Following on from its succesful trial runs a week earlier, Sunday 3rd May saw Manchester Eades reversible horse tramcar L53 in service at Heaton Park, pulled by two horses. However, not everything went according to plan!
Two magnificent grey shire horses named Jake and Ben were used to haul L53 on this occasion, whilst Leeds 6 operated the normal electric tram service. Due to potential delays caused by the horse tram operation, special fares were charged on this date: for a bargain price of just £1, visitors could have unlimited rides on Leeds 6, whilst an all-day ticket for the horse car was priced at £3. L53 ran from the tram depot to Middleton Road park gates, then down to Whitegate where it was turned for the journey back to depot. Unfortunately the towing equipment needs to be modified before the two horses can actually turn the tram, but this will hopefully be done later in the year.
At one point it looked like the day's events could be over before they even began, as a result of a Police security alert when a man with a gun was spotted in the grounds of the park. Thankfully the drama soon blew over, and L53 entered service shortly before 1:00pm as planned. Blackpool Railgrinder 752 also put in an appearance due to a minor problem with one of the crossovers, but this was soon dealt with. However, 752's outing meant that three of the four trams in the Heaton Park fleet ran that day - the odd one out being Manchester 765 which was in the latter stages of a minor overhaul.
Despite a few light showers, the day was extremely enjoyable, and even though the event was only advertised a week before it took place, quite a few enthusiasts turned up, and the horse tram attracted considerable attention from passers-by, many of whom were keen to sample a ride on it. The revised horse tram service worked very well indeed and is sure to prove a big hit at forthcoming events when L53 runs again.
* A photo gallery of the days events can be found here.
Source: Andrew Waddington