From Garden Shed to Gorgeous – Wanganui Tram Trailer 21
Magnificent in every detail
Rescued from a less-than-glamorous retirement as a garden shed in the 1960s, Wanganui Tram Trailer No. 21, is now resplendent in original plum-coloured livery with every surface reflecting meticulous workmanship. From the traditional cotton duck canvas roof with its 44 layers of treatment, to the faithfully reproduced bronze square headed screws, and the rare, mottled kauri used in joinery – every inch tells a story of dedication, accuracy and patience. Image above by David Cawood.
Some of Wanganui Tram Trailer No. 21's rebuild team waiting to ride behind the steam tram.
The history
Built in Christchurch by Boon & Co in 1922, Tram Trailer No. 21 was one of six in service on the Wanganui Borough Corporation Tramways for nearly 30 years. By the time the city’s tramway system was closed and replaced by buses in 1950, No. 21 was already retired from service and sold off, missing the final festivities that saw Wanganui Steam Tram No. 100, hauled out from retirement especially for the occasion to pull other tram trailers.
Steam Tram No. 100 was eventually bought by MOTAT founders and Old Time Transport Preservation League members Graham Stewart and Peter Mellor in 1958. The League’s intention was always to acquire a trailer for 100 to tow because its large boiler leaves little room for passengers as well as a driver and fireman.
For many years Wanganui Tram Trailer No. 21 languished, abandoned and slowly decaying in a field. Ron Alexander, Graeme Bennett and Alan Lang (Independent Tramway Enthusiasts from Wanganui) found No. 21, rescued it from retirement as a garden shed in the Turakina Valley, and presented it to MOTAT in 1967. Restoration work eventually began in 1980 but was halted again soon after disassembly as the scale of the challenge became clear.
21st century technology meets traditional craftsmanship
The project was reignited in 2009-2012 when a group of skilled and determined volunteers, led by engineer and restoration expert Leyton Chan, decided to take it on. The team stood at the bottom of a trailer rebuild mountain. All they had to work from was a pile of parts and pieces, much of which had wet rot and couldn’t be used in the restoration. Undeterred, the volunteers set to work, using a blend of traditional and contemporary techniques and technology to resurrect this heritage tramway object. Every component was carefully examined to decide whether it could be saved. Regardless of condition, each had a role to play, providing vital clues for a restoration blueprint. Both metal and wooden parts were carefully stored to be studied, measured and used as patterns or to make moulds for new pieces to be cast.
Research was key and the team led by Leyton spent hundreds of hours examining photographs and visiting similar tram trailers built by Boon & Co., as well as researching and finding documented specifications. The pieces of the puzzle finally came together when Leyton had enough data to complete a computer-aided design (CAD) model for Tram Trailer 21, which was also used to produce a 3D-printed miniature version of the trailer.
“We always knew this project would be a totally reconstruction given it was already dismantled and the only way to do this was to create a 3D CAD model and I had access to the software so took on the project after being asked by senior members of the MOTAT team,” says Leyton. Despite the estimated 35,000 plus volunteers hours it took to complete the rebuild, he and the team never contemplated giving up.
With the CAD model complete, volunteers set about restoring or recreating every component. The devil was in the detail. Year after year the team matched each tram trailer part as closely as possible to the original – from timber seat slats to window joinery to cast bronze fittings and screws. Work began with the chassis, followed by the construction of a new truck and wheels. As the bulkhead pillars were installed, No. 21 slowly began to take shape in the workshop.
Taking shape
By 2018, the volunteers were in full rebuild mode, making and commissioning parts such as the seat backs, bulkhead pillars and aluminium side panels. A significant donation from the Chisholm Whitney Family Charitable Trust in 2020 was also a boost for progress.
MOTAT maintains strong relationships with heritage tramways throughout Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia and was grateful to receive several essential parts from Bendigo Tramway Museum and Christchurch’s Heritage Tramway Trust.
Many different timbers, such as New Zealand kauri and totara were used in the original trailer and sourcing like for like wherever possible was challenging. Native rewarewa, for example, is naturally non-slip, even when wet, so was specified for the interior flooring of the trailer.
Two of the stand-out original pieces of the interior are a pair of restored interior corner panels featuring raised and fielded panels of rare, mottled kauri timber surrounded by Australian red cedar. To complete the set, the volunteers made the remaining new corner pieces to match. But finding mottled kauri was a challenge. In a case of “who you know”, Leyton sourced this from a friend in the NZ Vintage Tool Collectors Club who had reserved this precious timber for special projects.
Some of the red cedar, used throughout the trailer, was found closer to home. The team heard about a tree in the MOTAT village about to be felled as it was at the end of its life. Not missing a beat, the volunteers talked to the arborist and made sure the red cedar timber was milled to be stored and seasoned for several years in the workshop until ready for coachwork.
Passengers can see this MOTAT-grown cedar in the bell push mounts above each seat. Each mount houses a mechanism that rings the bell when the handmade porcelain buttons are pressed by passengers signalling their wish to disembark. Those mechanisms were made by long-time tram volunteer Dave Lennard, who sadly lost his life in the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods. The buttons were handmade and gifted to the project by a local potter.
American ash forms the structural body framing, the roofing is of Oregon pine (Douglas fir) and Australian blue gum is also used in the restoration. The red cedar used in the trim panels, and window frames was sourced from Port Macquarie, Australia. Other timbers used are totara, rimu and tallowwood.
