Yes it’s that time of the year again – British Trams Online Tram of the Year! This is the ninth year of the contest and I am sure you all know what it is all about but for those of who you don’t – read on! As a bit of fun at the end of the year we came up with the idea of having a contest to find the tram which had done the most exciting or special thing during the previous 12 months and so the contest was born.
Over the length of the contest ten different trams have been honoured with the accolade of Tram of the Year with last year seeing Blackpool Marton VAMBAC 11 beating off competition from Stockport 5 and Manx Electric Railway 7 to be crowned Tram of the Year. Other past winners have included another three and a half Blackpool trams, two from Leeds, one a piece from Liverpool and the Trampower vehicle and half from Nottingham Express Transit (the reason for the halves is because in 2004 the Frigate and NET 203 were joint winners).
And so we turn our attentions to the Tram of the Year 2012 and we are now inviting any nominations for this year’s contest. It is up to you what tram you nominate but please remember we are looking for a tram which has done something special during the past 12 months (take a look at our Tram of the Year pages – http://www.britishtramsonline.co.uk/tramofyear.html – for an idea of why previous trams have been nominated if you need some inspiration) and so please don’t nominate something just because it’s “your favourite tram”! Nominations will remain open until the end of Saturday 8th December and you can make your nomination in one of three ways:
- The comments section at the end of this article
- On Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/BritishTramsOnline
- By email – gareth.bto@hotmail.co.uk
Once all the nominations have been received our “expert panel” will draw up a shortlist of between three and five trams and voting will then open on Sunday 9th December for approximately one month as we seek to find the British Trams Online Tram of the Year 2012!
Can I nominate the whole new fleet of Blackpool’s FlexityII trams for a fabulous first year in service.
I have a few nominations to make.
I am nominating Blackpool’s Flexity 003 for being the first tram to go to Fleetwood since 2009.
I am also nominating Blackpool’s Flexity 008 for being the first tram to carry passengers to Fleetwood since 2009 in April.
I am also nominating Blackpool’s Flexity 006 for being the first tram to carry paying passengers to Fleetwood since 2009.
Also, I am wanting to nominate Metrolink M5000 3004 for being the first tram to Oldham Mumps which is a phenomenal extension.
I hope you still accept these nominations as although there is a lot of them there are so many trams in Britain that I couldn’t decide on 1!
I am nominating NET 211 for tram of the year.
It currently carries the special Queen’s Jubilee all-over livery.
So many good things this year it’s very hard to single out any one tramcar, so how about another category for “Tramway of the Year”?
My nominations for that would be Blackpool for delivering the upgraded tramway and proving all the doubters wrong, and Beamish for two contrasting loan cars Birkenhead 20 and Blakpool 304 plus two fantastic repaints Grimsby 26 and Porto 196.
Also the flipside “Tramway disapointment/let down/failure of the year”. That for me was LUT at 159 at Crich failing on it’s launch day and not being used since.
Chris
Looking forward to NEXT year, I am nominating as Tram of the Year 2013 the first one that actually makes it to Droylsden or Rochdale station with fare-paying passengers on board!
I think the shortlist should include one of the Blackpool Flexity trams, but the question is which one to single out… There are obvious claims for 001 as the first of the class, 008 first passenger journey and 006 first public journey, but I’d like to mention 002 – OK, so it hasn’t yet made much impact in it’s home town but it has on the international stage by representing Bombardier and Blackpool at the InnoTrans exhibition.
Other potential candidates:
Blackpool Standard 147 – the first heritage car to run in service on a second generation tramway, then later in the year carried the olympic Flame.
Blackpool Brush 623 – as the first of it’s class to run in preservation.
Corronation 304 – for the surprise move of the year with it’s loan to Beamish (mirroring last years winner Vambac 11).
I do like Chris’s “Tramway of the Year” idea – that has to be Blackpool this year: Beamish while a contender, I suspect will far eclipse this years achievments in the near future! you could also add Event of the Year. For me that would be the Glasgow Event at Crich. (is this getting like the oscars now with too many categories??)