In this article we get on board Sheffield 513 at the East Anglia Transport Museum as we feature a few internal views taken by Bryan Grint.
The Chapel Road end of Sheffield 513 as we see the driver’s controls. With no facility to turn trams at the East Anglia Transport Museum this end has constantly been used for journeys back from Hedley Grove since it arrived in 2011.
A close-up of the controller.
In the lower deck passenger salon of 513 showing the 2+1 seating arrangement.
Another shot of the lower deck. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice the mirror on the left with a reflection of the photographer! (All Photographs by Bryan Grint, 14th July 2026)
I think.this is a superb set of photographs and I would be interested to see more interior and cab views, especially perhaps of trams that are not in regular service. I enjoyed riding on 513 when it was in Blackpool.and it looks in superb condition. My first encounter with it was when it looked a lot more forlorn, in open air storage at Oxenhopr station on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway in the early 1970s.
Riding on sister car 510 since its return to.service at Crich has indicated that the controllers of these two.trams are not now the same. I understand that 510 has British Thompson Houston controllers which I believe were standard to.the class. 513 appsrently has Crompton West controllers so.must have lost its originals at some point.
Question: are the controllers fitted to.513 of the same type as those originally fitted to Blsckpool.Brush cars? (I know I’ve written previously about seeing the original.style controllers in action on Blackpool.638 in 1979 but that’s a long time ago.and I’m.waiting for Blackpool 298 to enter service to relive that experience!)
If yes, then that begs the questions: Were Sheffield 513’s replscement controllers actually sourced from.a Blackpool.Brush car? And if so, does anyone know which one?
I’d be very interested and appreciative if anyone has the answer. Meanwhile, thsnk.you again for giving us a chance to see these unusual.and superb photographs.
513’s controllers are indeed ex Blackpool Brush car, but I am not sure which car (or cars) they came from.
Thank you James for your reply and good to hear from.you..With regard to which, if any, particular Brush car donated the controllers may only be something we can speculate on. It may depend on when 513 itself was restored to working order- I’m not sure of that date, but it was in Blackpool for the 1985 centenary; if I remember rightly I saw it in the process of being loaded on to a transporter to leave Rigby Road on or around Boxing Day that year and I actually rode on this car in the procession.
The last two withdrawn Brush cars hanging around with this type of controller may hsve been 638 (scrapped around 1984) and 629 (stored for several years in Blundell Street depot and scrapped around 1980).I have been under the impression that other than 638, the last car in service with them.was 635/298, withdrawn 1974, but many Brush cars received overhauls around the early to.mid 1970s so I’m not absolutely sure if 635 was the last one with them (conversions to English Electric controllers had been taking place since the 1960s). Not forgetting 624/287, a works car from.around 1971, which still retains these controllers to the present day. If Blackpool kept a stock.of controllers as spares, 513’s controllers could probably have come from.any car or combination of cars as James suggests. But if spares were not retained and the controllers regarded as obsolete from.say, 1974, then it might just point to.629 or 638.being the possible donor, but that is only speculation on my part.
Questions have been asked on this website about what the original.Brush car controllers were like, so.if it’s too long to.wait until the eagerly awaited 298 returns to service, 513 might help give an idea of what they were like! Again just as an observer the pair of controllers seem to have served 513 pretty well over many years now and am.I roght in observing thst this always seemed a good and attractive (and fast!) car when runn8ng in Blackpool!
Additional info if it helps
During the 16 years of storage much damage was done. Many windows were broken and panels dented, the leather upholstery suffered and the mahogany mouldings stained by rain water. One of the controllers and some air pipework had been cut out and removed, the light fittings badly damaged and the air gauges destroyed. Restoration commenced in 1978 and the tram was fitted with a pair of Crompton-West CT/TJ controllers, entering service at Beamish in 1983.
Hi David, 513 returned to use at Beamish with these controllers in 1983. I believe one of its originals was stolen whilst it was previously in open storage, and with no spare BTH example, the Blackpool controllers were chosen. 513 now also has Westinghouse air valve equipment operated by the right hand. In Sheffield, and on 510, it’s all done by the left hand on the combined controller/air brake handle.
To further add to speculation, photos of 622 in its Blackpool Zoo advert (post 1975) show it also had its original controllers at this point.
Thank you James and Kev for your informatio about the history of Sheffield 513 and also of Brush cars in the 1970s. I remember car 622 in its Blackpool Zoo livery creating a lot of interest when it turned up in service at Fleetwood Ferry when the Light Railway Transport League were gathered for the 1975 AGM.at the North Euston Hotel.which was followed by a fascinating presentation by the then quite new Blsckpool Transport General Manager, Derek Hyde. But I was too young and inexperienced then to.spot its original style controllers! This begins to sound as if more English Electric controllers may have been released by the withdrawal.of the five surviving EE Z4 equipped Coronation cars which took.place at the end of that season, of which cars 655, 661 and 662 were scrapped (660 and 663 being of course preserved). Having worked in an archive, I was taught not to place my own interpretation on history so I do need to.tread carefully here!
Although Sheffield 510 may well have been the first tram I ever rode on at Crich in a visit which I can’t even remember, it was only when it returned to service after its most recent overhaul that I spotted its controllers were different from 513 which I had come to.know quite well in the.meantime. I really appreciate this additional.information which has enlightened me a lot. Both of them.are superb trams and I wasn’t aware that 513 hsd got into such poor condition before restoration. Not only that, but the fact it looks so pristine in these photographs after 43 years of preserved service is a tribute to.all.those who.have operated and looked after it during its varied career in different locations. And nice to.know that when you look.closely enough, it still provides a living memory of the well.loved Blackpool Brush cars too.
It’s understandable that in some cases museums may not be able to source the exact authentic parts to restore an old tram and have to make do with a near equivalent. Interesting that this has led to 510 and 513 both surviving but with different control and braking equipment.