Subject: Leicester C. T. 4?
Maker: Electric Railway and Tramway Carriage Works, Preston
Truck: Brill 21E
Seating: 34/22
Location: Preston, Dick, Kerr works
Date: c.1904

An end view of one Leicester's first electric tram, one of an intial batch of no less than 99 used to launch the system in 1904. Although the other photographs of tram 4 show it carrying a fleet number, this has none but it is not the same tram as the one shown as possibly number 1 as there are very detail differences apart from the staircase, the clearest one being that the lining on the corner post of the lower saloon finishes in a point instead of being squared-off.

The notice above the top of the staircase tells the conductor to swing the trolley pole to the left, in this instance. This was a feature of early trams to prevent the power cable being continuously rotated, although even by this date BTH at least had a design with a rotary connection giving complete freedom of rotation.

Photograph from the GEC Archive, taken by E. Hoole