Great Tramcars

"What a variety are pictured here! Double deck 'balloon' cars, single deckers including open topped cars and various illuminated cars, a specialty of the town." -York Model Engineers newsletter In the early 1930s the tramcar in Blackpool was at a crossroads, the system needed investment in both new track and new trams while there was a serious threat that the "town" routes might be converted to bus operation. The appointment of Walter Luff as the new general manager was, however, to prove a turning point. Working closely with English Electric, based in nearby Preston, Luff developed a series of streamlined trams-both single-deck and double-deck-that were to revolutionize the town's tramway. By the end of 1930s, the corporation had acquired more than 100 new trams-the majority built by English Electric but with twenty coming from Brush-that ensured the survival not only of the key route along the Promenade to Fleetwood but also of the bulk of the "town" routes. Over the next seventy years these trams were to form the cornerstone of the Blackpool system. It was only with the modernization of the system in the first decade of the 20th century that, finally, they became largely obsolete but still, as part of the heritage fleet, they remain very much part of the contemporary Blackpool scene. This book examines the history of Blackpool's streamlined trams of the 1930s from development through to preservation.

Probably the single most numerous of tramcar constructed for operation on Britain's first-generation electric tramways, the London County Council's 'E/1' class had an operational history that stretched for almost fifty years. The first were produced towards the end of the first decade of the 20th century and the last were withdrawn with the conclusion of 'Operation Tramaway'-the final conversion of the once great London tramway system-in July 1952. Over the years, more than 1,000 were built for operation by the LCC with similar cars being constructed for a number of the council operated systems in the capital prior to the creation of the LPTB in July 1933. The last batch-effectively rebuilds of single-deck cars that had once operated through the Kingsway Subway prior to its modernization-not completed until the early 1930s. During the 1920s the LCC cars had undergone a Pullmanisation program and, during the following decade, a number underwent the LPTB's Rehabilitation scheme. Moreover, with the removal of the restriction on the use of enclosed lower-deck vestibules, many others were converted to full-enclosed during that decade. Although withdrawals commenced in the 1930s, as the tram system north of the river was converted to trolleybus operation, and others were lost as a result of enemy action during the war, a sizable number survived to the system's final days. This book examines the history of this important class from development through to preservation.