manager recommended the purchase of a ‘vertical single spindle wood turning machine’ for use in the Tramway depot, and submitted an example of one from Messrs Thomas Robinson & Son Ltd of Rochdale. It was resolved that this could be obtained at a total cost of £78 – 5s – 0d. It was then resolved the Tramway Manager could put in place the same arrangements for a Christmas Day service of trams, which had operated during 1922. ELECTRIC TRAMWAYS 1924 TO 1927 1924 ( This was a year in which the workings and finances of the tramway undertaking came under microscopic scrutiny, with the Tramway 1 providing a highly detailed report of the status of the fleet, and the Committee surveying the permanent way and the depot. With the increased responsibility due to the burgeoning availability of electricity, it was decided to split the Committee which had up to this point been responsible for the generation of current and the tramway department into two, one for each of the departments.) January The Electricity & Tramways Committee met to hear a report from the Tramways Sub Committee (which now included Councillor Lambert), on a visit they had made to the Ellison Street tramway depot, to make an inspection of the building and the rolling stock. The Tramway Manager had explained to them the ‘general’ policy in place for the upkeep of the facilities and the maintenance of the cars and the electrical equipment. They had expressed their satisfaction with the results of this inspection. CHAPTER 10

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