LM/LP-49s were being drawn out of use, although their condition would have allowed for continued service. The management of the Minsk Residential community of the USSR insisted on rolling stock upgrades to more modern units. This was the main reason why the most durable trams of the Stalin Era were retired. 1980s, the extinction As a result, in March 1983 the last LM/LP-49 tram was removed from passenger service. Newer LP-49s worked for some time as trains, while the LM-68 and LM-68M were motor cars. By the middle of 1984 the last LP-49 in Leningrad was removed from passenger service. In Gorky, LM/LP-49 cars were removed from passenger service even earlier, between 1975 and 1980. According to the memories of Gorsky Tram-Trolleybus property leaders this was done in order to allow more Czech-made Tatra T3 trams in the city. The longest passenger service of LM/LP-49 работали wasin Magnitogorsk — the last couple of this brand left the tram lines in 1987. After the end of the passenger service a minor part of Leningrad LM/LP-49 stock was rebuilt into service tramssuch as tower trams for serving the catenary and towing units for track polishing machines VPRS-500. Neither in Magnitogorsk nor in Gorky were there any service trams made out of LM/LP-49s. However, in Leningrad, Minsk and Gorky one LM/LP-49 train was left in each city for museum purposes. (Refer to the Survivors section) The trams which were neither rebuilt into service trams nor transferred to the museum service were simply cut into metal scrap. In Leningrad a fraction of the trams were moved into a "tram cemetery", and in Magnitogorsk the bodies of two LM49 trams with all the equipment removed and welded windows were rebuilt into a barn. In all of Leningrad 287 motor cars and 268 trailers cars of this make were listed, in Gorsky City — 67 motors and 46 trailers (after the transfer to Novokuznetsk), and in Minsk 1 motor car. The rest of these trams belonged to Magnitogorsk. However, at the time it was a practice to keep a few trams secretly, off the books. This was done to conceal the loss of trams by fire, accidents, and other damage. This practice has obscured the exact number of LM/LP-49 trams. Survivors Three LM-49s survive to this day. One LM-49 train and a LP-49 trailer is an operational piece of the St. Petersburg tram collection. The Nizhny