284 was restored, largely if not entirely, but Russell Phemister at the time involved in the former Newcastle Tram Museum.

The tram had been found in a farm shed covered in hay and other rubbish.

He removed most if not all the side body sections, took each one apart, restored each part then rebuilt it. I think a few of those had been discarded in the past so there are some new replicas.

It had been intended to run it using W2 trucks but before then the museum foundered I think by biting off more than it could chew financially, building the depot shed on a sloping block of land and having been promised the earth but getting nothing from the Kern Corporation who built housing/commercial developments but went bankrupt soon after.

I have not seen this tram since restoration.

Maybe others can expand or maybe correct the above.

Regards,

On 13 Apr 2019, at 6:42 am, Malcolm Rowe mal.rowe@...> wrote:

Newcastle has a couple of older trams as well as their brand new ones.
284 is preserved in the Newcastle Museum and 1892 serves as a pie shop.

--
Mal Rowe - basking in the sunrise at Mt Glorious