Description:This photograph taken on the Midland Road, Swadlincote, has a Burton and Ashby Tramcar in the centre of the picture.
Tramcar number 13 is pictured on a private outing which is thought to have been a test or trial-run along the route. This tramcar was the last of the first batch to be built in 1905. Another similar batch of seven was supplied by Brush Electrical Engineering Co. Ltd of Loughborough the following year.
The Burton and Ashby Light Railway was a tramway system operating in three counties from Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire to Swadlincote in Derbyshire and then to Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, between 1906 and 1927. This narrow-gauge, electric, inter-urban tramway was owned by the Midland Railway. It operated between Burton and Ashby with interim stations at: Stanhope Bretby, Winshill, Newhall, Swadlincote, Woodville, Ashby de la Zouch, Church Gresley and Castle Gresley. It used Burton-upon-Trent Corporations existing tramway tracks from the Town Hall to Guild Street before proceeding via Swadlincote on its own infrastructure onward to Ashby de la Zouch or branching to Castle Gresley. The tramcars were painted in the Midland Railway’s crimson and lake colours until the company was incorporated into the London, Midland & Scottish Railway in 1923 when they were repainted. The system closed on 13 February 1927.