Another low-key tram restoration currently underway can be found at Summerlee where members of the Summerlee Transport Group are heavily involved in returning Glasgow Coronation Car 1245 to the rails. Last time we reported on the tram’s restoration we saw it become a double decker once again and the past year has seen further progress on its restoration.
1245 has led a nomadic life since withdrawal from its home tramway in 1963 – it is said to be the last tram to run in Glasgow so is a historically significant tram – with spells at the East Anglia Transport Museum, where it operated on a limited basis, and Blackpool, where it didn’t. Having moved back to Scotland work on the restoration commenced in 2012 – some nine years after arrival – with the tram initially being dealt with in two sections before last year’s reconnection.
Over the past 12 months more work has been undertaken on the tram and as these latest pictures show the tram remains supported on trestles with the bodies being worked on separately. Attention is still required on fully renewing the body panelling and then work in earnest will be able to commence internally with a view to returning the tram to service in future.
1245 seen in the Workshop on 9th December 2016 having just been returned to a double decker.
Fast forwarding to 7th November 2017 and 1245 is seen in the workshop at Summerlee with trucks in front. (Both Photographs by Chas McAloon)