The annual enthusiasts event at Crich Tramway Village – now known simply as ‘Tram Day’ – is commonly regarded as one of the highlights of the year for fans of traditional trams in the UK, and 2017’s event was certainly no exception. Held on Saturday 16th September, this year saw the usual mix of unusual trams displayed in the depot yard, line-ups of trams and an intensive service on the main line. This year’s star attraction was without doubt Bournemouth 85, the latest addition to the museum’s collection.
The day started at the slightly earlier than usual time of 0945 with a photo opportunity at Stephenson Place featuring Chesterfield 7 and Blackpool 630 – two very different trams both built by Brush of Loughborough. 630 then headed up the line to lead a short procession of single-deck tramcars, which also featured fellow Blackpool trams Toastrack 166, Pantograph car 167 and Boat 236, as well as Berlin 223 006-4 and Cardiff water car 131. The six trams then ran as a procession along the street before entering service for the day. The morning tram service comprised ten trams: the aforementioned quartet of Blackpool single-deckers being joined by Chesterfield 7, London United Tramways 159, Metropolitan 331, Leeds 345, Blackpool 762 and Liverpool 869. In addition Cardiff 131 ran a few trips whilst the Access Tram also performed a single trip during the morning to cater for visitors unable to ride on any other tram.
Meanwhile, as is usual for events of this nature, the depot area was a hive of activity with various trams being shunted in preparation for the day’s main photo opportunity, with the theme being trams from non-standard gauge systems. This saw Brussels snow broom 96 moved from the Exhibition Hall to Depot V, whilst Glasgow 1282 also had a brief airing to enable another tram to be released. Hill of Howth 10 was then positioned alongside the Exhibition Hall as the first tram for the themed line-up, followed by Derby 1 – and then attention was turned to the star attraction, Bournemouth 85. Unlike the other cars, 85 has never been converted to standard gauge which made the task of coaxing it out of the depot interesting to say the least! After being slowly and carefully moved onto the traverser by laying out a special path for it and placing some spare rails on the traverser itself, the stunning tram joined the other two open toppers but that was not quite the full story, as two more trams were brought out of the depot. These were Sheffield 330, which of course started its life in Bradford, and finally Glasgow 1068 which is not available for service this year and currently awaits overhaul. These five trams made a fine sight in the yard and although it was naturally the Bournemouth car which stole the show, it must be stressed that all of them were very welcome indeed, particularly Derby 1 which very rarely appears in the open.
As the day progressed, Leeds 399 entered service whilst three of the morning cars – 7, 166 and 236 – all returned to the depot mid-afternoon. After taking a well-earned lunch break their crews then brought out three different trams for the afternoon, these being Glasgow 22, Blackpool 40 and London County Council 106. The other trams remained in service with some relief crews, including workshop staff, giving the platform staff chance to take a break, and LUT 159 was parked on the spare track at Town End for its crew break. After spending some time parked up on the depot fan, Cardiff 131 also reappeared carrying passengers, along with the Blackpool electric locomotive, and even London Tramlink 058 performed a single trip to Glory Mine and back to the depot yard.
With the novelty of Bournemouth 85 outside on display, the opportunity was quite rightly taken to pose it alongside some other trams once the earlier line-up had been dispersed. First up was Chesterfield 7, and although this wasn’t actually an advertised event the two maroon and yellow trams made a splendid sight together! Finally it was the turn of Southampton 45 to join 85 for a ‘South Coast Photo Opportunity’, this also being interesting as of course it was a pairing of the very first tram to be preserved by founder members of the TMS with their latest acquisition.
A few trams were noticeably absent from the day’s service output due to various ailments, such as Leeds 180, Oporto 273 (which had been advertised to run but was sadly failed the day before) and Sheffield 510. Their absence did not spoil the day too much and a good turnout of trams was still witnessed, with fifteen passenger cars and three works cars gracing the main line over the course of the day. With a model tram layout and a book sale in the Exhibition Hall as well as everything else going on, there was certainly plenty to see and do!
As the event drew to a close, the various non-operational trams were put away, with Bournemouth 85 being gingerly moved back onto the temporary rails it stands on at the front of the depot, whilst waiting to be placed in the Exhibition Hall later in the year. Derby 1 and Hill of Howth 10 were returned to the Exhibition Hall, whilst Southampton 45 and Sheffield 330 were put back in their usual positions in the depots. More unusually, at the end of a busy day for Cardiff 131, the tram was put in the Exhibition Hall – possibly for the first time ever – a temporary move to save the effort of having to move the snow broom, which would have had to be moved out again when Bournemouth 85 is moved in. The grand finale saw the last departure from Town End at 1730 performed by Blackpool 630 and Liverpool 869. These two trams were chosen for good reason: 630 was making its last run before heading back to Blackpool on loan two days later, whilst 869 brought the day to a close in recognition of the 60th anniversary of Liverpool’s last tram two days earlier.
Enthusiast events at Crich are always good but this year was probably one of the best of recent years. Despite being less ambitious than some past events, this actually worked very well as everything seemed to go very smoothly, and there was plenty of time to mix tram riding and photography without missing too much excitement! It was also quite welcome to have the biggest line-up quite early on in the day, leaving the afternoon free to enjoy the large number of trams in operation as well as everything else that the museum has to offer. Obviously Bournemouth 85 was the star attraction but a total of eight trams which are not in the current operational pool appeared outside at some point in the day, which is a very good number by anyone’s standards. Even the weather was kind despite a fairly grim forecast with sunshine for much of the day and barely a drop of rain, whilst the site was well occupied by a very healthy number of visitors resulting in some fully loaded trams. Well done to everyone involved in putting on such a great event, and we look forward to seeing what they will do next year!
A small selection of highlights from this day are shown below, and naturally many more pictures from ‘Tram Day’ will be uploaded to the website shortly.
Star of the day, Bournemouth 85, stands on the traverser during one of the day's quieter moments. Note that it has now been fitted with a trolley arm and lifeguards.
Two more elusive open top trams bask in the sunshine: Derby 1 and Hill of Howth 10.
It was quite difficult to fit the whole of the 'non-standard gauge systems' line-up into one photo, but we just about managed it! From the left, we see Glasgow 1068, Sheffield 330, Bournemouth 85, Derby 1 and Hill of Howth 10.
Works car often feature in big enthusiast events at Crich and this one was no exception. Here Sheffield railgrinder 330 is being pushed by the Blackpool loco after being displayed on the depot fan for the main photo opportunity of the day.
Commemorating 60 years since Liverpool's last tram, 869 is captured at the Glory Mine terminus.
Another of the day's star trams, Blackpool Brush car 630, passes Blackpool Standard 40 in the street. (All photos by Andrew Waddington)