For a system of its size and complexity, the number of trams that once operated in the Greater London area surviving into preservation is relatively few. Five horse trams survive in various conditions. The London Transport Museum collection includes one restored car; this is London Tramways Co No 284, which was built by John Stephenson in New York and was withdrawn in 1904. Acquired for preservation in 1974, the car has been fully restored to original condition.
LCC ‘B’ class No 106 as restored at the National Tramway Museum seen in 2004. Dating originally to the first decade of the twentieth century, No 106 was converted into a snowbroom – No 022 – prior to the creation of the LPTB. It was preserved in this condition at the closure of the system by the LTE. Restored to its original condition by the LCC Trust, it passed to the National Tramway in February 1983. Ian Stewart/Online Transport Archive
The National Tramway Museum at Crich holds two near-derelict bodies with a view to possible long-term restoration. The oldest of these is a North Metropolitan Tramways car – No 184 – that dates to 1885; this was delivered to Crich in May 2016 and has been dismantled pending a decision on its future. The second — more intact – example is a tram built for the London Tramways Co in 1895. Following many years at Curry Rivel in Somerset, the tram was moved to Crich in June 1985 and is now displayed in an unrestored condition. Whilst this book was being compiled, the NTM announced its intention to use the two bodies to create a single London double-deck horse tram (probably to be numbered 184). The project – which is estimated to cost about £100,000 – has been backed financially by the LCC Tramways Trust with work expected to start in 2021.
There are also two other London horse trams, which both date to 1880, that survive. One is on display at the Caister Castle Car Museum in Norfolk in a restored condition whilst the second is located at the Oxford Bus Museum at Long Hanborough.
In terms of electric traction, the oldest extant passenger car is London United Tramways No 159, which is part of the National Tramway Museum collection Built by G. F. Milnes & Co at New Hadley in 1902, its body was used as a bungalow for many years before being acquired for preservation in 1978. After seven years of restoration, it was launched at Crich in July 2012.
Another significant restoration now on display at Crich is LCC Class B No 106. This was originally built by ERTCW at Preston in 1903. Converted to snowbroom No 022 in about 1930, it was preserved at the system’s closure in 1952. Following restoration, it was moved to the National Tramway Museum in February 1983.
Also on display at Crich is one of two ‘E/1’ class trams to survive; this is Brushbuilt No 1622, which has been restored as one of the ‘Rehab’ cars from the late 1930s (although it never actually operated in London in that condition). This car dated originally to 1912 and was allocated to Poplar depot for its working life. It was withdrawn in 1940 and stored as part of the reserve fleet at Hampstead. Never re-entering service, its body was eventually sold off and the lower deck rescued for preservation. It was fully restored – with the work including the construction of a new top deck – before entering service at Crich on 5 July 1997 – the 45th anniversary of the last services in London.
The only ex–LCC car within the London Transport Museum collection is the second ‘E/1’ class – No 1025. This particular example of the most numerous class of London tram was originally delivered from Leytonstone Works in 1908 and was preserved, in fully enclosed condition, following withdrawal in January 1952.
Pictured in 1998, the year after the its completion of restoration, No 1622 is now the sole operating example of the ‘E/1’ class – one of more than 1,000 of the type to see service in the London area between 1907 and 1952. It is seen in its restored state as a ‘Rehab’ car; this is inauthentic as No 1622 was not one of the type to undergo this work during the 1930s. Ian Stewart/Online Transport Archive
The only surviving ex-LCC electric trams in the London Transport Museum collection is ‘E/1’ No 1025. This was one of 1,050 of the type built between 1907 and 1930; in the case of No 1025, it was constructed by Hurst Nelson and delivered in 1910. The tram was one of the casualties of Stage 6 of ‘Operation Tramaway’ in January 1952. It is seen here at Syon Park during the period when the museum was housed there. Philip Hanson/ Online Transport Archive
The first London tram to be preserved by the LTE was ex-West Ham No 290. One of six four-wheel cars built by UEC in 1910, the remaining five of the batch were scrapped prior to the Second World War. Seen here in the early days of the London Transport Museum at Covent Garden, the tram has subsequently been restored to its West Ham condition as No 102 – the sole survivor of the many corporation-owned trams that operated in the metropolis prior to the creation of the LPTB. Philip Hanson/Online Transport Archive
The London Transport Museum is also host to the only surviving example of a municipally-owned London tramcar to survive. This is West Ham No 102, which was built by UEC at Preston in 1910. At the creation of the LPTB in 1933, the car became No 290 and was preserved on withdrawal in April 1938. During its long life in preservation, the car has been displayed at the BTC museum at Clapham, at Syon Park and at Covent Garden.
