Britain's Preserved Trams: An Historic Overview

INTRODUCTION

It is now almost 100 years since the first ‘preserved’ tram in Britain was restored – the Aberdeen horse car returned to a near original condition from its electrified state in the early 1920s – but the number of historic trams secured during the inter-war years could be numbered on the fingers of one hand. Most pre-war tramway systems that were abandoned during the period disappeared almost without trace. Post-the Second World War, however, as the final great systems were consigned to the history books, the concept of securing trams for posterity developed.

It was an enthusiast tour of Southampton that led to the first tramcar to be preserved privately when ‘Knifeboard’ car No 45 was acquired. A collection during the tour followed by an appeal through the pages of Modern Tramway resulted in the funds being raised to purchase the tram but then a new problem arose: where to store it? Over the next decade, No 45 and a handful of other preserved trams led an itinerant – and insecure – life, reliant upon the generosity of individuals – such as C.T. Humpidge as general manager in Bradford – to provide accommodation. Not all of the trams that were preserved in these early days did survive and there were some notable losses – in Dublin and Liverpool, for example – where vandalism and nature led to once-preserved trams being scrapped. Initially much preservation was co-ordinated by the Museum Committee of the LRTL; this was, however, to morph into the Tramway Museum Society in the mid-1950s.

The key to the long-term survival of many of the newly preserved trams was to obtain secure accommodation and the purchase of land and buildings at Crich, in Derbyshire, in 1959, was to achieve this. Gradually, the trams already acquired were moved there and the timing was important in that it allowed a significant number of trams from systems then in the final stages of conversion – Leeds, Glasgow, Sheffield and Grimsby & Immingham – to be acquired in the knowledge that a permanent base was available. Over the past sixty years, the facilities of the Crich site – now the National Tramway Museum – have grown ever more impressive and the museum has become one of the most significant tramway collections in the world with a standard of vehicle restoration that is almost second to none. The scale of the museum’s collection has grown, with a result that a number of vehicles now have to be stored away from the main museum site.

If the tramway preservation movement had been reliant solely on trams that had been acquired as ‘withdrawn from service’, the number and variety of vehicles available for posterity would be much smaller than today. A large number of bodies were sold off for second uses – often as holiday accommodation or farm buildings – and one of the great successes of the preservation movement has been the rescue and restoration of many of these trams. The first – Bradford No 104 – was retrieved from Odsal Stadium in the mid-1950s and, again with the support of C.T. Humpidge, restored to an operational condition at Thornbury Works, where it used to make occasional trips using the trolleybus overhead and still extant tram track until the mid-1960s. The first tram at Crich to undergo a resurrection was Leicester No 76; this was the pioneer for many of the superbly restored trams that are either on display or in operation at the museum.

Since Crich became operational, it has been joined by a number of other operational tramway museums – Beamish, Birkenhead (with its street running), Black Country Museum, Carlton Colville, Seaton and Summerlee – as well as the historic cars that remain in operation in Blackpool, Douglas and Great Orme as well as the Manx Electric and Snaefell Mountain railways. In addition, there are a number of museums – such as the Riverside in Glasgow – that have static tramcars on display.

This book is not, however, about tramcar preservation; it is an examination of those tramcars that have survived to the modern day. Wherever possible, the photographs illustrate the tram that is now preserved whilst still in operation on its home system; when that is not possible, the sister cars are used to illustrate the types when still in service. Not all of the trams described have been restored; indeed, many are still little more than decayed bodies that have been rescued with a view towards restoration. Whilst many of the featured trams are open to public inspection and enjoyment, others are in storage or private ownership. Not every tram that survives is covered, but the trams featured offer a representative selection to portray how well the preserved trams of the British Isles reflect the history of the tramcar in these islands over 150 years.

In compiling the book, I decided to make certain exclusions, in particular, trams that remain in operation with or stored by their original owners. Thus, the Douglas horse trams that remain available for public service are not covered although a representative selection of those sold off and preserved are featured. This applies equally to the trams operated at Great Orme and on the Manx Electric and Snaefell Mountain railways. Given the sheer number of Blackpool trams that do survive, the decision was taken again to include a representative selection – including the most historic cars – rather than see Blackpool dominate. This means, effectively, that most of the trams held as part of the heritage fleet at Rigby Road are excluded as are the other first-generation ex-Blackpool cars that are stored there. Most of the non-Blackpool trams based at Rigby Road are, however, covered. If your favourite tram is omitted, please accept my apologies; it might be possible, in the future, to produce an enlarged and updated edition when, it is to be hoped, many more of the surviving hulks may well have been restored to their former glory!

