On Sunday 3rd July, London County Council 106 left its regular home at Crich Tramway Village to begin its long journey to the East Anglia Transport Museum at Carlton Colville near Lowestoft, where it arrived later the same day. The tram is being loaned to this museum for a very short period to star in their London-themed event taking place on Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th July.
Following preparations in the Crich workshop – which included removal of its trolley mast and top deck lamps to minimise the risk of damage in transit – LCC 106 was loaded up on a low loader supplied as usual by Scott’s Heavy Haulage on the depot fan on the morning of July 3rd. Once loaded up, the tram began its epic journey and no time was wasted, meaning that by around 1700 that day it had reached its destination. The tram will now undergo routine commissioning ahead of its starring role at next weekend’s big event, after which it is expected to be hastily returned to Crich to ensure its availability at their own Edwardian event, to be held one week later.
106‘s short-term loan marks the first time that this particular tram has left Crich since it arrived there in 1983 following restoration by the London County Council Tramways Trust, who also provided the required finance for its most recent overhaul completed last year. However, it had been hoped that it would operate at Blackpool in 2010 but this planned loan was cancelled when it developed a mechanical defect during trial running. The visit also marks a number of other notable firsts; it is the first time that the EATM has welcomed a visiting tramcar on a short-term loan basis, and the first tram from the national collection to visit Carlton Colville. With Lowestoft 14 never having actually run at its owning museum (although its restoration is well in hand to rectify this), LCC 106 will make history by becoming the first ever open top tramcar to run at the East Anglia Transport Museum and this will also reunite it with London Transport 1858 which it last encountered in the capital city! These facts highlight how exciting this event will be and hopefully it will be supported, justifying the effort and expense of moving 106 to the museum and back again in such a short timescale.
The arrival of LCC 106 at East Anglia is captured for posterity late on the afternoon of July 3rd, with the tram seen in unfamiliar surroundings, still aboard the low loader which transported it all the way from Derbyshire. (Photo courtesy of the East Anglia Transport Museum)