Picture in Time: Gateshead 5

A tram which last ran in passenger service at Crich in 2007 is Gateshead 5 and it is that tram which we feature in our archive photo series today with a black and white image.

Built in 1927 5 operated on the Gateshead system up until the system’s closure in 1951 at which point it was one of the trams acquired by Grimsby & Immingham for use on that network, being repainted into the familiar all over green British Railway livery. It remained in service in Lincolnshire – renumbered as 20 in that fleet – until that system too closed in 1961 and after a two year break it was on the move again, this time becoming part of the collection at the embryonic tramway museum at Crich in 1963. It was first used in service at Crich in 1966 and over the next 40 years it was part of the operational fleet on and off. It was withdrawn from use in 2007 and is now one of many trams awaiting space in the workshop programme to bring it back into service once more.

The below photo shows 5 in its Gateshead condition operating at Crich at some point around the mid-late 1970s. The tram is just heading down to Stephenson Place where two further trams can be seen including Leeds 602.

Photograph by Keith Chadbourne

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