Half of the T69s have now left Wednesbury Depot following the departure of 08 on Tuesday 1st March. The tram was collected by the familiar sight of a Allelys low loader to make the relatively short journey to Long Marston for further storage and potential future use.
08 had been in the West Midlands since August 1998 and was one of the last few T69s to remain in service being noted out briefly on 1st July 2015 but since that date it has remained stored in the yard awaiting movement. It has remained in the original fleet livery throughout its time and was also named Joseph Chamberlain. As with all names on those trams that have been stored the plates have been removed and presumably have themselves been placed in storage.
Preparations of 08’s removal began on the afternoon on Monday 29th February when the Unimog was used to shunt the tram from the storage lines to the other end of the yard (closest to Wednesbury Parkway stop). The low loader arrived the following day around lunchtime and the tram was quickly loaded and 08 departed the depot for the last time, although this time not on the rails as it had many times over the years.
Eight down, eight to go!
Which is next of these?
04
05
09
10
11
12
16
The other tram?
03
Tram 11 100%
Tram 11 looks like the next to go
How do you know that?
I thought 16 was being retained as an engineering vehicle?
Any news on tram 17 entering service
If there was any news we would report it. The fact it hasn’t been seen anywhere near the main line on test probably answers your question though.