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Restoring Brighton’s last-surviving open-top tram

Fifty years ago this month, the well-known Sussex seaside town of Brighton closed its trolleybus system, which in turn replaced the tramway system that closed in 1939. I knew that an open-top Brighton tramcar had survived, at least until the 1990s, and so I started to ask questions to what I thought would be the right kind of people.

It was the summer of 2009 and I was thinking about making a model of a Brighton tramcar, and this led to some enthusiasm about finding out more information on the whereabouts of the real one.

After a detective hunt of some magnitude, I found myself at a farm in West Sussex in December 2009 to see Car No 53. She had survived, and I was in a state of high anticipation, tempered with a small amount of common sense as I arrived on site.
The farmer who owns No 53 met me and from that first tantalising glimpse of her in a shed, I walked in, around, and on top of her. She seemed to my untrained eye to be in far better condition then I had hoped.

As I spoke to the owner, I found myself saying “Can I do something about her?” To my surprise he said yes! I hastily drew up a plan and consulted one of my oldest friends, who has a good balance of common sense to go with his enthusiasm.
A Class B car, entering service in 1914, the bodies of this class were built by Brighton Corporation at their own workshops. They featured a Brill 21E truck and Dick Kerr 40hp motors. New bodysides were fitted during 1936-7.

The first real test was to see if we could improve the bodywork and whether the idea of restoration was beyond our reach or not. We asked Rowan Millard, Carriage & Wagon works manager at the Bluebell Railway, for his professional estimate. His on-site visit was a nail-biter, as I had no real idea of a monetary figure. Rowan’s experience of timber construction and metal panelling thought it would come in at around £12,000 for the body restoration. It was then that I thought that this is possible!

By March 2010, a society of interested persons had formed and we’d had our first meeting – it was now a question of whether enough people wanted this to happen. More people joined and by May we had our first offical work party, though a few things had happened to No 53 already.

The next big moment for us came when Graz tram No 225, from the system in Austria’s second-largest city, arrived on site in July, which was probably the point at which the farmer realised that we might be serious! The sight of a purple tram arriving in the middle of nowhere, and then rattling down the lorry on to the ground is not one I shall easily forget! No 225 came from the Summerlee Museum at Coatbridge, Scotland, and amazingly, since nobody wanted her, a member paid for her to come down from Scotland. We now had a working base, one that would suffice as a mess room cum storage facility cum workshop, and a possible electrical donor down the line.

Membership of what was now named The Tram 53 Society continued to grow, and volunteers started appearing regularly on site. I was still unsure of the whole project, but I was determined to give it my best shot.

August was our next big month, when a publicity push saw articles in the local press, and No 53 even made it to our local Meridian ITV news. We had a stand at a few vintage vehicle shows, and the interest was there, with a steady build-up to around 35 members.

The rest of the summer was spent on No 225 and a little on No 53, with funds being limited. The farmer appeared every so often and cast a sceptical eye on our efforts.

Meetings had become fairly regular and a society constitution appeared – plus all the other parts of the mosaic to make a society as competent as possible. I confess that I had no prior experience of such things, and the roles of president, secretary, promoter, and paperwork gopher was getting a bit much. Thankfully a neighbour, Pat, agreed to become our treasurer.

We had some photo reference for No 53, but no real plans. By now, a new member had joined and he started to think about basic light rewiring. The tram had received some treatment for woodworm and a little paint, the first goal being to stabilise the body and to prevent any more decay.

It was around this time that we found out that we didn’t have the only ex-Brighton tramcar to survive, for works car No 1 was discovered doing duty as a garden shed in a suburban Brighton garden, having been placed there by a former corporation trolleybus manager. A site visit for members was duly made, courtesy of the current owners.

The rest of 2010 brought more members, and more discussion on No 53s future.

Could she run again, if so, where? What sort of restoration/preservation? What about a trust, the question of ownership, etc. I had sent the owner a monthly progress report and wanted him to come to a written agreement. It had all been on a handshake so far, and the members were not happy about this. A written agreement was drafted and was ratified in March 2011. It took a long time, but the owner works at his own pace.

We have used gallons of wood hardener and primer on the tram and we now have a good range of sales stock, including an 00 gauge card model of No 53!

The society attended Brighton ModelWorld in February last, with a lot of money raised, and now we have 54 members. To think that last year it was just myself at the show, distributing a few flyers! We have a good idea of what needs doing; most of the outer metalwork needs to go, and about 40% of the wood, but she is now stable and some lights have appeared. No 53 rests on a trailer, and now we intend to make her roadworthy and safe, so that she can be towed to shows in 2012. We’d like to restore a cab end and generally improve her appearance, but this is governed by funding. Longer term we need to be a charitable trust in order to attract grant money. We would love to see her in a museum in the Brighton area, but it might be possible to get her running. The south coast needs a 3ft 6in tram and trolleybus museum – any offers? If you like the sound of what we’re doing, new members are always most welcome.