What is it with Bank Holidays and rain? (In fact you could ask what it is with summer 2023 and rain the way it seems to have gone over the past few months!). Sunday 27th August in the northeast of England saw heavy downpours supplemented by grey weather but that didn’t put off visitors to Beamish as it was still a bus day requiring a three tram output – although it won’t surprise you to know that it didn’t include either of the two open toppers in the fleet!
Oporto 196 is probably used the least of the operational fleet but the wet weather led it to being allocated to service on this day. Retaining its colourful South Shields Corporation livery its seen here at the Entrance when working anti-clockwise.
Also in service was Sunderland 16. Running on the clockwise circuit it joins 196 here.
And completing the trio was, of course, Sheffield 264. Taken in one of those mentioned downpours 264 and 196 are captured together at Foulbridge. (All Photographs by Trevor Hall, 27th August 2023)