Crich get ready for the another season

It seems to have come round quickly again but this Saturday, 12th March, will see the Crich Tramway Village reopening for another season. After a couple of seasons where there has been limited opening because of the pandemic 2022 will, hopefully, be a bit more normal with the return of a couple of much missed trams into the fleet as well as some popular special events.

Although Crich has been closed since the end of October that doesn’t mean that nothing has been happening with the past few months seeing winter maintenance taking place – both of the infrastructure as well as of the trams. When the museum reopens all facilties will be available although some measures will still be in place to maintain high levels of hygiene.

On the tram front it is hoped that during the course of the season at least 18 passenger trams will be available for service. Probably the highlight of those trams which will run will be the return to service of Newcastle 102 – which last operated 2000. Now approaching the end of its Tramcar Sponsorship Organisation funded overhaul (which started in June 2018) the tram still has some final tests to go before it can be cleared for a full commissioning into service.

In addition to 102 this year should see the return to service of London Transport 1622. Having been seen undergoing extensive testing in 2021 the tram is now reaching the end of its hiatus out of service and it should be back in service for the first time since 2016.

Other trams which didn’t see use in 2021 which are planned to be commisioned are London United Tramways 159 (last used 2019), Blackpool 166 (last used 2019), Sheffield 510 (last used 2019)

The full list of trams which are currently planned to be commisioned for service (subject to all the usual caveats) are:

Glasgow 22

Sheffield 74

Newcastle 102

London County Council 106

London United Tramways 159

Blackpool 166

Blackpool 167

Leeds 180

Blackpool 236

Oporto 273

Metropolitan Electric Tramways 331

Leeds 345

Leeds 399

Sheffield 510

Blackpool 630

Liverpool 869

London Transport 1622

Berlin 223 006-4

Chesterfield 7 will be in reserve and Blackpool Standard 40 may be available towards the end of the season, subject to the succesful completion of its ongoing overhaul in the workshops.

The highlight of the special events calendar for enthusiasts will again be Tram Day which takes place on Saturday 17^th September giving the usual mix of plenty of trams in service and rare trams out the depots for photos. But other events taking place will include popular occasions such as “Memories of the 1940s”, “Great British Seaside”, “Classic Motorcycle Day”, “Teddy Bears Picnic” and “Steampunk Weekend”.

Graeme Wigglesworth, Engineering Manager, said: “The Workshop and Facilities Teams have worked tirelessly over the winter on the maintenance and refurbishment of the trams, track, overhead line and general infrastructure, and we are ready to welcome new and returning visitors to Crich Tramway Village from 12^th March.”

Set to return to service this year is London Passenger Transport Board 1622. Seen here on test at Glory Mine.

Another returner should be Newcastle 102 which was also under test when seen outside the depot. (Both Photographs by Peter Whiteley/Crich Tramway Village)