Horse tram services started 19 August 1872
Electric traction from 13 October 1898 until 4 September 1962
Tramway abandonment's started in 1926, with major route closures from 1956 onwards
Trolleybuses introduced 3 April 1949 - Abandoned 27 May 1967
The countdown has really begun to reign all those accessories and finishing touches that will make the restoration process of 488 something really special.
Following a site visit to Boston Lodge Works on 9th April, Ken Blacker [on behalf of the EATMS] and Hugh Taylor [acting as the Executor of Peter Mitchell's
bequest] concluded that the tram should be restored so that both internally and externally, in the colour scheme as withdrawn in 1961.
We now know that 488 wasn't fully overhauled when it was put aside for the AMTUIR but it certainly was the last Glasgow tram to be fully repainted and
subsequently unintentionally brought back into service due to the loss of 51 trams in the Dalmarnock depot fire of 22nd March 1961.
The strip down of 488s body has revealed that most of the structural woodwork can be retained being of teak unlike car 812 where ash was used.
The flooring of the upper deck needed to be replaced so that passengers could tread safely to their seats. Hidden from view for over a century were the names
of the craftsmen building 488 who had used dies to stamp their names onto the structural timbers they fitted.
The restoration process into a passenger carrying tram has meant that all the existing glass windows will be replaced to comply with BS857. More problematical
is that as all external panels have been replaced and the interior prepared for repainting, existing signage has been obliterated requiring new
transfers. Finding unused original transfers is a tall order but you never know. Everything has been carefully documented and photographed to recreate
accurately new transfers for the signage and insignia.
Amazingly Brian Longworth, who used to work in the head office of GCT, just happened to have a part roll of the moquette used in the Standard trams and has
donated this cloth to the restoration project. Whether or not this unknown yardage is enough material for all the lower deck seating is currently unknown,
so the search continues to find a bit more. Something in YOUR loft perhaps? To wove a new length from the original manufacturer, Holdsworth's, will cost a
considerable amount of money.
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The countdown has really begun to reign all those accessories and finishing touches that will make the restoration process of 488 something really special.
Following a site visit to Boston Lodge Works on 9th April, Ken Blacker [on behalf of the EATMS] and Hugh Taylor [acting as the Executor of Peter Mitchell's
bequest] concluded that the tram should be restored so that both internally and externally, in the colour scheme as withdrawn in 1961.