Wednesday 3rd April was a hectic day at Beamish Museum, with Lisbon 730 arriving on site ready for the tramway’s 40th anniversary celebrations starting the following day. No sooner had 730 arrived and been moved into the tram depot, then attention turned towards Leeds 6 which was loaded up ready for return to Heaton Park, ending its three year stay in the North East.
Lisbon 730 had been loaded onto a low loader provided by Scott’s Heavy Haulage at Birkenhead earlier that day; a fairly straightforward process due to its small size. The car had part of its lifeguards removed and its trolley pole securely tied down, but otherwise required no preparation, and it arrived at Beamish safely in time to be unloaded shortly after the museum closed for the day. The car was then able to be driven inside under its own power, and was moved over the depot’s maintenance pit so that its lifeguards could be re-assembled, allowing it to enter service on the museum line as soon as possible. Appropriately, 730 was parked up alongside Oporto 196 – this is believed to have been the first time in history that trams from these two Portugese systems have been seen together anywhere in the world, as both operators use different gauges.
Once 730 was safely tucked up inside, Leeds 6 was prepared to return home to the Heaton Park Tramway at Manchester. Having undergone some initial work earlier in the day, the car was driven up to the waiting low loader and then pulled up the already assembled ramp. Despite the rear end of the tram becoming grounded on its way up, it was soon secured in place on the wagon, which then stabled at the museum overnight before heading to Manchester early the following morning. The team from Scott’s will then head to Crich, to collect Glasgow 1068 which will then join Lisbon 730 at Beamish, and it is hoped that both visiting trams will be in service over the coming weekend. The museum’s official website has now been updated to advise potential visitors about the delays experienced with the visiting trams, with 730 expected to enter service at its temporary home on Friday 5th April, after completing a succesful test run around the tramway circuit on the evening of Thursday 4th April. It should be swiftly followed by Glasgow 1068 hopefully on Saturday 6th; this car was loaded up at Crich on the 4th and set off on its journey up north soon afterwards. Both cars are expected to remain in situ throughout the Great North Festival of Transport and should see further use on Thursdays and Fridays over the next two weeks, before heading back to their respective homes.
Although it is obviously very pleasing to see these long-awaited movements taking place, the decision to move Leeds 6 back to Heaton Park before transporting Glasgow 1068 to Beamish was very strange and could attract criticism. This move has unnecessarily delayed 1068‘s arrival even more, limiting its role at the 40th anniversary event, and had Leeds 6 stayed put for a few more days, it would have been a useful extra tram which would have slightly compensated for the absence of Stockport 5 which was of course originally intended to visit Beamish as well. Instead, we can at least look forward to seeing 6 back in action on its native tramway again for the first time since it first moved to Beamish back in April 2010 for the ‘Power from the Past’ event which took on a works vehicle theme that year.
Touchdown! Lisbon 730 seen making its first tentative moves along Beamish tracks following delivery late on April 3rd. (Photo courtesey of the Beamish Transport & Industry Blog)
More history in the making, with Lisbon 730 passing the museum entrance on its first test run around the tramway circuit just 24 hours after arrival. (Photo courtesey of the Beamish Transport & Industry Blog)
I Agree That The Decision To Move Leeds 6 Back To Manchester Was A Bit Strange But I Have Been Inside The Depot And Even Though Two Trams Were Out In Service, There Was Only Space For One Tram In The Shed. This Was When Coronation 304 Was There. Prehaps They Didn’t Want To Have Two Trams Stabled On The Depot Fan At The Same Time Even Though It Would Only Have Been Briefly.
While it would have been nice for 6 to stay another week and represent Heaton Park in lieu of 5, returning it now is a sensible and understandable economy measure as the lorry would otherwise have been heading south to collect 1068 empty. The diversion via Manchester only added a few hours to the journey so not doing it would not have made a difference to when 1068 could enter service at Beamish.
To blame Beamish, Heaton Park or Crich is, I think, very wide of the mark, no-one can control the weather and no-one could have predicted the failure of the lorry a couple of weeks ago.
Whatever, the cars are now in place for the two busiest days of the event thanks to the persistence of many, when it would have been tempting to take the easy option at the beginning of the week and cancel all the moves. It was enjoyable to ride on 730 today and see 1068 being prepared, so looks promising for tomorrow…
Paul
I Might Be One Of The First Members Of The Public To Board 1068 At Beamish Then Because Im Going To Be There Exactly When The Museum Opens.
I Can Definately Understand The Low Loader Going Via Manchester, Stockport 5’s Cancellation Hasn’t Changed Anything Because The Low Loader Still Had To Go Sooner Or Later!
Even the Germans use Capitals only for Nouns, Dan. iT mAKES yOUR pOSTS vERY dIFFICULT tO rEAD!
geoff,
the only reason i use capitals is because i find things hard to read. if i didn’t use capitals at the start of every word, i would probably type in a whole load of nonsense, post the comment and not even realise what was written. capitals are the only way for me to realise what i am typing and to make sure that i am talking sensibly. this comment was typed up in block capitals. still living with my parents i asked one of them to change it to lower case. i can start typing everything like this if you like
hELLO tHIS iS mY eXAMPLE tEXT