The now rapid removal of the remaining Midland Metro T69s from Wednesbury Depot continued on Thursday 17th March with 05 the latest to make the trip to Long Marston for further storage. This is the second tram of the week to take a ride on the back of a low loader, interestingly both have been in the Network West Midlands livery.
05 was delivered to Midland Metro on 10th July 1998 and soon entered service after the line opened in 1999. Named Sister Dora in April 2004 05’s main claim fame (as with the other tram to leave this week, 09) was accident damage suffered in 2007. The tram was struck side-on by a Fire Engine on 26th May 2007 in Wolverhampton and the damage was so severe 05 had to be returned to depot by low loader. After initial investigation the tram was then sent to Wolverton Works for repairs but at one stage it looked as though it may be a complete write off. Fortunately repairs were completed and it returned to service in February 2009 wearing the bright Magenta and Silver Network West Midlands livery. 05 was withdrawn in November 2014 and since then has been stored out of service at Wednesbury.
Fast forward 17 months and during the afternoon of Thursday 17th March the Allelys low loader turned up at Wednesbury again and after a quick loading 05 was off for its journey to Long Marston shortly after 1615.
It is not expected that any further trams will leave this week and at the time of writing only 04, 10, 12 and 16 remain stored at the depot.
Have there been any updates as to whether 16 is staying or going?
Rumours continue to suggest it will stay but then things keep changing as to what the final decision may be. In other words we will have to wait and see if a low loader turns up and takes it away!
When I attended the Farewell event for the T69s in August, I was told by a senior Centro staff member that 16 would be moving to Long Marston, as it was impractical for spares and tooling to be kept at Wednesbury to maintain and operate a T69 as an engineering vehicle that will only see occasional use. The plan could, of course, have changed in the meantime, but much as I would love to see it stay, the practicalities of keeping it running probably mean it isn’t financially worthwhile. Time will tell and with only four T69s left to be removed, I guess we will know within a very short time.
Nice to see my old friend Mr Walters is still documenting Midland Metro – keep up the great work Andy. Great photos.