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
You are reading * Report Number 5 * 14th August 2013
Inside one very tired No.1 end controller of 488, not inspected since it left Glasgow way back in 1961. An old paint
splodge needed to be displaced to gain access to see that this controller had been working really hard right up until 488 was withdrawn.
There was a fair amount of wear and slack, but it had been serviced well during its lifetime.
An engineer's key was used to select 'forward' and then operated through the notches, to which it responded surprisingly eager,
together with the air release shuttle lever that was still present!
Ray Maidstone, 488s Technical Consultant, is looking forward to getting these controllers onto his work bench for their refurbishment.
Preparing to shift Glasgow 488 into Boston Lodge Works
Dateline: 14th August 2013
As late summer approached, suitable space became available in the Ffestiniog Railway's Boston Lodge works, giving us the opening to
plan how to move the two half's of 488 from their temporary home at Minffordd yard, onto the highly anticipated 'operating tables' of
their workshop. Lifting them would be done by crane, putting the two decks onto separate accommodation trucks which could then be
easily shunted into the works. While the upper deck was unlikely to present any problems [apart from its sheer length], the lower
deck would need to have the lifeguard equipment, track-mag and traction cables disconnected from the body - quite an intricate task.
I therefore made arrangements to work alongside Norman Bond, works manager of Boston Lodge and his team, and arrived in Minffordd
late on Monday 5th August, ready to start the dismantling process the following day.
Pleasantly, Norman, Glenn and I were fortunate to have extremely good weather for the duration of my three day stay. Our first task
was to strip 488's lifeguard equipment from the car, and then to completely remove all of the seats from the lower saloon.
Following this, we commenced careful disconnecting and labelling of the track magnet cables and motor traction connections,
during which I was intrigued to uncover the speed connectors within the traction wiring - these are a very competent device for
rapidly connecting/disconnecting two high current wires together 'in line' - none of these connectors showed any sign of fatigue,
so I intend to re-use them in 488's refurbished wiring. However, I was horrified at one point to discover that the 'number two'
traction motor had clearly been running for many years with a strangulated connecting loom, but as nothing had gone wrong,
I suppose I'm being fussy! After all, I would imagine that 488 [following its 1929 modernisation] surpassed its expected lifespan of
say, 25 years, by quite some time - not officially retiring until 1961.
The lifting and transfer of the upper and lower deck to Boston Lodge works went as well as we could have hoped, with only a couple
of minor hiccups, one being that the lower deck was found to weigh considerably more than expected, even without its seats, and the
other that the Hiab burst a hydraulic hose while unloading the lower deck at Boston Lodge. The two half's are now situated in separate
work areas on their accommodation trucks, so that investigatory work can get underway on various wood construction items: the nature
of these looks as if most of the timber work will have to be replaced, and the damaged end of 488, which was chopped off and then
merely bolted back on following the car's initial voyage overseas, will require an extensive re-build. However, I think it's fair
to say that although generally the car looks and feels very old, it also feels very solid. Currently, 488's truck is being housed
in a part of the Boston Lodge works car park, suitably covered.
For my own purposes, while at Minffordd I removed the two main breakers and the compressor breaker from 488, and have brought these
home to my own workshops where I will strip them, refurbish them, and render them back into functional operating condition.
All of 488's traction equipment such as these items will be given a 2000 Volt Megger test to ensure complete safe working.
In the course of working on the lower saloon, I also inspected the two controllers, of which 'number two' unit had been jammed
shut in antiquity. We had to make a special tool to remove the jammed inspection door, but it was a pleasant surprise to find
inside that although the controller shafts were very worn and 'sloppy', the general operating components had been well oiled and
maintained in their use in Glasgow; all I can say is "nice one!". Furthermore, I took a piece of a historic destination blind,
found under a seat home with me for scanning.
I am finding it very interesting working on so old a vehicle, and yet finding that so much of it is amenable to disassembly, and
while Ffestiniog are at work on the bodywork, it will be very satisfying to me to bring many of the electro-mechanical parts of
the tram back to life in the coming months.
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