We carry on meeting the heritage trams which have run in service during 2026 and the National Tramway Museum is still the location. This week the tram in focus is the latest major restoration to be completed in the workshops at Crich – London County Council 1.
London County Council 1 was launched into service at Crich after a decade long restoration – costing £500,000 – on 13th September 2024. This may have been a Friday but there was nothing unlucky about the tram being launched on that day with another high quality addition to the operating fleet at Crich. It has since been used in the next two operating season as well, although sees more limited use than others in the fleet with not all drivers being trained on it.
1 is and always was a one-off, being built in the LCC’s own workshops as what it was hoped would the first of a new modern breed of tramcar. It was finished in a blue and white livery (the livery that it carries in preservation today) and was called “Bluebird” as a result. The tram was built as a fully enclosed double decker and in 1933 it became part of the combined London Passenger Transport Board fleet. It managed to retain its unique livery until 1937 when it received the red and white livery. It remained in the fleet until 1951 when it was sold to Leeds (as a replacement for fire damaged Feltham cars that the West Yorkshire undertaking had purchased).
Once in Leeds it was renumbered 301 and would remain in service for another six years, final withdrawal coming in 1957. It was then donated to the British Transport Museum at Clapham and then in 1973 it headed north again with it joining the collection at Crich. In Derbyshire it was repainted into London Transport colours but no other changes were made with the interior of the tram remaining as it was when withdrawn in Leeds.
Having been a static exhibit for the best part of 40 years, funding from the London County Council Tramways Trust allowed it to be chosen for a major restoration which saw the tram return to service in 2024 after a gap of 67 years.
Bluebird is seen departing Town End on a wet 14th September 2025. (Photograph by Gareth Prior, 14th September 2025)