London Transport tram No. 127 in colour by Frederick McLean Via Flickr:
A version of an old photograph (just 4 1/2" x 3 1/2") ***colourised and © by me (if you want to use it, at least credit me and link to this description!) of *London Transport (LT) HR/2 (HR = Hilly Route) class car No. 127 showing '**58 - Blackwall Tnl' destination indicators at Victoria, Vauxhall Bridge Road tram terminus.
The original B&W photo is here:- flic.kr/p/2igdCFQ
Modern day view:- tinyurl.com/97h38n64
There is no photographer name on the photo, if anyone knows who took it please let me know and I will credit them.
No. 127 was an ex *London County Council Tramways (LCC) conduit only (no trolley pole/s were fitted) tram built in 1931 by Hurst Nelson seating 28/46. It was built with EMB heavy duty equal wheeled trucks (6A.LCC) but instead of standard sprung axle boxes had EMB radial arm boxes with helical gear drive, this apparently made it run more quietly when in operation. During WW2 it suffered severe damage and the top deck was replaced with one from an E/1 car, no trolley poles were fitted. After the rebuild it was occasionally used on Kingsway Subway route 35, potentially breaching the rules stipulating that only metal bodies cars could do so, as the new upper deck from an E/1 car would have contained wood. Its ownership transferred to the *London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) in 1933 and in Dec 1951 it was withdrawn from service and sent to Penhall Road Works to be disposed of (broken up or sold).
The parts of the London tramways system that had not already been withdrawn or transferred to trolleybus/bus operation closed in Jul 1952.
* The London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) absorbed the local London tramway 'companies' (such as LCC) in 1933 and in turn was replaced in 1948 by the London Transport Executive (LTE), from 1933 the usual operating name used by both was London Transport (LT).
** Route 58 operations changed from trams to buses on 06/07 Oct 1951. The full route was 'Blackwall Tunnel - Victoria via Blackwall Lane - Greenwich - Lewisham - Catford - Forest Hill - Goose Green - Dog Kennel Hill - Camberwell Green - Kennington - Vauxhall'.
*** My coloured images are more sketch or watercolour like than colour transparency or print like. They are an impression of that subject and period, rather than an accurate representation of how the image/subject actually looked when the photo was taken.
