A few days ago you may have read our report on the fact that Lowestoft 14 had broken cover briefly with images shown of it at Chapel Road terminus. It has now been confirmed that the tram was being moved out of the main depot, which houses the workshop, and the reason for that was to provide space for the top deck of Glasgow 488 to allow restoration to start.
After withdrawal from service in Glasgow, Standard car 488 was to be preserved in France would remain there for around 50 years before it was to be repatriated with the aim of restoring it to operational conditional for use at the East Anglia Transport Museum. The Boston Lodge workshops at the Ffestiniog Railway were originally contracted to complete the full restoration and it was originally moved there in March 2013.
The two decks of the tram were split and restoration on the lower deck got underway in Wales but little work was completed on the upper deck. The lower deck was moved to off-site storage in Suffolk in August 2021 and then the upper deck followed in March 2022 with that section becoming the first part of the tram to arrive at the East Anglia Transport Museum. The lower deck moved there on 14th November 2023.
Since both halves arrived at Carlton Colville they have remained stored as separate entities with both most recently having been stored in the West tram depot.
But now the top deck of 488 has been moved on an accommodation truck into the workshops for a start to be made on its full restoration. Work has already started on renewal and repairs of the framwork of the top deck structure. Once this work is completed, along with the roof, it will be lifted onto the bottom deck which has already seen much of its own restoration work completed (although does still require some work to be completed).
It will be a long-term project with the tram having seen one end removed during its transporation to Paris in the first place. Before it left France it had also been moved into storage at the museum which saw it split into two once again.
The East Anglia Transport Museum – who now own the tram – would welcome any donations towards its restoration. Anyone who can help is asked to email chair@eatransportmuseum.co.uk for more details.
A view into the tram depot with the top deck of Glasgow 488 at the very rear behind Blackpool 159 and Blackpool 11 with Sheffield 513 on the left. (Photograph by Bryan Grint, 20th August 2024)