The much-anticipated Beamish Museum tramway’s 40th anniversary celebrations are now just hours away, and to publicise the occasion, a special press event took place on Wednesday 3rd April, with tram crews in period costume posing along with a celebratory cake. However, behind the scenes all is far from rosy; at this time neither of the advertised visiting trams had yet arrived on site, although Lisbon 730 was expected later in the day and may well have arrived at Beamish by the time this article appears online.
The anniversary event, dubbed ‘Our Friends Electric’, has been plagued by misfortune and unfortunately this is showing no sign of letting up, even as final preparations get underway. The dire weather in Derbyshire meant that Scott’s Heavy Haulage felt unable to safely move trams by road, and hence the transportation of both Lisbon 730 (from the Birkenhead heritage tramway) and Glasgow 1068 (from Crich Tramway Village) was put back several times, along with the planned return of Leeds 6 from Beamish to Heaton Park.
The press launch for the event therefore centered around Newcastle 114, which has been decorated in a traditional manner for the occasion and looks stunning. It was also pleasing to see the British Trams Online sponsored Blackpool ‘Boat’ car 233 in the background, along with Sunderland 16. Another added attraction will be Blackpool 31 which will be carrying its ‘Circular Tour’ headboards, first seen at the 2011 ‘Power from the Past’ event. It is hoped that Lisbon 730 will be available for service throughout the event but until the car has arrived and operated at Beamish, it is hard to confirm this for sure. At the time of writing, Glasgow 1068 is expected to travel to the museum late on Friday 5th April and will hopefully join the fleet for the weekend. It must be sincerely hoped that this tram will be available to participate in the tram parade and photo shoot on Saturday evening, otherwise this event will become another major disapointment for those who have arranged to attend.
The delays to the arrival of the two visiting cars is obviously very disapointing, but Beamish Museum cannot really be blamed for the situation which has arisen due to various circumstances beyond their control. However, it is very unfortunate that the museum’s website is still advertising the presence of cars 730 and 1068 for the event, and both trams are specifically mentioned in an update on today’s activities. At worst, this could be seen as being deliberately deceptive, as anyone visiting for the first day of ‘Our Friends Electric’ stands absolutely no chance of seeing 1068, and even 730 could be doubtful. Thankfully the excellent Beamish Transport & Industry blog, maintained by Keeper of Transport Paul Jarman, offers a full explanation of the current state of play, but it must be questioned how many potential visitors will actually check this? The Crich Tramway Village website is similarly useless, with some archive images of 1068 in its earlier guise as Paisley 68 being uploaded today, but no indication given as to when the tram will travel to the North East.
Thankfully, the two visitors are expected to remain in place for the duration of the Great North Festival of Transport, which runs over three consecutive weekends, meaning there should be more opportunities for enthusiasts to sample them both away from home. This is, however, little commiseration for anyone who has made arrangements to visit earlier to see them.
Despite the setbacks mentioned above, British Trams Online will be reporting from Beamish and readers can look forward to coverage of this event on the website in due course. We also hope that those of you who are visiting the museum will be able to enjoy the events that are on offer, as Beamish is undoubtedly a fantastic museum with a great deal to see and do, with or without visiting tramcars.
*STOP PRESS* Lisbon 730 arrived at Beamish this evening (03/04/13) and was driven straight into the tram depot after being unloaded; however it will require some commissioning work and trial running before it can be approved for service. Leeds 6 is being loaded up for return to Heaton Park expected early on Thursday 4th April.
Lisbon 730 was in service all day today (5 April) and Glasgow 1068 arrived late this morning. According to Beamish both should be running this weekend.
That Is Excellent News Because 1068 And 730 Are The Only Reason Why I Am Going!