Description: 'It was by reputation the most dangerous tramcar service in the British Isles, due to the length of its route, and the rise and fall of the countryside it had to negotiate. The line ran from Ripley Market Place to Codnor, Loscoe, Heanor, Langley Mill, Eastwood, Kimberley, Cinderhill, Basford and then on to the terminus at Upper Parliament Street in Nottingham. The original Notts & Derbys Tramways Company Bill of 1902 was an ambitious application which proposed the building of 79 miles of track to link together the tramway systems of Nottingham, Derby and Ilkeston. However, when passed the following year the Act only authorised the construction of 39 miles of route, of which eventually only some 11 miles were laid, being the section from Ripley to Cinderhill, at which point it connected with the tracks of the Nottingham Corporation Tramway. The firm of Balfour, Beatty and Company provided the capital from its generating station at Ilkeston. Construction began in Feb 1913 simultaneously at several places along the route. Buildings were demolished, trees felled, streams diverted, bridges reinforced and gardens destroyed in order to give the tramway its legally demanded width for a gauge of 4ft 8.5 in. The whole route was single track with 316 passing loops, all of which were positioned on the left-hand side of the main track, so that when riding from Nottingham the journey was a succession of swinging movements from left to right as the tramcars sped along the rails. Some 24 tramcars were built by the United Electric Car Company of Preston, Lancashire and despatched to the Langley Mill depot where they were assembled. The first 12 cars were open-topped vehicles with seating for 24 passengers on the upper-deck and 32 in the saloon. The remaining cars were built with covered tops and an open balcony at each end.' Taken from http://uk.geocities.com/jg4fun2001/route.html.