The Union Construction Company (UCC) was a company set up in 1901 and associated with

Charles Yerkes Charles Tyson Yerkes Jr. ( ; June 25, 1837 – December 29, 1905) was an American financier. He played a part in developing mass-transit systems in Chicago and London. Philadelphia Yerkes was born into a Quaker family in the Northern Liberties, ...

, an American associated with the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

at that time. It was part of the

Underground Electric Railways Company of London The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited (UERL), known operationally as the Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an und ...

(prior to the creation of London Transport in 1933) and was based at

Feltham Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party MPs ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It stayed moribund until about 1925, and was then activated to renovate trains running on what is now the Central line and, following on from this, built new

London Underground Standard Stock The Standard Stock title was applied to a variety of Tube stock built between 1923 and 1934, all of which shared the same basic characteristics, but with some detailed differences. This design is sometimes referred to as 1923 Tube Stock, 1923 St ...

in 1927. It also began a major tram-rebuilding programme for the

Metropolitan Electric Tramways Metropolitan Electric Tramways Limited (MET) operated electric tram services in suburban areas of Middlesex and Hertfordshire from 1904 to 1933, when its services passed to the London Passenger Transport Board. History The company originated in ...

(MET). It became a 'shell' company in 1929, was renamed The Union & Finance Construction Co. Ltd., then built some experimental tramcars for the MET in 1929 & 1930. These became the forerunners of a fleet of 100 double-deck tramcars for

London United Tramways London United Tramways Company Limited was an operator of trams and trolleybuses in the western and southern suburbs of London, UK, from 1894 to 1933, when it passed to the London Passenger Transport Board. Origins The company was formed in 189 ...

(LUT) and MET, well known as the Feltham Tram. It also built 35 Class A1 and 25 Class A2

trolleybuses A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

http://www.trolleybus.co.uk, British Trolleybus fleet list, 1909-198

/ref> for LUT to replace trams in the Kingston upon Thames, Kingston area. These bore more than a passing resemblance to the 'Feltham' trams from the front. In 1933 the

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...

(better known as London Transport) was created by Act of Parliament. The Board was prohibited from directly manufacturing its own vehicles, leading to the demise of the UCC and the placing of all future orders with companies such as

Metro-Cammell Metro-Cammell, formally the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company (MCCW), was an English manufacturer of railway carriages, locomotives and railway wagons, based in Saltley, and subsequently Washwood Heath, in Birmingham. Purchased ...

References

{{Reflist Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Rolling stock manufacturers of the United Kingdom