The East Anglian Transport Museum at Carlton Colville has been the home for LCC Class HR/2 No 1858 since April 1964. The car was originally built by English Electric at Preston in 1930 and was secured for preservation after the system’s closure in July 1952. Stored for many years in the open at Chessington Zoo, the car has now been restored to a fully operational condition.
Also built in 1930 was MET No 331, one of the prototypes of the ‘Feltham’ bogie cars that were built for the MET and LUT systems. Following its withdrawal in Sunderland in May 1951, the car was preserved in March 1953. After preservation, the car was based at a number of sites, including Bradford Corporation’s depot at Thornbury, before arriving at Crich in June 1961. Initially restored as Sunderland No 100 in June 1989, the car has been operated as MET No 331 since 1991.
Privately preserved in July 1952, ‘HR/2’ No 1858 was stored for a period, from September 1952, at Chessington Zoo on a short stretch of line in the open, as recorded here. However, in 1964 there were plans to redevelop the location and a new home was required. No 1858 was subsequently transferred to the East Anglian Transport Museum at Carlton Colville, where it has been based ever since. Following work on the tram, No 1858 re-entered service in July 1986; it remains operational. F.E.J. Ward/Online Transport Archive
Now restored at the East Anglian Transport Museum – its home since 1964 – is the sole surviving ‘HR/2’ No 1858. It is seen here during the summer of 2011. Philip Hanson/Online Transport Archive
Of the production ‘Feltham’ cars, two of the ex-MET cars were secured for preservation after their withdrawal by Leeds Corporation. The older of the two is MET No 341 of 1930, which became LPTB No 2085 in 1933 and Leeds No 526 in December 1950. The tram was acquired by the Seashore Trolley Museum, of Kennebunkport in the USA, where the car remains (in a somewhat careworn condition). The second survivor is MET No 355 of 1931, later LPTB No 2099 and Leeds No 501. The first ‘Feltham’ to migrate northwards, the tram was preserved in November 1959. Now restored to MET condition, the tram forms part of the London Transport Museum collection. Unfortunately, whilst one of the ex-LUT ‘Felthams’ (No 2138) was acquired for preservation, damage caused by vandalism led to its scrapping in the 1960s.
The only other ex-LCC car to survive is experimental No 1 from 1932. Secured for preservation following its withdrawal by Leeds Corporation in September 1957, the car was moved to Crich in December 1972. Cosmetically restored as LPTB No 1, but retaining the modifications undertaken the West Riding, the car is currently undergoing a major restoration at the National Tramway Museum that will return it to its original condition.
One of the more tragic stories in the history of tramcar preservation in the British Isles is that of the Middleton railway in Leeds. A number of historic cars – such as the sole surviving Brush-built tram supplied to the Swansea & Mumbles and one of the Leeds railcars (No 601) – were stored on the site in the open where they suffered from vandalism. Another of those stored at the railway was the sole surviving ex-LUT ‘Feltham‘ – Leeds No 517 – which is seen here during the summer of 1965 alongside one of the two ‘Horsfields’ also stored at Middleton showing the ravages of six years of open-air storage. The majority of the trams once stored at Middleton were eventually deemed too far gone for restoration and were scrapped. Harry Luff/Online Transport Archive