Restored tram on the move again after 67 years

The tram, housed at the National Tramway Museum, took a decade to be restored

A tram car that ran on Leeds' light rail network in the 1950s has had its wheels set in motion for the first time in almost 70 years.

The Bluebird originally operated in London in the first half of the 20th Century, before being moved up to Leeds in 1951.

After ferrying passengers around the city for six years, Leeds' tram network was wound down and the tram car went on to become a museum showpiece.

One of the men behind the restoration, which cost £500,000 and took 10 years to complete, said people had described the vehicle's revival as "stunning".

It has now gone on display at the National Tramway Museum in Crich, Derbyshire, with the vehicle taken for its latest test run on Wednesday morning.

The inside of the vehicle was also rejuvenated as part of the £500,000 works

Ian Ross, who has volunteered at the museum since the 1960s, said restoring Bluebird had been a "major exercise".

"We were lucky to some extent, because about ninety-five percent of the original tram was still here," he said.

"But one of the problems with it was that it is principally all metal."

Ian Ross says observers have shared amazement at seeing the vehicle running again

He continued: "What we found was that a lot of the metal work - the panelling in particular - had started to rust away, so we had to repanel it."

Mr Ross said the costs of the project reflected the "specialist" work that was required, as well as the impact of inflation on material and labour prices.

The verdicts of those who had seen the finished article suggested it was worth the efforts, the museum said.

The Bluebird ferried passengers around the streets of Leeds

"The word that keeps getting used by people is 'stunning'," Mr Ross said.

"Several people have said they never expected to see this vehicle running again."

Plans to restore trams to the streets of Leeds have recently been unveiled as part of a mass transit system designed to improve public transport in West Yorkshire.

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