Re: Replicas
by wimbeuk » 16.07.2011, 12:10
I started this discussion in the Netherlands in 1989. The main reason was that we had come to a point were on the one hand trams were being restored that were not that important to show the development of the tram in the Netherlands and on the other hand, we were identifying gaps in the national collection that could only be filled by building 100% replicas.
The question when is a restoration job a restoration job and not a replica is hypothetical. I have seen examples of replicas that were more exact than some restoration jobs. I have seen restoration jobs which in the end were pure new construction, very little of the original being reusable. And I have seen conversions of existing trams into another type. A good example is the conversion of HTM motorcar 805 into trailer 905 with matching interior, running gear (single axle bogies!) etc.
This discussion resulted in Arnhem 76, one of the missing links in the Dutch national collection, which was duly commisioned by none other than Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in 1998. Despite the fact that in reality it's one of the newest trams in the Netherlands, it has been fully acknowledged as belonging to the historic transport collection, together with replica ships such as the Dutch East India ship Batavia and the ship of the line Seven Provinces (now being build) and replica aircraft such as the Fokker F2 and the Fokker Spider in our national aviation museum Aviodrome.
In the Netherlands we also accept a restoration job as being the completion of a set. An example is the first generation (1956) TEE diesel multiple unit that one operated between Amsterdam and Zurich, now being restored in Amsterdam. When they were sold to Canada in 1974 , the motor cars were scrapped after a cpuple of years. Thereafter only two sets of trailers could be brought back. There are plans to build a new motorcar. As such it will be a replica, yet it restores the multiple unit to its functional original condition. Therefor it is regarded as a restoration, despite being 100% new. A similar idea exists towards the building a new motor car to make a Budapester tram set from the NZH interurban system. At present, only a control trailer exists, which can't operate without a matching motorcar. Again, such a restoration job requires the building of a new motorcar, yet it is the functional restoration of a set.
My advise to the British is, first to draw up a national plan of the development of the British tram. The next step is to see were deficiencies can be identified that can't be covered through the restoration of an existing tram. Then comes the question how important such a deficiency is, followed by the selection of the best candidate for a replica.
To give an example: there were few examples of a modern suburban tramsystem in Britain. The Middeleton tramway was such an example, with matching rolling stock. The omission of a Middelton Bogie is a gap in the national collection and an important one. This justifies the building of a replica. Even better: it is more important than the restoration of a hulk such as Gateshead 52.
Another example: nothing remains of the large system that Bristol was. It was also a pioneer systeem. A lower Milnes saloon ex Hull exists. It could be restored as a Hull tram, adding very little to the national or even regional collection. It could also be used to recreate a replica Bristol tram, thereby filling a gap in the national collection.