Withdrawn Manchester Metrolink T68 1011 has found a new purpose in life after it was chosen to be part of the Red Bull City Trial taking place in the city centre on Saturday 21st September. The Red Bull City Trial is a global motorcycle event which sees an elite group of trial riders make their way over a course of huge, specially designed obstacles including 1011.
1011 was the second of the T68s to be withdrawn from service on 18th April 2012 and since that time has been stored firstly at Queens Road and then Trafford depots with component recovery taking place. This component recovery was accelerated at the end of August when all useful components were removed from the tram to prepare it for its new role which will see bikers jumping on and off the roof of the tram. This has included the tram being put into the new Metrolink livery – becoming the third T68 to receive the Yellow and Silver colours. With all useful components now removed from the tram it is not expected that it will have a particularly bright future once the event finishes.
The Red Bull City Trial takes place in Exchange Square, Manchester on Saturday 21st September. Four rounds take place between 1130 and 1600. More details on the event can be found at http://www.redbull.co.uk/citytrial.
Let’s hope this doesn’t encourage freelance bikers to try it with trams in service, like the Nokia ad on TV caused trams and buses to be stoned by copycats.
I’m suprised crich aren’t interested in buying one half for display at te museum – its split up!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hughesfowler/9848585536/
Please feel free to use any of the images on these for your site, these were taken with phone camera but should be ok for web useage
Nigel
A nice set of photos there Nigel.
Those sleepers would come in very handy at Heaton Park’s new Lakeside Depot if they want somewhere to dump them when finished with! And one of those tram halves would make a good toolshed at the Park, but I’ve already suggested that and it went down like a lead balloon. Heigh Ho.
And the best thing is that the two halves are on what must be very close to the alignments of both tracks of the Second City Crossing thus giving what approximates to a glimpse of the future! The existing seating in the square resembles (rather long wheelbase) bogies; bizarre alongside a tram that has lost its own!
Unfortunately it now appears 1011 has now been despatched to Booth’s of Rotherham for scrapping, gaining the dubious honour of being Britain’s first second-generation tram to be scrapped. Hopefully some will be preserved, but I’m not too confident as the T68’s are no-where near as desirable as some of the Blackpool trams sold off last year. That said, there was surprising interest in the comparatively unpopular Centenarys. T68 at Heaton Park, anyone? I hope the MTMS buys one, they are just as important to the city as any other Manchester tram, if not more, as they inaugurated the light rail era in the UK. Without them, they would be no Sheffield Supertram, no Croydon Tramlink, no Midland Metro…the list goes on.