front view Tramcar overhead view Tramcar Tramcar under construction 1918 tramcar side view
This model Tramcar was featured on the front cover of an early Meccano Magazine published in December 1918 just after the end of the Great War.  The braced girders introduced in 1915  are used for the roof and front ends of the tramcar, this was long before flexible plates were introduced that gave models a more solid appearance.  I have built my model from circa 1930 red and green parts, at the time the 1918 Meccano Magazine was published all the parts would have been plated in nickel. The model was later shown in the No.2 Manual as a "Special Model" I imagine as this was because it was not able to be built with the parts in any specific set at the time. No instructions were provided only the attractive single black and white line illustration as on the Meccano Magazine cover there was however a list of parts provided. The model  lasted in the manuals until 1924. It is I think a very realistic representation of a Tramcar from the first half of the twentieth century, considering the limited range of parts and stands up even today as an excellent model. I made only small changes to the design, fenders (windmill sails) at the ends  and semi circular plates for the floors at each end and construction changes. My model brought to light a memory from Meccano builder Rob Clark on the FaceBook group  Meccano "Nuts" of seeing a similar tram in the March 1970 Meccano Magazine back when he was a  subscriber.  Its clearly an updated version of the 1918,  using flexible plates instead of braced girders, the construction is very similar as are the dimensions, Rob revisited the 1970 instructions and decided to construct the tram much as its shown in March 1970. You can see the plates make a considerable improvement to the model shown bottom right. Page created March 24 2024 Revised 30/04/2024