As work continues to fully commission the two visiting trams for service at Beamish a team from the Heaton Park Tramway have visited the northeast with the aim of refitting the destination boxes to Manchester 765 as well as putting the all new replica destination blinds in for the first time.
Manchester 765 has already run in passenger service on this visit to Beamish but this was part of the testing process and the tram is unlikely to see extensive use before the Great North Steam Fair in mid-April and when it is in full service it is only scheduled to be used at weekends (plus all days of the Steam Fair). Meanwhile, Blackpool & Fleetwood 40 has yet to turn a wheel in passenger service and still requires some further testing before it will – including checks to make sure all is well with clearances between the tram and others when in operation. The official word from Beamish is that it will enter service “soon” although exact details of when soon is haven’t yet been revealed.
Work on refitting one of the destination boxes to Manchester 765 is well underway here. (Both Photographs by David Maxwell, 9th March 2019)