The chances are even if you know very little about trams (or trolleys) in the United States of America you are aware that at the Seashore Trolley Museum there is a small fleet of double-deck trams from the UK which found their way out there in the 1950s and 1960s. If you have heard of their existence out there you will probably also be very well aware that there are regular calls for their repatriation on the account that in the main they have remained as static exhibits in the USA.
The collection of UK double-deckers consists of Blackpool Standard 144 (the one of those trams to have run at semi regular intervals), Liverpool 293, Leeds Feltham 526 (ex-London Transport 2085) and Glasgow 1274 (said to be the logical choice if ever a second double-decker was wanted to be operational). They all remain in secure undercover storage at Seashore and whilst they do so they are secure for the future, and who knows what may happen in that?
The reason for this little article is that one of last year’s editions of Dispatch (the New England Electric Railway Historical Society’s regular newsletter) has an article on these double-deckers explaining more behind their acquisition and also any potential plans for these vehicles. This newsletter can be viewed online (the double-decker article starts on page 10).
I visited Seashore about 17 years ago and had a good rummage around especially on board 293. It is such a shame, they really should let it come home!!!
I have often wondered whether anyone has actually tried to procure one of these UK trams that people say should be released for repatriation. There have been a few comments along the lines of ‘they really should let it come home’ but if no-one has tried to bring one back we can’t complain. Obviously the current owners aren’t simply going to let them go for nothing.
I thought I had read some years ago that approaches had been made several times but they wouldn’t let 293 Go.
A while ago (possibly 10 years) I remember having a conversation with aguy who had approahed them and he had been told that they would consider a costed viable plan. Unlikely anyone will be able to come up with this. You need what £500,000 at least to move and restore, maybe more. And where would they go? sadly I think their best hope lies remaining Stateside and we need to be realistic that they won’t be coming back! Unless of course they fancied a Blackpool Tram that could be swapped……….