Tram 53 was one of the last built by the Corporation, at the Lewes Road Depot between 1936-37 and had a running life of barely 2 years, mostly on the Dyke Road route. She was an F class tram, the ulimate Brighton design,
which included covered vestibules, roller bearings, chrome handle work instead of brass, more powerful motors and helical gearing. They represented the last open top trams in this country.
53 was fitted with glass screens above the decency panels of the upper deck, and if Brighton had kept her trams, they would all have been fitted with this feature.
Most of the Brighton tram-cars were scrapped for the war effort, but 53, along with 2 others, was coverted to a shed at Lewes Road. She was then sold to a Partridge Green pig farm where she remained until the 1970s, by which time she was the only survivor.
She was then purchased by the current owner and, apart from a brief appearance in Brighton in the 1980s, has sat in a shed since then.
This is where the Brighton Tram 53 Society step in. Formed in 2010, our aim is to restore 53 to her former glory...
© Brighton Tram 53 Society, 2020