[1] The tramway was built in 1879-80 as a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) line to connect the paper mills run by James Cropper and Co in Burneside and Cowan Head.

It was converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) in 1924, and in the same year, the Motor Rail and Tram Car Company in Bedford provided a 4wPM locomotive called Rachel which was used to transfer wagons between the mill and Burneside railway station.

[5] Rachel has survived and is preserved at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.

The Ruston was named Flying Flea at Carnforth before moving south to Sir William McAlpine's Fawley Hill Railway.

The locomotive was not in regular use, and was sold on to Lawrie Rose, who moved the engine to the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway.