The Railway Magazine – August 2019

98 •TheRailway Magazine•August2019

Merseyside gr ouplaunch

£12,000appealtof inishonly

survivingWarring tontram

THE MerseysideTramway

Preservation Society(MTPS)

has launcheda£12,000 appeal

to co mpleteWarrington

Corporation Tramwayscar

No.28, which is currently in the

final throes ofarestor ation at

the Wirral TransportMuseum in

Birkenhead.

Thesocietyhopes the

GFMilnes-built double-deck car

will be finishedby the autumn

of 2020, having acquired the

necessarycomponents and

completed the bulk of the

structuralrebuild.

Thewiring is nearlycompleted,

the air pipework iswell advanced,

and the trolley plank has been

installed on theroof.Internal

detailing is also going in, which

leavesthe truck as the main

focus ofattent ion.

Themainoutstanding job is

the re-gauging of the wheelsets

thatcame from anex-Lisbon

Brill 21E truck,and therefore

needconverting from 90cmto

4ft8½in. However, this work will

cost in excess of £30,000, and

having already paid out £14,000

forelectrical motorwork that

wasexpectedtocost £4,000, the

MTPS is appealingfordonations

to help financethis vitalwork.

Anyone who donates£100 or

morewill be invitedto ride on

No.28’sinaugural passenger run,

while those who pledge under

£100 will be entitledto travel

on the tram during its first day

in traffic.

Donations should be sentto

the MTPS via Rob Jonesat 103

GroveRoad,Wallasey,CH45 3HG.

Please makecheques payable to

MTPS Ltd.

■No.28holds the distinction

of being the onlyWarrington

Corporation tramto have

survived into preservation.

It wasbuilt in 1902 as an

open-top car(originally No.2),

and received abalcony top-cover

sometime around 1906.

Twodecades lateritw as totally

enclosed withanew Brush-built

top-cover,receivingaPeckham

P22 truck instead of the original

Brill 21Eat the same time.

Withdrawal camein August

1935 afterwhich itwasbought

foruse asabowling green

shelter;itp erformed this task

until 1977 when preservedby

the late RayHentonand Alan

PritchardatStHelensTransport

Museum.Itt ransferredto

Birkenhead in 2004.

TheMTPS isrestoring No.28to

open-balconycondition, which

is technically inauthenticforthis

particular car.However ,sister car

No.8did runat Warrington in

this guise,and theMTPS felt this

would be better suited

forNo. 28’sfuturerole on the

tourist-based Birkenhead

HeritageTramway.

It includes an ingenious system

foropening the upper deck

windows,which areoperated

by awinder onarackand pinion

system.

THE BrightonTram53Socie ty

is hoping the first phase of its

restor ation offormer Brighton

Corporation Tramways(BCT)‘F’

class tram–the rebuild of the

body–will becompletedby

this time next year.

Therestoration of the 3ft6in-

gauge open-top double-deck

car startednine years ago after

the society’spresentchairman

Guy Hallwent to see the body

of No.53and found itto be in

remarkably goodcondition.

Thesocietywas formed in

2010 and,with the blessing

of the tram’s owner,has

undertakenapainstaking

rebuildover the past decade

at aprivate sitenear Steyning,

West Sussex.

No.53was builtat BCT’s

LewesRoad depot in 1937 as

one of the last cars builtby

the Corporation. As an‘F’type

it featuredcovere dvestibules,

roller bearings,chrome handle

work,morepowerful motors

and helical gearing,but in spite

of these modern accoutrements

it hadaworking lifeofj ust two

years.

It waswithdrawnin1 939

and,together withtwoother

tram s, wasconverted to ashed

at LewesRoad while therest of

the fleetwasscrappedforthe

wareffort.

Newstaircases

No.53was la tersold to a

pigfarmer inPartridge Green,

whereitr emained until soldto

its currentowner in the 1970s.

Other thanabrief appearance

in Brightoninthe 1980s,the

car remained stored in an open

shed untilMr Hall’s fatefulvisit.

As much of the original timber

frameand ironwork as possible

has beenretained during the

restor ation, although therehas

beenasubstantial amountof

renewal in the floors and in new

staircases.

Thesteel dash panels have

also beenreplaced,which has

broughtthe projecttoapoint

whereMrHall sa ys the body is

“withinayear of being finished”.

Fundingforthis work is in

plac e, so it is justamatterof

manpowertoc ompletethis

phase.

Many major electrical

components have been

acquired,and asuitable truck

donatedbythe National

TramwayMuseum.

Thesocietyisnow fundraising

to help financethe overhaul

and installation of these,witha

viewto getting No.53mobile as

soon as possible.

Formoreinformation email:

[email protected] or

visit the projectwebsiteat:

http://www.bri ghtontra m53.org.uk

Brightontramsociety targets2020for the

completion of No.53bodyrestoration

BLACKPOOL‘Balloon’car No.715
has undergoneapartial repaint
at RigbyRoad depot into
authentic 1970s liverywith full
green cab surrounds,complete
with period advertising.
On one side it carries an advert
forCIS Insurance(pictured),
while on the other isaclassic
advertfor BlackpoolZoo.
TheFylde Transport

Trust-owned car has also

received attention inside,

losing its modern advertising

and having itswoodwork re-

varnished as per 1970scondition.

No.715 re-entered service

on May25and herepasses the

Metrop oleHotel beforepausing

at NorthPier enroutetothe

PleasureBeach on June 22.

IAN DIXON

Authentic1970s makeoverfor

Blackpool‘Balloon’ No.715

Crichcelebrates

the postal trams

CRICHTramwayVillagehas

openedanew exhibitioncalled

TheMobilePost Box–Mail

byTram, which willrununtil

November 2020.Theexhibition

explains howinthe ear ly-20th

cent urytramcars became

mobile post boxes, carrying and

delivering letters and parcels.

More than30items from the

NationalTramwayMuseu m’s

storedcollections,which relate

to postal services andthe

tram ways ,havebeenput on

display.

Manchester 765returns

home...eventually

FORMERManchester

Corporation‘Combination Car’

No.765 hascome to the end

of itsloanspell at Beamish

Museumandreturnedto

its homeat theHeatonPark

Tramway. ThetramleftCounty

Durham onJuly 2, having

accumulated500 milesat the

open airmuseum.

Unfortunately,the lo w-

loader carrying it brokedown

on theM62 motorway, andit

didnot roll up at Heaton Park

until 02.20thenextmorning.

TRAMLINES

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From this...the lowersaloon of No.28inuse asabowling green

shelterat Cuddington, Cheshirepriortoitspreservation.MTPS

Tothis...therestoredNo. 28 is pictured in undercoat attheWirral

TransportMuseum on July 6.Canyou helpcomplete itsrestoration

toworkingorder?ROB JONES/MTPS

Heritage Trams Track Record

COMPILED BY

GARY

BOYD-HOPE

Call: 01507 529589

email: gboyd-hope

@mortons.co.uk

Your reports and

pictures aremostwelcome.

Highly competitiv erates

arepaid,especially if

exclusivetoTheRM.