This week has seen a milestone in the overhaul of London County Council 106, a tram which has resided in the workshop area at Crich Tramway Village for almost two years. The tram has now been commissioned and has undertaken its first test run, which is indeed the first time it has operated under its own power since 2010, when it briefly returned to use only to be withdrawn again due to the discovery of a mechanical fault.
After extensive body and truck attention as well as a complete repaint, LCC 106 will now presumably be subjected to extensive road testing prior to its anticipated public launch in June. This will give Crich a trio of serviceable open top double-deckers, and should compensate for the loss of Southampton 45 at the end of last year.
Meanwhile the overhaul of Liverpool 869 is also making progress in the right direction with its replacement axles recently delivered to the museum workshop, which has enabled the bogies to be re-assembled. No firm plan has been announced as to when the tram is likely to be back in service, but it is hoped that 869 will be running again during the latter part of the 2015 operating season.
Once these projects are completed it is expected that attention will switch to Glasgow 22 which is now stored out of service awaiting a body lift and a general overhaul to allow it to continue in its role as one of the museum’s trusty workhorses. It is also believed that London County Council 1 will soon be lifted off its trucks, as the stripping of the car continues ahead of its restoration to original condition with funding supplied by the London County Council Tramways Trust.