2012 will probably – hopefully! – go down as the year when the most trams were stored outside as groups and societies sought to find locations to put their acquisitions from the Blackpool Tramway. We have all seen from the fate of Blackpool Centenary 646 how precarious the storage of trams outside is but it is not a new phenomenon and it doesn’t necessarily mean the tram has no future as these images from the East Anglia Transport Museum show.
Our images taken from the East Anglia Transport Museum archive show three trams in differing positions in the late 1960s: Glasgow 1245, Blackpool 159 and London Transport 1858. The Glasgow car – now at Summerlee and the subject of our first “Picture in Time” – was stored outside open to all the elements with 159 not quite able to be fully under cover in the open ended depot whilst 1858 (and Lowestoft 14 –
not visible in these photos) were tucked up in the relative safety of the depot.
Glasgow 1245 is seen in the open at Carlton Colville in the late 1960s. The tram was subsequently moved sideways as the extension of the tram line was progressed and it waited an undercover home which came when the depot was extended. (Photo: EATM Archive)
Two more of the Museum's collection in the 1960s are seen here with Blackpool 159 and London Transport 1858. The adverts on 159 came about as money was needed for its transport and one of the earliest EATM members worked for the BBC at the time. (Photo: EATM Archive)
One final view taken from a Nottingham Tower Wagon showing the relative position of the three trams. (Photo: EATM Archive)