In 1918, the LW&C needed more power after a line extension, but didn’t have enough money to pay for new motors. So, instead, the LW&C shops in Parsons Vale took a pair of wooden passenger cars that had been retired, stripped out the mechanical and electrical bits, and built two – #1 & #2 – small wooden motors out of these parts and a new wooden carbody.

These motors operated through the PV&T purchase in 1936, and only went out of service (the LW&C had some more powerful units which were sold as soon as the purchase was made) when the PV&T changed line tension from 600vdc to 3000vdc.

The ex-LW&C crews were not pleased with the takeover and the probable disappearance of their failing interurban line, so when the management renumbered #1 & @2 the resulting repainting jobs were not done very well – 278 ran until the end with the old road number peeking through the patch paint that “covered” it.

After the voltage changeover, 278 & 279 were sold to equipment brokers, who stored them in Lincoln as they searched for buyers. No buyers were found, so eventually the brokers stripped them down to shells, then sold them as sheds; 278 remains in Lincoln as a backyard shop building, 279 fell into decay and was eventually demolished.