Lifting and transporting Tram Car 57

Potted history of Southampton trams: 

The first street railways, or trams, were opened to the public in Southampton in 1879, only 15 years before Williams Shipping was founded in 1894. The trams offered 2 basic routes. Early cars came from many different builders, all specialising in tram car or rail stock construction with re-assembly in the Portswood or Shirley depots. By the start of the 20th century, the Portswood depot had sufficient capacity and so was able to build the cars themselves. 

There were lots of changes during the first half of the 20th century, not least the impact of two world wars. By the mid 1930’s the tramways were under review and by 1940, the lack of available funds to inject into the significant investment needed to modernise them meant that the decision was taken to instead focus on the trolleybus, as other cities had done.  

The chaos and disruption of the 2nd world war meant that this was put on hold. By 1949 the end of the trams was complete. 

Several of the older cars were sent to scrap yards, and many of the newer ones were sold to Leeds where they were in service for a few more years. 

Around about the late 1960’s, Southampton City Council were given the oldest surviving Southampton City tram, which was built in Portswood, in approximately 1920.  

A volunteer group was set up to restore the tram and adopted the name Tram 57 Group. 57 being the tram number. 

The group struggled to raise sufficient funds for the restoration, so the City Council handed the Car 57 to Hampshire County Councils Museums department.  The Council formed an independent trust and handed all their historic assets over to the Trust, including Car 57. 

Car 57 was put into storage at Chilcomb, near Winchester. Unfortunately, insufficient funding meant Car 57 was rather neglected until Alan Jones of Solent Sky Museum saw an opportunity to rescue it, in the hope of restoring it to its former glory and have it for future display at Solent Sky Museum. 

Operation: Manoeuvring Tram 57 for restoration 

This would not be an easy operation. The site the Car was on has tight access roads and low hanging trees. Coupled with the fragility of the tram, this would need specialist treatment.  

Williams Shipping carried out a site survey before the operation to assess exactly how they could manoeuvre the tram and work out all the pitfalls.  

On the day of the move, a supervisor accompanied driver Jason, to oversee the crane lift and to assist with the loading onto the trailer. 

The operation required a crane with significant reach and a semi low loader trailer so that the tram would not be damaged by the low hanging trees. Due to the fragility of the tram, lifting beams were needed to minimise the risk of damage. This had to be done in reverse at the destination site. Tram Car 57 is now safely in its new home, where it will finally be restored. 

For more information on our projects, or if you are after a similar solution, contact Williams Shipping on 023 8052 9555 or email [email protected].