Every so often the two sides of tram and light rail in the UK come together – we’re talking about the heritage and the modern as Nexus have recently helped out with some maintenance at Beamish. Staff from the Tyne and Wear Metro conducted a safety critical inspection of the tramway at Beamish as part of a scheme where workers at Nexus can do a day’s voluntary work in the community.
The Metro staff brought in advanced equipment (usually used on the Metro for nightly maintenance tasks) to undertake the inspection work. This involved a road rail vehicle which could work safety at height to inspect the overhead wires.
Malcolm Irving, Principal Engineer at Nexus, said: “It’s been a fantastic experience for our staff carry out such vital work on the Beamish tram system. We were more than happy to help out, and we really enjoyed the day. The work we did was of some extra importance given the recent ravages of Storm Arwen, and it was certainly a big help to the team at Beamish.
“We undertook a full safety critical inspection of the tramway’s overhead lines. It’s a working transport system so the equipment needs to be checked in accordance with the modern-day safety regulations just like any other railway network. We have the expertise and the equipment to do this sort of work, which is a daily occurrence on the Tyne and Wear Metro system.
“We have been able to ensure that the famous tramway at Beamish is reliable and safe for many years to come. Nexus has a specific policy that allows staff to do a day’s voluntary work every year, and everyone was keen that we should devote that to helping out a not-for-profit organisation like Beamish, a museum that has helped to put our region on the map.”
Matt Ellis, Keeper of Transport at Beamish, added: “We’d like to thank Nexus very much for coming in and helping us with this work, it’s very much appreciated. Nexus supplied their equipment for their staff to use and the team inspected the entire overhead line equipment and fittings, for any degradation due to weather, age, storm damage and any long-term wear, particularly to the contact wire. It’s a routine thing, we would have to get round to each bit eventually ourselves, but the fact that we can do the entire system in one day makes it quite an easy thing. Thank you to Nexus, we’re very grateful.”
With what appears to be a school party on board in this picture we see Sheffield 264 close to the Entrance.
We then catch up with 264 as it stands in the Town having just terminated. It will now pull forward just off the town street and then reverse to pick up more passengers at the usual stop. (Both Photographs by Trevor Hall, 9th December 2021)