CRICH TRAMWAY VILLAGE NEWS ROUND-UP Our regular news round-up from the trams of the Crich Tramway Village – home of the National Tramway Museum – is here with news from Cardiff 131, LUT 159, Gateshead 5, Blackpool Toastrack 166 and Leeds 399.
The bodyside structures of Cardiff 131 have been assembled. Work has now started on the roof structure with the centre section having been assembled. Several of the roof sticks have been repaired and new canopy bends have been made using a jig manufactured in the workshop. The truck frame has been assembled after overcoming a major alignment problem – the original assembly was over two inches out of square. There has been good progress by the contractor overhauling the wheelsets and traction motors and these are expected to be delivered to Crich during May. The components for the brake system and suspension, primary and motor, are currently being refurbished and manufactured both within the workshop and also by contractors.
The first of 42 top deck seat frame castings for London United Tramways 159 have been delivered to Crich and they now await the removal of flash and casting runners (known as fettling). One original and one new bogie sideframe casting have been taken to a potential contractor to check machine tool interfaces and to cost machining. Finally, a number of small brass castings for bulkhead light covers have been supplied.
The work on replacement of the traction wiring of Blackpool Toastrack 166 is complete, test operation has indicated some minor problems which should be easily solved. Festoon lamp holders have been manufactured at the museum by modifying a proprietary item.
During the commissioning of Gateshead 5 several areas of concern were discovered and it was decided that a major overhaul will be needed before it can be considered for traffic. Areas of concern discovered included water ingress at canopy/main roof joint, broken canopy cant rail and bulges (possibly corrosion) at the bulkhead/sole bar joints and deterioration of dash panel and mouldings capping. The tram was due for a lift in 2009 anyway and with the condition of the bogies and air brake system a decision was made to withdraw the tram from traffic.
Problems were discovered on Leeds 399 with uneven wheel brake shoe wear. This resulted in the need to remove the brake shoe hangers and sway bars from the truck and after investigation it was discovered that the hangers had seized on the pivot pins. New pivot pins had to be manufactured to solve the problem.
The commissioning programme for the 2008 season was completed on 16th April with Oporto 273 being the last tram to be commissioned.
Source: Contact from the Tramway Museum Society
Crich Tramway Village – Friday 2nd May 2008
This is a sight you are unlikely to see for a while following the withdrawal of Gateshead 5 from traffic after its commissioning showed up some faults for which an overhaul is required - the tram is scheduled for a lift in 2009 and until then is unlikely to see service at Crich. 5 is seen here on 10th June 2007 at Wakebridge.
Photo: Gareth Prior