The ‘Baby Grands’ - Liverpool's Last Trams

In the 1930s, when most operators were looking to eliminate their tramways, there was a handful of towns and cities that sought to buck the trend. Notable amongst these was Liverpool, where, under the management of Walter G. Marks from 1933, the corporation acquired a significant number of modern trams: the bogie ‘Streamliners’ and the four-wheel ‘Baby Grands’. In all, a total of 100 of the latter were constructed between 1937 and 1942 although, ironically, all were never on service together as, due to enemy action during World War 2, two were withdrawn before the final examples were completed. After the war, Liverpool’s pro-tram policy was reversed — much to the disappointment of Marks (who felt that he needed to resign his presidency of the Light Railway Transport League as a consequence) — and, between 1948 and 1957, the network was gradually dismantled. With the last of the bogie cars being withdrawn before the system’s demise, it was the ‘Baby Grands’ that saw the system through to its final closure.