In Preview: Beer and Bands at Crich – 6th and 7th May

Posted on Wednesday 2 May 2018 by Gareth Prior

The next big event at the Crich Tramway Village will be Beer and Bands on Sunday 6th and Monday 7th May and hopefully this time the weather will play a lot fairer following the cancellation of half of the Easter 1940s event! Music and local cask ales will combine to make for a great Bank Holiday in the Derbyshire countryside.

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In Pictures: Seeing double in Sheffield

Posted on Tuesday 1 May 2018 by Gareth Prior

You could be mistaken for thinking you are seeing double but Stagecoach Supertram now has two trams running in near identical all over adverts for Pretty Little Thing.com! Following hot on the heels of 111 is 118 which was first seen in service with its new look on Monday 30th April. This is the first vinyl wrap for 118 and the actual advert is exactly the same as that on 111 with the only noticeable difference being that this time the fleet numbers are in a very hard to read white!

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In Pictures: 251 becomes the last C R Smith advert tram

Posted on Tuesday 1 May 2018 by Gareth Prior

When the deal was announced of the C R Smith adverts on Edinburgh Trams it was said that there were to be 18 trams so treated but since mid-January, and that after a three month break, only 17 have been in service. That has now changed though as 251 – which was previously in a promotional livery for Decide to Glide #tramspotting – has now returned to service as the 18th and final C R Smith advert.

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Picture in Time: Luas 3002

Posted on Tuesday 1 May 2018 by Gareth Prior

As we enter May we have a change in our photo series again with Around the World in Trams taking a break with Tuesday’s for the next month now delving back into the modern tram archives. In this edition we go over the Irish Sea to Dublin  with Luas the object of our attention this time.

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Chance to cover rare track on Nottingham Express Transit

Posted on Monday 30 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

A special charity tram tour on Monday 7th May will give lucky participants the chance to cover some rare track as well as seeing behind the scenes on Nottingham Express Transit. Raising funds for local charity Lucky Stars and the Tramway Museum Society the tour will start off at Phoenix Park with tickets costing £30.

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Stockport 5 to visit its old home

Posted on Monday 30 April 2018 by Andrew Waddington

2018 is shaping up to be a year of surprises in the tramway world – and the latest one is the announcement that Stockport 5 will be returning to Stockport for a single day visit as part of a local event taking place on Saturday 5th May. Yes, that’s less than a week away!

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In Pictures: Flood under Midland Metro

Posted on Sunday 29 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

A burst water main in Wednesbury saw new photographic opportunities on Midland Metro with it appearing for a time that trams were running over a river when in fact it just a road with up to 3 metres of water! The water main was damaged by workmen at approximately 1000 on Thursday 26th April with fire crews from across the region employed to pump the water off the road. Photos courtesy of Andy Walters.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 29 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

From archive photos of Crich last week to images taken in April at the same location for this week’s update:

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Boat 604 & Balloon 724

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

Two trams waiting between duties at Pleasure Beach is the feature of this edition of Picture in Time.

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Rail replacement works to return in Sheffield

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

After a gap of three years the major rail replacement project on Stagecoach Supertram will resume in May with work continuing through until September. The work will be completed in five stages with all three routes being affected at some point during the nearly four month period.

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Tram and car collide on Eccles line

Posted on Saturday 28 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

Manchester Metrolink services to Eccles were disrupted for a time on Tuesday 24th April after a tram and car were involved in a collision close to the stop at Weaste during the morning rush hour. Whilst the incident was dealt with trams from Ashton-under-Lyne were turned short at Weaste (not serving Ladywell and Eccles) with Metrolink tickets accepted on the 33 bus for travel to and from Weaste.

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In Pictures: New advert for Supertram 111

Posted on Friday 27 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

The IKEA tram is no more in Sheffield with 111 receiving a new vinyl wrap livery for Pretty Little Thing.com – who are apparently a fashion company. The tram ran for the first time in its new pastel pink livery earlier this week with the fairly simple advert featuring unicorns over both the bodyside and windows. Photos from Stuart Cooke.

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Douglas Bay Horse Tramway operating loss given as neared to £200k after all

Posted on Friday 27 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

Earlier in the week we reported on the £500,000 loss made by the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway but after further discussions in the local media – along with comments on the news story – it has now been confirmed that the operating loss was in fact £206,612. The discrepancies in figures is down to the amount of investment which had to go in to purchasing various items from Douglas Borough Council, previous owners and operators of the tramway.

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In Pictures: Heaton Park Tramway in April

Posted on Thursday 26 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

With the Festival of Model Tramways taking place at the nearby Greater Manchester Museum of Transport the Heaton Park Tramway operated an enhanced service over the weekend of 21st and 22nd April to cater for extra visitors. In this pictorial we take a look at a few views of the trams in service. Photographs by Kevin Saltmarsh.

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Picture in Time: Leeds 501

Posted on Thursday 26 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

We have fascinating view of how trams were moved by road in days gone by as we take another look into the archives in Picture in Time.

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More events confirmed in Blackpool

Posted on Thursday 26 April 2018 by Andrew Waddington

As if enhanced ‘Gold’ operating weekends nearly every month from Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours weren’t enough to keep fans of the classic Blackpool tram fleet happy, details have just been announced of two additional events happening in the next few weeks. These are an expanded day of the heritage promenade service on 28th & 29th April, and a special tour with Fleetwood Box 40 and Brush Railcoach 630 on Saturday 19th May.

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In Pictures: Attercliffe track replacement work

Posted on Wednesday 25 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

As well as the Tram-Train overhead work during the period 20th to 22nd April the chance was also taken to replace a short section of track at Attercliffe which saw an extended bus replacement service operate from the city centre along the Yellow route to Meadowhall. In these photos we take a look at the work courtesy of Mike Haddon and Martin Miller.

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In Pictures: Overhead damage in Blackpool

Posted on Wednesday 25 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

As we reported at the weekend Saturday 21st April saw major damage to the overhead between Bispham and Little Bispham following an attempted theft of the wires overnight. With no trams able to run any further north than Bispham for most of the day – it wasn’t until 4pm that normal services were able to resume – this not only had an effect on the normal service but also the Friends of 40 tour using Standard 147 which was curtailed with participants being transported by bus to reach their meal at the North Euston Hotel in Fleetwood.

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Summer Hill Stables purchased by Isle of Man Government

Posted on Tuesday 24 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

One of many ongoing sagas on the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway is now seemingly resolved with the news that the Department of Infrastructure have purchased Summer Hill Stables from Douglas Borough Council and they will now be retained for their original purpose. The stables have cost £600,000 to purchase and will now allow previous plans for a temporary structure on the old Summerland complex to be abandoned which should make it more attractive for future investors.

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In Pictures: Key Tram-Train construction milestone reached

Posted on Tuesday 24 April 2018 by Gareth Prior

A major milestone in the construction work required for Tram-Train services to start later this year was reached over the weekend with overhead wires now in place connecting the current South Yorkshire Supertram system with Network Rail metals at Tinsley Junction. Supertram services were suspended from Friday 20th April until Sunday 22nd April to allow the work – and rail replacement work at Attercliffe – which was actually a day shorter than planned with all the work taking less time than expected – its nice to report on engineering work being finished early!

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