The Overhaul of Tramcars, London Transport

26pp, softback, £6

Reprint of London Transport publication of 1935, 25 illustrations, and fold-out plan of Charlton Works. Covers overhaul of car bodies and trucks and motors, machine and fitting shops, wheel shop, smiths’ shop, welding shop, foundry, woodworking shop, armatures, controllers etc., stores, auxiliary services, staff welfare and running repairs and maintenance*.
*[p.22] “There are 32 depots where tramcars of London Transport are housed. The smallest depot holds 23 cars, the largest 300. The layout of depots is determined largely by the system of traction. Where cars operate from depots on the conduit system, traversers running transversely across the depot distribute the cars to their allocated roads. The traversers, operated by skilled drivers, can handle the cars with such dispatch that, in a depot operating two traversers for two outgoing tracks, up to 140 cars can be put into service within an hour.”