Burnaby British Columbia - After more than five years, the major restoration project that is Interurban tram car 1223 will come to an end next week when it is moved to its new home at Burnaby Village Museum.
 
Car 1223 was one of only seven cars saved when the B.C. Electric Railway shut down the Interurban in favour of buses in 1958. The car became the property of the Burnaby Historical Society.
 
For decades it sat outdoors exposed to the elements, first at Kingsway and Edmonds, where it was vandalized, and then at the museum.
 
Since 2001, it has been in a warehouse in South Burnaby where Friends of Interurban 1223, a volunteer group formed by the historical society, has been painstakingly restoring the car to its original splendour, right down to the wiring and twill weave rattan upholstery.
 
Next week, Nickel Bros. House Moving will bring the tram car to its new home, a heated tram barn next to the museum's carousel, complete with 65 feet of track to allow it to be displayed outside during good weather.
 
Of course, moving the tram car is a little more complicated than, say, moving a piano.
 
The museum's conservator Elisabeth Czerwinski, who has overseen the restoration project, said she will first wrap "giant rolls of bubble pack" around the tram's lower half, then use polyethylene sheeting across the open windows (the glass windows will be removed to prevent damage) before "tarps cocoon the whole thing."
 
A crane will lift the tram components onto dollies which will be rolled out to two flatbed trucks onto which they'll be loaded. One will carry the main section while the other will carry the two "trucks," the wheel assemblies and motors.
 
Then Nickel Bros. will drive the whole thing to the museum, possibly down the hill on Royal Oak Avenue, in the early morning hours one night later in the week. The final route will be determined by the moving company taking into consideration efficiency, slopes, safety, and the number and height of overhead utility lines, which will have to be temporarily moved if necessary, Czerwinski said.
 
Once at the museum site, the flatbed will have to gingerly negotiate down a narrow roadway lined with tall trees, which could potentially rub against the tram car or be damaged during the move.
 
Then the "trucks" go down on the railway tracks first, followed by the rest of the tram car on top, again with the help of cranes. It will be placed inside the tram barn and stay wrapped in its blue sheeting until all the finishing touches are complete on the building.
 
"The goal is for nothing to touch it during the move," Czerwinski said.
 
Needless to say, she's experiencing some apprehension leading up to the big day.
 
Once the tram car is in its specially-designed new home, the process of readying it for public display will begin. The tram barn will include materials "showcasing the work done and the importance of this vehicle to urban development and the importance of it to bringing electricity and mobility to people who didn't have it," she said.
 
After years of work, including removing 90 years worth of paint and restoring the original cherry and oak interior, and recreating beams and other elements that were too rotten to save or had long gone missing, Czerwinski admits sheepishly she and the volunteers will find it a bit emotional to let go.
 
"It's like letting someone sit on your nice new couch."
 
The general public will get its first chance to see the restored tram at its new home during Burnaby Village Museum's spring break event, 19-25 Mar 2007. Admission is $5 plus GST.
 
If people miss out then, they'll have to wait until 5 May 2007 when the museum opens for its summer season. Admission charges apply.
 
For more information, visit Burnaby Village Museum.
 
Author unknown.