Colne and Trawden Light Railways / Colne Corporation Light Railways
Owner Colne and Trawden Light Railway Company (a subsidiary of Batley and Greenwood Limited)
Opened 28th November 1903 (electric)
Operator Colne and Trawden Light Railway Company
Taken over 25th March 1914 (Colne Corporation — title changed to Colne Corporation Light Railways)
Name changed October 1933 (to Colne Corporation Transport)
Transferred (operation) 1st April 1933 (to Burnley, Colne and Nelson Joint Transport Committee)
Length 5.23 miles
Gauge 4ft 0ins
Button description (Pattern 1) Elaborate script initials, 'C&TLR'
Materials known Brass
Button Line reference [None]
Button description (Pattern 2) The municipal device (a shield bearing a fleece, a fig leaf with a Roman letter 'C' imposed upon it, two Roman coins and a cotton sprig) with a lion crest, all above the motto: 'WE LONG ENDURE’
Materials known Brass (1-piece)
Button Line reference [None]
Comment Supporting evidence for the Pattern 1 button being an issue of the C&TLR rests solely on the initials, which are of course a 100% match.
Although Colne Corporation may have used a general municipal arms button (Pattern 2), the fact that all surviving buttons are of one-piece construction, tends to suggest that they were used for civic roles where a particularly smart appearance was required. Whilst it is possible that this type of button was indeed used on tramway uniforms, the corporation may simply have opted to use a plain button.
The Roman 'C' is said to stand for 'Colunio', the Roman name for Colne.