All about….British Trams Online!

When preparing this article I wasn’t sure what to call it, its our “product promise” to you if you like or maybe even our “mission statement”! But at a basic level the purpose of this is to explain what we aim to bring you each week – its as much an article for me so I have something to aim towards but it is also here to show you what British Trams Online is trying to achieve and why we’re here!

British Trams Online aims to bring you all the latest news, photographs and fleet list updates from across the British Isles, including England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Alongside this we regularly dip into the archives to see trams from days gone by (some more gone than others!) and we do also have a regular look at trams from around the world.

Not all the news we report on can probably be classed as “exciting” (a new tram doesn’t enter service or receive a new livery every day after all!) but we aim to bring the complete picture of tram and light rail operations from across the British Isles which is why there are some stories you may wonder why on earth have they included that! We don’t expect anyone to read every single word on the website (I don’t even do that and I write it all!) but hopefully there is something for everyone who logs on at some point during the week. I also try and be as positive as possible about any news stories – it isn’t always possible (especially if I’ve had a bad day!) but I really don’t see the point in being negative about something which is after all just a hobby and there are far worse things out there than a tram breaking down! It is inevitable that opinions will appear in some articles form time to time but I do try to avoid that as much as possible as just because I run this website it doesn’t mean my opinion is any more valid from anyone else and I don’t want to ram it down your throat!

There are in effect two main sections of the website:

The “main” site

Consisting of the fleet lists, photo galleries, Events Diary as well as our Tram of the Year contest the main site is updated a maximum of once a week, usually on a Sunday although sometimes earlier in the week. It is planned that each year will see around 40 main site updates although this number may be slightly higher or slightly lower depending on how things go really! Every main site update will be notified on both the News & Features page and on Facebook. Usually each of these updates will have at least one Photo Gallery but that is dependent on time of year and if I have any photos to include!

The News & Features page

All news and feature articles, including our various photographic series, are uploaded to this section. We hope to bring you between two and four articles every single day of the year, subject to technical problems and any other unforeseen issues. Much of the news is written in advance before being scheduled for uploading (mainly so I don’t necessarily have to be logging on every day to write and upload!), this does sometimes mean it will be a while between the news breaking and it being reported on the site but any of the bigger stories should appear fairly quickly. This format hopefully means there is at least something for everyone each day and we do aim to bring a selection of articles from different systems on any given day rather than having lots of news from just one place.

Our “Photographic series” on the News & Features page

Running four times a week on a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and uploaded during the early evening these our either archive photos or images from abroad. We run these on a rotational basis and the current rotation includes:

* Picture in Time – Blackpool Trams

* Picture in Time – Modern Trams

* Picture in Time – Traditional Trams (not in Blackpool!)

* Still Standing (old tramway buildings and other infrastructure still in existence across the UK)

* Trams Around the World

* Trams in Video

If you have any ideas of other themes for similar articles let us know!

We don’t always get things correct (I certainly wouldn’t consider myself an expert on all things trams related) but are always open to corrections and will try and amend the articles at the first opportunity. If you do notice an error please contact us.

British Trams Online is only a success because of those of you who submit contributions as it just isn’t possible for me to all around the UK at all times, especially when I have a full-time job too! If you see anything you think newsworthy please contact us (details below) – I try to answer each and every email thread I receive (sometimes quicker than others!) so if you send something and don’t get a reply the chances are I haven’t got it!

And so, there is the inner workings of my mind when it comes to British Trams Online! I have recently renewed the hosting agreement which takes us through until March 2022 and hopefully the above gives some explanation as to what we are trying to do here! Finally, you will notice I regularly interchange between I and We in various articles – in effect it means the same considering I am the only “member of staff”!

If you wish to contact British Trams Online you can do so by

Emailing gareth@britishtramsonline.co.uk

Sending a message through Facebook

As always if you ever have any queries, comments, complaints let me know!