The January 2009 issue of Old Glory magazine – available until Wednesday 14th January in all good newsagents priced £3.60 – has an interesting story about an ambitious plan to construct an operational tramway at the Amberley Working Museum in Sussex. The plan would see Southampton 57 operate services after its restoration is completed.
A meeting was held at the Amberley Working Museum on 15th November to discuss the proposals with Nigel Smith from the Tram 57 Project outlining the plans and Amberley Trustee Jim Hawkins putting forward their side of the idea.
Amberley Working Museum has long-term ambitions to move their shop and ticket office south to the corner of the car park of the national railway station located next door to their site. The plan would see an operational tramway constructed from here to the main Museum site – along the route of the former Pepper and Son line from the former quarry to the main line.
Southampton 57 is currently in store at Chilcomb House – the main store of Hampshire County Council Museum’s Service – and the Tram 57 Project have been looking for a new home since they left their Millbrook (near Southampton) workshop in 2003 and they are hopeful this could be it. A further two Southampton cars - 11 and 38 - are also under the auspices of the Tram 57 Project and both have been cosmetically restored but it is not known where these are currently stored or whether they would also be transferred to Amberley.
57 was built by SCT in 1910 and is an open topper and seated 24 passengers on the lower deck and 30 on the upper with knifeboard seating (making the tram larger than fellow Southampton car 45). It was discovered near Romsey in 1975 and was first displayed in 1977.
Amberley have made it clear if the plan was to go-ahead separate funding would have to be found as it should not “be a drain on the museum’s resources” according to Jim Hawkins a trustee of the museum.
You may remember in our report on the 2008 End of Season Gala at Seaton we reported that the unrestored tram Bournemouth 101 was rumoured to be heading to Amberley – it is not known whether these two proposals are linked.
* Finding information about the Tram 57 Project on the internet has proved a tough job with very little information easily accessible. I have managed a couple of (out of date) links with photos of trams 11 and 38 here (at the very bottom of the page) and the last report from the group (dated December 2006) here (about two thirds of the way down the page – or search for tram). If anyone has any further details of the Tram 57 Project or this proposal please email.
Source: Old Glory (click on this link to find further information on the monthly magazine)