The next location for our “Picture in Time” series is Crich as we take a look at some more of the trams that have either operated or been on display at the home of the National Tramway Museum over the years.
The first star of this series is a tram which is now a static exhibit at the museum but did spend a 15 years spell as an operational car – in two different guises! When captured on camera in 1984 it was in its original identity of New York Third Avenue Transit 674 which it had operated under for just a five year period from 1939 in the USA. By this time the trolleys running on this systems days were numbered as much like in the UK there was a policy towards their abandonment.
A lifeline for the car came though as part of the Marshall Plan, the post-war recovery plan for Europe which would see a number of trams head over the Atlantic to help replace war damaged vehicles. For 674 it would be Vienna that would be its rescuer (along with a further 41 similar vehicles) and it would end up running in Austria until 1969. After withdrawal there it was donated to the Tramway Museum Society and made the trip to Derbyshire in 1970, entering service as Vienna 4225 that year and running in this guise until 1979. It was then returned to its identity of 674 in 1979 and would have a further six years of operation before being withdrawn in 1985. It is now a static exhibit.
In this image we see 674 heading past the Bandstand as it goes up the line towards Wakebridge. The twin trolley poles fitted to this tram can be seen in this view.
Photograph by Keith Chadbourne, 1984