Unfortunately, further delays to the ongoing work to restore Liverpool ‘Baby Grand’ 245 to an operational condition for service on the Birkenhead heritage tramway, have meant that plans to launch the car this summer have had to be dropped. The Heritage Lottery Fund, who are helping to fund the project, have agreed to a revised deadline with 245 now due for completion at the end of this year.
This is not the first time that the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society have had to request an extension for the targeted completion date of 245‘s restoration, due to factors entirely beyond their control. The reconstruction of the tram’s underframe by an outside contractor took significantly longer than anticipated, and even when this finally arrived at Birkenhead earlier this year, several adjustments had to be made before the body, underframe and truck were finally reunited permanently. Part of the truck had to be reassembled again, and despite additional manpower being ‘borrowed’ by suspending work on Warrington 2, there have not been sufficient volunteers to have the car completed on time. With this in mind, the MTPS have decided to seek assistance from elsewhere, and the Society has now paid contractors to work on the traction wiring, which is now being tackled.
Other recent progress has seen the lower deck cork flooring replaced after the original material disintegrated when removed, and repaneling is making good progress. During July the car’s trolley base was fixed in place on the roof with invaluable assistance from some heavy plant, the cost of which will be repairs to the vehicle driver’s rather worn cab seat by the resident upholstery expert!
Although it is slightly disappointing that we will have to wait a little longer to ride on Liverpool 245 at Birkenhead, readers can be sure that the end result will be well worth waiting for as the workforce at the tramway have gained an excellent reputation for the high quality of their restoration work. Hopefully, the Baby Grand car will be in regular use next year, giving us something to look forward to for 2014, even though the excitement for this year is still far from over!