Visitors looking to spot original, restored features, should look out for the previously mentioned timber panels, metal outer seat ends, the cast bronze door hangers, riveted steel track guides, the bumpers, door handles, armrests, taillights and concertina gates.
MOTAT volunteers bring a range of expertise to our workshops for maintenance and restoration of heritage objects. Just some of the skills needed to rebuild this tram tailer include engineering, joinery, cabinet making, varnishing, welding, metal repair and polishing, machining, riveting, casting, glazing and sanding – lots and lots of sanding!
Cabinet making skills and knowledge are very evident in the replicated convertible nature of 21. It can be operated opened or closed with the side windows and lower aluminium panels sliding up into the roof space. There are no metal mechanisms to hold these pieces in place once raised, just very precise joinery work. Similarly, each of the 16 seat ends, had to be individually scribed or moulded to fit into the original uniquely sized metal seat ends.
Not every new component was made in the workshop, some jobs needed to be outsourced, such as the aluminium panel manufacture, glass for the windows, specialist machining, signwriting and the external paintwork.
Donation brings finish line closer
The trailer's curved monitor roof (essentially three roofs in one) was a special project all its own, requiring the skills of a master coachbuilder. Contracted into the team full-time in 2023, design and build joinery specialist Nick Shah, assisted by John Miller, masterfully steamed and bent lengths of Oregon pine timber to the exact curvature required. Eventually, the roof was sealed using traditional canvas techniques, applying a single length of cotton duck canvas coated with specialised waterproofing paint. In total, 44 layers of treatment were added, with each paint application designed to flex with the tram’s movement. The internal red cedar bulkhead joinery, longitudinal ceiling frames and mottled kauri ceiling panels were equally challenging. Nick's work also included ironmongery and fitting the giant slabs of kauri which make up the top of the bulkhead construction, among many other joinery projects.
In late 2024, despite steady progress, with budget limitations it looked as though there were still several years of work to go to complete the project. That all changed when a representative from the Steve Jelaš Foundation got in touch after seeing media coverage of MOTAT’s Adopt a Tram campaign, enquiring about tram restorations. Steve Jelaš grew up in Auckland when its electric tramway was at its peak. In honouring his legacy and love of trams, the foundation made an incredibly generous donation that has covered the final materials needed for the project and enabled MOTAT to extend Nick Shah's contract to complete the roof and work on other areas, helping to pull all the pieces together.
Leyton says, “Once the roof structure was in progress by Nick and John, we all knew that the most difficult part of the reconstruction was in hand and we could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Less than 18 months later, Wanganui Tram Trailer No. 21 is now complete and ready to carry passengers on Sunday 22 March 2026, for the first time in more than 75 years. The finished product is a stunning tribute to the skills, knowledge and perseverance of MOTAT’s dedicated volunteers who gift their time and knowledge for these projects; the generosity and foresight of funders Steve Jelaš Foundation and the Chisholm Whitney Family Charitable Trust to support the important heritage restoration work that takes place at MOTAT; and MOTAT’s ability to preserve not just heritage objects, but the craftsmanship techniques that can be shared and passed down in our workshops.
"It’s an absolute testament to the craftsmen of the era, which we simply would never see today. I am proud to have had such a great team who have given their best efforts to match the skills of those former coachbuilders, and we have certainly learnt a lot in the process,” says Leyton.
Photography credits: Graham Stewart, Ian Stewart, David Cawood, Evan James, Nick Shah, Leyton Chan, Sue Tearne, Alex Long, Anne Carpenter
Our heartfelt thanks
MOTAT would like to acknowledge and thank all who have contributed to the Wanganui Tram Trailer No. 21 restoration project.
Our generous donors:
Steve Jelaš Foundation
Chisholm Whitney Family Charitable Trust
Bendigo Tramway Museum
Heritage Tramway Trust of Christchurch
Out volunteers:
Project lead: Leyton Chan
Andreas Larsson
Andrew Garratt
Bruce Pullar
Dave Lennard (deceased)
David Cawood
David Pitt
Evan James
Graeme Bennett (deceased)
Graham Stewart (deceased)
Ian Mison (deceased)
John Miller
John Wolf
Joseph Dickson
Joshua Garratt
Logan English
Milton Sarson
Noel Ashley
Oscar Mahy
Paul Gourley
Paul Warner
Ross Wilmoth
Sacha Knight
Sam Gilberd
Stephen Curham
Sue Tearne
Tony Messenger
Vincent Chan
Zam Yang
Members of the MOTAT Team:
Nick Shah – Master coachbuilder and inhouse contractor
Forge – Richard Neville
Aviation workshop – Steve Subritzsky
Tram Engineering – Rob Fox, Wayne Smith, Andy Pettengell
Conservation – Karin Knold
Other contributors:
Andrew Parkinson – Marine Shield
Archers Auto Springs – Rotorua
BBS Timber
BM Electrical
Boat NZ Christchurch
Circa Marine
Dave Harre
Gavin Platt - CFX Truck Painting & Signage Ltd
Jackson Electrical – CnC machining
Kauri Warehouse
Nufab Engineering
Nuphlo Engineering
NZ Glass
Osmand Signs
Pakuranga Engineering
Resene Automotive
Rickman Mouldings
Skellern’s Foundry
Styrotech
Woodform Ltd