Darlington Tram 16, 1904

Darlington moved to electric trams in 1904 after having horse drawn trams operate in the city since 1880. A power station was built as early as 1900 in anticipation of the introduction of electric trams, and on June 1 1904 the electric tramway service opened for public use. The system was operated at first by a fleet of 16 single deck trams built by GF Milnes & Co, but they were so popular that in 1912 an additional two 56 seater double deck trams were bought from the United Electric Car Company of Preston, which itself was a combination of the popular tram manufacturer Dick Kerr and GF Milnes. A further 8 second hand trams were bought from the closed Sheerness and District Tramways Company which closed in 1917, with 6 being put into service. The Darlington tramway shut in 1926, and none of the tram cars survive - this large scale model of Tram 16, one of the original 16 GF Milnes single deck tram cars of 1904, is on display at the Crich Tramway Museum in Derbyshire