20 was built by the Birkenhead firm of Milnes in 1900 and ran in the town for 37 years. In the 1920s it was fitted with a wooden upper saloon.
Since 1937 it had rested on the banks of the Dee, south of Chester, as a potting shed. Identified by MTPS members and swapped for a real shed in 1983, restoration began in a hangar at Speke Airport.

Numerous parts have been acquired including a Brill truck from Barcelona and a trolley pole from Blackpool. With extra cash raised by the Friends of Birkenhead 20, restoration continued at Princes Dock, Cammel Lairds and Pacific Road until Good Friday April 2 1999 when Birkenhead 20 joined the operational fleet on the Wirral Tramway.