This coming weekend (Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th September) will see the annual enthusiasts event at the Crich Tramway Village – home of the National Tramway Museum – which this year will be celebrating 60 years of electric trams whilst also looking to the future with recent restoration projects set to be in service.
Whilst the Crich site which we now know as the Crich Tramway Village (officially) was acquired in 1959 and the first horse tram service started in 1963, it wasn’t until 1964 that the first electric trams ran. The very first tram to run was Blackpool & Fleetwood Rack 2, which although not part of the current operating fleet remains on static display at the museum, and since 1964 many, many other trams have run in service along the demonstration tramway which now runs up to Glory Mine for approximately one mile.
As part of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of that first electric tram running Tram Weekend – known as Electric Tram Weekend this year – will not only look back over the years but will be looking forward to the future with a focus on recent restoration projects.
Of course, the most high profile of those is London County Council 1 (aka Bluebird) which is scheduled to officially launched into service at a private event for TMS members and other invited guests on Friday 13th September. Bluebird last ran in service in Leeds in 1957 making this a very significant return and comes after an extensive restoration only made possible by funding by the London County Council Tramways Trust.
After its launch it is planned that 1 will be used in service on both days of the weekend and will also be joined by Newcastle 102 which returned to action earlier this year for the first time since 2000. Another highlight of the planned tram output looks to be London County Council 106 – this has been out of action since 2021 but has been in the Workshops recently and now looks set to return to service over this weekend.
It doesn’t matter what the event is called – whether that by Enthusiasts Event, Tram Day, Tram Weekend – but you know the type of thing to expect and that is trams in service as well as photo line-ups on the depot fan. This year will be no different but with an ongoing project to upgrade the electricity supply there is a limit on the number of trams which can be operated at one time.
An intensive tram service expected to run on both days starting at 1030 (Bluebird starting things off on Saturday 14th and Newcastle 102 on Sunday 15th) with 1030-1200 and 1400-1700 seeing multiple trams departing every 10 minutes.
The planned output on each day is as follows (subject to all the usual caveats, the final tram allocations will be confirmed on Friday 13th September):
Saturday 14th September
London County Council 1, Chesterfield 7, Glasgow 22, Sheffield 74, Newcastle 102, London County Council 106, Blackpool 166, Blackpool 167, Oporto 273, Sheffield 510, Liverpool 869, London Transport 1622
Sunday 15th September
London County Council 1, Blackpool 40, Newcastle 102, London County Council 106, Blackpool 166, Blackpool 236, Leeds 180, Leeds 399, Blackpool 630, London Transport 1622
Alongside trams in service some of the highlights include:
Saturday 14th September
1000 – Curtain Raiser in the street: Capital Trams including LCC 1
1030-1230 – Shunting on the depot fan
1030-1600 – Exhibition Hall displays
1100-1200 – Depot Fan display
1200-1400 – Trams return to depot for lunch giving photo opportunities
1200-1400 – Tutbury Band on the Bandstand
1500-1600 – Depot Fan display celebrating 60 years of electric trams at Crich
1630 – Shunting on the depot fan
Sunday 15th September
1000 – Curtain Raiser in the street: Leeds line-up including LCC 1, Leeds 180 and Leeds 399
1030-1130 – Shunting on the depot fan
1030-1600 – Exhibition Hall displays
1100-1130 – Depot Fan display
1200-1400 – Trams return to depot for lunch giving photo opportunities
1200-1400 – New Mills Band on the Bandstand
1500-1600 – Depot Fan display celebrating 60 years of electric trams at Crich
1630 – Shunting on the depot fan
Full coverage of the events on British Trams Online will follow in a future update and all being well there should be “live” coverage on Facebook during the weekend.
- The full programme can be downloaded from the Crich Tramway Village website at https://www.tramway.co.uk/whatson/tram-weekend/