Our main postcard was published in 1907 by Constantines' Stationers of Accrington and is in their "Constant" series. It depicts car 6 in Accrington's new electric tram fleet, nicknamed the Flying Squadron. This view was used by Constanines in a commemorative 'Ancient - 1886 and Modern - 1907' postcard (right) which also showed an earlier steam tram of the 'Baltic Fleet'. A postcard using this view and a description of the steam tramway can be seen elsewhere - see postcard.
Accrington Corporation took over the steam tramway company in 1907 and electrified its 4-foot gauge tracks, opening on 2nd August with a double track line to Church and then a single track to Oswaldtwistle. Additional routes opened, ultimately with through running with Blackburn and later via Haslingden and Rawtenstall to Bacup. The depot was an extension of the earlier steam tram shed in Blackburn Road. At its maximum the tramway was seven miles long and operated 13 single-deck and 25 double-deck tramcars.
Car 6 in our view was one of fourteen (5-18) built by the Brush Electrical Engineering Co. Ltd. of Loughborough for the opening of the tramway in 1907. They seated 22 on the lower deck and 28 on the upper. They were mounted on 4-wheel Brush Conaty radial trucks, having two Brush 40hp motors controlled by Brush HD2 controllers. The livery was bright red and cream, not as it appears on the postcard.
Fall off in traffic in the 1930s lead to the Corporation starting to operate motor buses and these later took over from the trams with the last car running on 6th January 1932. Some of the newer trams were sold to other operators, two to Sunderland, five to Llandudno & Colwyn Bay, one to Lytham-St.Annes and three to Southend-on-Sea, all of which needing to be re-gauged.
A cartoon-style postcard was published in 1907 (below), also by Constantines, depicting the trials and tribulations of the about-to-be-withdrawn steam trams. These were well-known locally as the 'Baltic Fleet', apparently due to their noisy and smoke-belching nature. On the card, (this example was posted just one week after the electric trams started), the steam tram timetable on the left shows "When it comes" for all destinations and adds, "Do not join the cars unless you have plenty of time". However, on the right-hand side, is a group of rate payers 'looking for electric cars' with a telescope! Below them is a new single-deck tram going to 'Church' (the westernmost terminus of the system at the time) and bearing the opening date of "Aug 2nd 1907" on the dash panel with "Good Luck" on the side panel. An optimistic notice above it reads, "Service Every Few Minutes" in stark contrast to the prevailing steam trams. This was all in the hope that tram travel in the town could only get better thanks to electricity!
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