I was delighted to view the tram with Douglas Scoular and Brian Melrose at the 2011 Lathalmond rally who gave me a tour of the work in progress.
The horse drawn tramcar came to notice in Newtown St. Boswell's in 2005, when its owners decided to try and find out the origins of a small 'carriage' they had in their garden.
The SRPS was contacted and the query passed to Alan Brotchie and Neil Mackenzie who were able to deduce that it was, infact an early horse drawn tramcar.
The historical significance of the vehicle was immediately apparent and the Edinburgh Horse Tram Trust was created with the intention of restoring and exhibiting the old tramcar. The owners of the tram, Gill and Roger French from Newtown, very kindly donated it to the Trust and the car was moved to Edinburgh early in 2006. Work began at Longstone Garage and since May 2011 has been continued at Lathalmond's SVBM.
Archaeological investigations proved that it was number 23, built in the workshops of the Edinburgh Street Tram Company LTD, at Shrubhill, circa 1884. It was finished in a deep blue livery at a time when different tram routes in the city were distinguished by different liveries. Edinburgh then had a dozen different route 'branded' liveries with vehicles coloured red, green, yellow, white etc.
Note the marvellous route branding boards which are different on the other side.
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