When the London Transport Museum in Covent Gardens last underwent a major redevelopment between 2005 and 2007 there was a major change in emphasis and reduction in large items on display which saw two of the trams previously on view being moved to the Acton store. Those two trams – including one of only three surviving Feltham trams in the world – can be seen at Acton during their relatively regular open days and in this article we take a look at the two.
The two trams which can be found at Acton are Feltham 355 and E/1 1025.
The Feltham dates from 1931 by UCC at Feltham and entered service for MET out of the Finchley depot. Upon takeover of the tramway by London Transport it was renumbered 2099 and was sold to Leeds in 1949. It had 10 more years in service in West Yorkshire before being withdrawn and then received its original livery again.
1025 was built in 1910 by Hurst Nelson and was one of 1,050 similar trams built for London County Council Tramways between 1907 and 1930. It remained in service until January 1952 (not quite seeing the end of trams) before being withdrawn. It is preserved in its final condition with windscreens fitted and in London Transport livery.
The main Covent Garden site retains two trams on display: London Tramways 284 (a double deck horse tram) and West Ham 102 (a double decker).
- Details of when the Museum Depot at Acton opens can be found at https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/visit/museum-depot
With it being a museum store the exhibits are rather cramped making photography difficult. This image shows 355 – a tram which will be familiar to many model collectors with one of the Corgi models depicting this vehicle.
1025 seen alongside the Feltham. (Both Photographs by Trevor Hall, 23rd April 2022)
Plus they have a complete HR/2 truck and parts of two LCC trailer car bodies also at Acton…
Quite a lot of people associated with the museum were annoyed and upset that the West Ham car was retained at Covent Garden and not the E1 when it reopened in
2007. They thought Car 102 was not a representative example of London’s vast tram network. Apparently the museum’s reason was that the West Ham car was shorter in length and allowed more floor space to be used for social functions often held in that immediate area of the exhibition hall.
It seems perverse to me that the typical London E/1 tram 1025 that represents the majority of trams from the 1920s to 1950s which ran on bogies should be in store while four-wheeler West Ham 102 is in the museum for all to see. Surely a museum should contain typical common vehicles of a period rather than uncharacteristic ones.
What if? What if 355 could go to Crich and be restored to running condition allowing 331 to go to Beamish to be repainted to Sunderland livery? Wouldn’t everyone be happy?
355 will not go anywhere as LT museum have said it must be conserved, therefore cannot be rewired or restored.
Agreed 1025 should be the tram on display at Covent Garden, but its typicl LTM decision making!
And where would the £400k+ come from to carry out this restoration?
The TMS is no longer able to fund restorations so it falls to a very small number of sponsor bodies (with an ever decreasing number of supporters) to provide the wherewithal.
There is very little recognition for the efforts of the few.
It’s a shame that they are still in a location which makes it impossible to take a good photograph of them. It seems to me that they are not greatly valued.