London Tram

This tram is modeled on the London County Council E/1 tram which originally entered service around 1912.  The E/1 became Britain's largest tram class with over 1000 in operation prior to World War II.  It was able to pick up electric power either from the overhead lines or from an underground conduit 
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By the 1930's trams were falling out of favour and being replaced by diesel powered buses. After World War II this policy accelerated and London's last first generation tram was run on 6 July 1952. Times and thinking are always changing however and 48 years later on 11 May 2000 electric trams were re-introduced to London.

Building this model was greatly helped by experience with two previous models. In 2015 I built a single-decker Tram based on Melbourne's classic W-Class series. The chassis of this London tram is based on that model. The upper deck and interior meanwhile drew upon experience with the Double-Decker Bus I built last year.
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Tram No.1622 at Crich Village Tramway Museum, the last operating E/1 London tram. Photo courtesy THTRail2013 under Creative Commons License 3.0

In researching trams prior to building this model The Plastic Meccano Nut was very grateful to have found the marvelous website tramway.co.uk showcasing the amazing Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire.

At Crich Village Tramway Museum they have the world's last operating E/1 tram. 

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Built : March 2020