Leeds City Tramways No. 2
Photo: Jim Dignan
Leeds Works car no. 2 is a tower wagon (or derrick) and was purpose-built in 1931 to assist in the construction of a number of off-road ‘reserved track’ routes that were laid on railway-style ballasted sleeper tracks, such as the Middleton Light Railway. Existing road-based tower wagons were not so suitable for this purpose, which explains why no. 2 came into being.
Works 2 tower wagon, Sovereign Street. R.B. Parr, 7/5/1954.
The tram reflects the “make-do-and-mend” attitudes of the day as it was based almost entirely on second-hand parts of trams that were about to be broken up. It originally utilised the cantilever truck of a decommissioned tram (110A), to which the tower and frame of a pre-existing four wheel tower wagon were attached, together with two cabs of match boarding. Subsequently it acquired a replacement truck from tower wagon number 1 (ex 80A) when that car was scrapped in 1954. One of its most unusual features is that it was initially fitted with both a trolley pole and a bow but, when bows became standard in Leeds in 1938 it acquired a second bow, which it retained for the rest of its life.
Specification
- Type of tram
- Works car
- Livery
- Grey and red. [N.B. the tower should also be grey]
- Seating capacity
- Date built
- 1931
- Date entered service
- December 1931
- Manufacturer of body
- Leeds City Tramways
- Manufacturer of truck
- Peckham Cantilever
- Gauge
- 4’ 8½”
- Motor
- GE 58 2 x 28 hp
- Controller
- DK DB1 K3
- Current collector
- Trolley pole and Fischer bow
- Modification
The original truck was swapped for a similar one that was salvaged from another tower wagon (No. 1), when it was scrapped in 1954. At this time No. 2 was re-numbered as No. 1 until the system closed in 1959
- Withdrawn from service
1959, on closure of the system.
- Restoration history
It was preserved through the efforts of the Middleton Railway Preservation Society and the Leeds Transport Historical Society.
- Current status
- Restored; non-operational at present
- Current location
- Depots
- 1931 – 1959Fully operational as works car on original tramway
- 1960 – 1964In storage
- 1964 – 1969Undergoing restoration
- 1969 –Restored to operational condition at Crich but no longer in regular service