London County Council E/1 Class

This was the largest class of tramcars built for a UK tramway, the type became the standard design operated by London County Council Tramways. The trams were built with top covers though the platforms (and motormen) were exposed to the elements. When the trams were refurbished in the late 1920s and 1930s these problems were rectified with windscreens and platform vestibules added. More comfortable seats were also fitted to some trams.

1622 preserved at Crich

Information
Number built:	1, 050
Built:	1907-30
Builder:	Hurst Nelson, Brush Traction, London County Council Tramways
Motor:	2 BTH509P1 electric motors and others (DC OHLE & Conduit)
Power:	140 hp (104 kW)

The majority of the tram bodies were built by Hurst Nelson with a number also built by Brush Traction. A small number were also built by LCC itself [1]. The trams were powered by a variety of electric motors including the Westinghouse 200, Metropolitan Vickers 121 and Dick, Kerr 31c. The trams could either get their electricity from overhead lines or a subterranean conduit rail.

The trams were very reliable and could carry up to 78 seated passengers. The trams were withdrawn in the 1940s and early 1950s, being some of the last trams to be operated in London. Two have been preserved.

1025 (left) preserved at London Transport Museum alongside 355

Motorman area and stairs on 1622

Another view of 1622, this tram is in working order

1025 is now just a static exhibit

View inside the lower saloon on 1622

[1] R.W. Kidner, The London Tramcar 1861-1952 (Oakwood Press, 1992) p. 59

Glasgow Corporation Transport Kilmarnock Bogie Car

These trams were built in the late 1920s for the Glasgow Corporation as part of the modernisation of the fleet. They were designed for passenger comfort and ride quality at a time when the tramway was, like most networks, beginning to feel the competition from motor buses. The trams had eight wheels on two bogies, known as Maximum Traction Bogies, designed by the Kilmarnock Engineering Company (hence the name given to the trams) - though the bogies were actually built by English Electric in Preston. The trams also had steel strengthening to the main pillars which allowed for slimmer sides of the tram body. The tram could have double transverse seating in the lower saloon.

1115 preserved at Crich

Information
Number built:	50
Built:	1927-29
Builder:	Hurst Nelson
Motor:	2 MV101DR electric motors (500v DC OHLE)
Power:	120 hp (89 kW)

Unfortunately the trams were prone to derailing on tight radius curves thus they had to be restricted to a small number of routes. The transverse seating was later removed from the lower saloon in favour of longitudinal seating and more for more standing passengers. The trams remained in service until the early 1960s, two have been preserved.

Passenger entrance

1115 at Crich

Glasgow Corporation Tramways crest

Another view of the entrance, notice the twin bogies

Southampton Corporation "Knifeboard" Tram

The Southampton Corporation tramcar fleet had to be designed to travel through the reduced clearance of the medieval Bargate [1]. The Corporation's tramcars were therefore shorter and narrower than those of other fleets and the Corporation retained open-topped trams until the 1920s when specially built low height domed cars were built. Tramcars built before that between 1899 and 1916 were of a similar design though built in batches by different manufacturers including Hurst Nelson and the Corporation themselves.

Information for Hurst Nelson built tramcars
Number built:	12
Built:	1903-04
Builder:	Hurst Nelson
Motor:	2 Dick Kerr DK9A electric motors (DC OHLE)
Power:	50 hp (37 kW)

Despite more modern tramcars being built in the 1920s some of these earlier tramcars survived in service until the closure of the Southampton tram network in 1949. No. 45 was able to survive into preservation (it was the first tram to be preserved by a private body) and is now at Crich.

No. 45 at Crich

Front windows

Stair way

Roof detail

[1] R.W. Rush, British Electric Tramcar Design 1885-1950 (Oxford Publishing, 1976) p. 64

Paisley District Tramways Company

The Paisley District Tramways Company began operations in 1903 taking over from an earlier company which had operated horse-drawn trams. Electric tram operations began in 1904 [1] and the network covered over thirty kilometres. The company was unable to return a dividend to it's investors and was taken over by Glasgow Corporation Tramways in 1923. Trams continued to run in Paisley until the late 1950s.