The early years of tramcar preservation in the British Isles was not always a great success and there are a number of significant tramcars that were secured for preservation only for them to be eventually scrapped as a result of vandalism or lack of covered accommodation. Following the closure of the Dublin United Tramways system in July 1949, three trams were preserved – including ‘Luxury Car’ No 132 – and stored in the open. However, as can be seen in this view, the cars suffered from vandalism and all were eventually scrapped. Marcus Eavis/Online Transport Archive

In addition to those trams that were preserved for a period and then – for whatever reason – scrapped or otherwise disposed of, there were also many examples of operators offering trams for preservation. In 1956, following the final closure of the Dundee system, my father was offered two trams – one of the ‘Lochee’ cars (such as No 26 seen here at the Lochee terminus on 2 August 1952) and one of the cut-down single-deck works cars – on the proviso that they be removed from corporation property as quickly as possible. The lack of secure accommodation and the difficulty in trying to arrange this and transport meant that, unfortunately, the offer had eventually to be declined with the result that no Dundee electric tram survives. Michael H. Waller

Many of today’s preserved trams owe their survival to a long second career after withdrawal converted into accommodation or farm buildings. These are the remains of Lanarkshire Tramways Co No 53 in a field near Beith, recorded prior to their recovery in 1986. The car, in its original guise, can be seen on page 76; three decades on, the preserved and operational tram at Summerlee shows how even derelict bodies like this can be restored to their original glory. Ian Stewart Collection/Online Transport Archive

THE TRAMS IN SERVICE

In 1874, the Birkenhead-based Starbuck Car & Wagon Co supplied eight single-deck horse trams to the Sheffield Tramways Co. One of these was No 15, which was based at Tinsley and allocated to the Brightside route. Although the last horse trams operated in the city on 11 November 1902, No 15 was not to be scrapped but was converted to electric traction with a Brill 21E four-wheel truck fitted for use as a works car based on Nether Edge depot. Renumbered 166, it was used to assist in the movement of trucks and partially completed trams between Nether Edge and the workshops at Tinsley. Fitted with a heavier duty truck in 1913, the car was renumbered 375 in 1933 and it is in this guise that the car is pictured here at the junction with Charlotte Road outside Queens Road Works towards the end of its second career; it was withdrawn in 1946 and the painted over ‘Sheffield’ allied to the white-painted collision fender show wartime modifications. On 11 July 1946, the tram appeared hauled by two horses as – spuriously – No 1 to help mark the 75th anniversary of the Sheffield system. Stored thereafter and losing its heavyweight truck in 1956, there was a possibility that the body might be scrapped; however, in the late 1950s, its remains were rescued by local members of the TMS and, using equipment from Glasgow, was fully restored. In 1961, No 15 returned to its home city where it operated briefly prior to Christmas over the still-extant track along The Moor. On 25 August 1962 it was also to operate for the first time at Crich before inaugurating the museum’s first passenger service on 2 June 1963. The tram has made a number of further visits to Sheffield since then and has been used occasionally at Crich. Maurice O’Connor/NTM

In 1896, the Portsmouth Street Tramways Co acquired a number of horse trams that dated originally to 1880 from the North Metropolitan Tramways Co Ltd. Following the corporation’s take-over of the company’s assets on 1 January 1901 and the conversion of the tramway to electric operation four of the ex-North Met horse cars – Nos 70-73 – were converted to electric traction as Nos 81-84 and equipped with Brill 21E four-wheel trucks. No 84 – pictured here – was used as a rail grinder until 1919 and survived in passenger service thereafter until the final closure of the system on 10 November 1936. Preserved by the corporation, No 84 thus became the first British electric tramcar to be preserved. It has been on display at the Milestones Museum of Living History, Basingstoke, since the museum opened in 2000. John Meredith Collection/Online Transport Archive

Between 21 November 1881 and 15 March 1901, the Leamington & Warwick Tramways & Omnibus Co Ltd operated a three-mile long 4ft 8½in gauge horse tramway between the two towns. A total of nine horse cars were operated, supplied by the Metropolitan Railways Carriage & Wagon Co Ltd of Saltley, Brown Marshall & Co of Birmingham and the Midland Railway Carriage & Wagon Co Ltd of Shrewsbury. Typical of the fleet was No 7 seen here; sister car No 8 was initially preserved by the Birmingham Railway Museum but was relocated to Beamish in 2012. The tram is currently under restoration and will re-emerge as Newcastle & Gosforth No 49, incorporating parts from the original of that number, when completed. Barry Cross Collection/Online Transport Archive

Opened on 28 June 1882, the short – just under two-mile – 3ft 0in gauge Portstewart Tramway linked the town with its railway station at Cromore. In order to operate the line, two small tram engines were acquired from the Leeds-based Kitson &