THE RESTORATION PROJECT
Until 2005 the car sat at the back of a garage in East Leeds gathering dust. Fortunately the garage was naturally air conditioned so it kept dry but well ventilated thus staying well preserved.
While it was in storage Jim Soper made a drawing of the car and also
cleaned one of the internal panels and found the original number of the car
written in Gold Leaf.
In April 2005 Jamie Guest made the fatal mistake of asking a question
(he should know better at his age) at the AGM of the LTHS and an inspection
visit to the car was arranged. As a result of this a project team was formed to
partially dismantle the car and assess its condition with a view to producing a project plan.
The car was found to have a considerable amount of good timber in it and after
further work restoration was authorised by the society.
By late 2006 the car was dismantled and work started on making new parts for it.
After 4 years the car had progressed very well and now looked like a tram again.
Here the car is seen at the Leeds Transport Extravaganza on 20th July 2009.
It was hoped that restoration would be complete by 2013 and negotiations were in progress as to where the car would be finally assembled (it couldn't have its wheels and upper deck seats fitted where it was) and where it would be stored and displayed when complete.
Restoration was funded entirely by the Leeds Transport Historical Society and donations towards restorations are always welcome. For more information please contact me.
For the full story of the restoration follow the link to 'Dismantling stage 2005/6' then follow the links onwards.