Information for No. 68 (1068)
Built:	1919
Builder:	Hurst Nelson
Motor:	2 Metropolitan-Vickers 101DR electric motors
Power:	120 hp (89 kW)

The Paisley District Tramways Company had an eventual fleet of seventy-two trams most of which were taken over by the Glasgow Corporation. The preserved tram No. 1068 (68 in Paisley service) only had a short life with it's original company. It entered service in 1919, a short double-decker tram with an open top deck (the most common type of tram operated by Paisley). The tram was based on the M Class tram of the London County Council Tramway. The tram was heavily modified by Glasgow, adding a top cover, enclosed balconies and a new truck and motors. The tram was withdrawn in 1953 and preserved and has been partially restored to original condition.

Another ex-Paisley tram (No. 17 a single decker) has also been preserved at the Museum of Scottish Industry Life. Number 16 has also been preserved and is at Glasgow Bus Museum.

1068 at Crich

1068 carries Glasgow Corporation livery

Another view of 1068 (left)

[1] Charles Knapper, The Golden Age of Tramways (David & Charles, 1974) p. 214

Newcastle Corporation Tramways

Newcastle Corporation Tramways began operations in 1901 with an eventual network that was eighty two kilometres in total length. However the setting up of an electric tram network was not without opposition [1]. The council was unable to come up to any agreement with the existing horse tram company and the city was without any tram system at all after the horse tram licence expired and the new electric network began operating a few months later. Interestingly the council originally wanted to use cable hauled trams before deciding instead to go for overhead electric.

The network grew throughout the early decades of the twentieth century reaching it's final extent in 1925, three hundred trams were in service by 1928. Like with many street tram networks however the decline began in the 1930s as buses and trollybuses began to take over the routes. The street trams survived until 1950.

Information for Class F trams
Number built:	30
Built:	1901-02
Builder:	Hurst, Nelson & Company, Brush Traction
Motor:	2 General Electric 203N electric motors (550v DC OHLE)
Power:	80 hp (50 kW)

The tram fleet came from a number of different manufacturers with bodies made by Hurst, Nelson and Company and Brush Traction with electrical equipment from a number of sources. Trams were a mixture of single and double deckers with some longer double bogied cars of higher capacity. Later on some coupled cars were also used on some routes [3].

A couple of trams have been preserved including 102 shown below which is at Crich. 102 was built in 1902 and is an interesting example of how trams could be heavily modified throughout their lives. As originally built 102 had a single deck Hurst, Nelson body with open sides for use in good weather, and roller blinds which could be used when it was not! However it was quickly decided to convert them in-house with enclosed lower sides and an open top deck. The tram was also retrofitted with updated electrical equipment during it's life.

Preserved 102 at Crich

Double decker tram [2]

View of collector and top deck on 102

High capacity double bogie car [2]

Another view of 102

Single decker car [2]

[1] "New transportation system for Newcastle-upon-Tyne", Street Railway Journal Vol (May 1901) p. 547
[2] Ibid. p. 551
[3] Charles Klapper, The Golden Age of Tramways (David & Charles, 1974) p. 129

Blackpool Corporation Standard Cars

Blackpool Corporation Transport, which had amalgamated with the Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad in 1920, were in desperate need of new trams by the early 1920s. The Standard Cars were built to be fully enclosed and more geared to commuter traffic than earlier trams which had prioritised the tourist trade (and had been rather open to the elements).

Information
Number built:	42
Built:	1923-29
Builder:	Blackpool Corporation Transport Dept. / Hurst Nelson
Motor:	2 British Thomson-Houston B265C electric motors (550v DC OHLE)
Power:	70 hp (52 kW)

The trams were all double deckers and originally with open balconies though later refits enclosed these also on some trams. The trams were built at Blackpool Corporation's own workshop, for accounting reasons some trams were classed as "rebuilds" of earlier trams made by Hurst Nelson though very little in practice was retained.

Although withdrawals began in the 1940s the Standard Cars survived in service until 1966. One of the preserved cars, Number 40, which was withdrawn in 1963, was the last open balcony tram (and hence first generation electric tram) to remain in service in the country.

Number 40 at Crich Tramway Museum

Number 49, also at Crich

Another view of Number 40

The open balcony is fully visible in this view of Number 40