Sunday 12th February 2012 threatened to be a rather boring day at Manchester’s Heaton
Park Tramway, with snow in the park threatening to prevent any trams from operating at all for the second consecutive weekend. However, the remarkable dedication of a small team of volunteers ensured that the tracks were cleared, enabling the trams to make a triumphant return once the rails had been cleared of ice and snow.
The star of this memorable day was undoubtedly Blackpool Brush car 623 which provided a very welcome enclosed car to run – a nice change from the last ‘snow day’ when the main service car was Stockport 5! However, 5 did perform the first passenger journey of the day before 623 took over for the rest of the day. Although not many people braved the cold to take a tram ride, the day provided some superb photo opportunities for those who were present, and perhaps even more importantly, the tramway has already received quite considerable praise for its efforts in running the advertised service despite the snow. All who made it happen deserve a lot of praise, and hopefully these photos will act as a small tribute and ‘thank-you’ to them for their hard work and dedication.