The remains of an early electric tramcar from Edinburgh are destined for a bright future after years of storage, thanks to an imaginative development from the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust. The upper deck of the tram was recently moved to Kirkham Prison after being offered to the Trust by Scotland’s Galleries and Museums, who had housed it in their reserve store, but had no plans to display it or carry out any work on it.
Now, the top deck is destined to serve a useful purpose again, albeit not as intended when it was built. When it was first announced that part of an Edinburgh tram had been acquired by the Trust for future display in their proposed museum at Copse Road depot in Fleetwood, there was some criticism as the remnants of a Scottish tram seemed rather out of place in what is otherwise a collection of solely Blackpool trams. However, it has now been confirmed that the saloon will actually be used as a sales and admissions point in the museum, rather than simply be another exhibit. Therefore, the FHLT are putting this unusual piece of tramway history to good use and ensuring its continued survival, whilst also allowing its previous owners to save storage space for other objects. Indeed, there are only two complete vintage Edinburgh trams on public display so this upper deck will be an interesting item to add to the group’s collection.
The plan is that the Edinburgh top deck shell will be renovated at Kirkham Prison, as the Trust’s second restoration project, following on from the transformation of Blackpool Brush car 627 into the Diamond Jubilee tram for static display during the 2012 illuminations. Currently just the body side panels, roof and bulkheads remain intact but on completion it should look more like the top half of a typical early enclosed British tram, and should be much admired in its future home providing these plans reach fruition.