The good news keeps coming for the Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester, which has had plenty to celebrate this year with the opening of a new extension, Manchester 765‘s successful visit to Beamish Museum and the arrival of two ‘new’ trams on site (Stockport 5 and Blackpool 623) amongst the main highlights. However, the latest piece of news is probably the most significant yet for the tramway – planning permission has been granted for a new tram depot in the park!
Plans for a second tram depot at Heaton Park have been under discussion for longer than many people probably realise, and as the Manchester Transport Museum Society have kept adding more trams to their growing collection, the need for such a building has become increasingly desperate. Plans for a fairly large depot at the tramway’s new Lakeside terminus were submitted to the local Council earlier this year, and this week the MTMS were informed that the proposals had been accepted. This will allow a much larger number of trams to be housed at the park, as the present depot/workshop building will only accommodate 3 or 4 vehicles, depending on their size. This should mean that the likes of Blackpool Ex-Towing Railcoach 680 and Blackpool Balloon 702 will be able to come to the park for the first time ever, and Leeds 6 should be able to return from its extended stay at Beamish Museum. Another welcome return will be that of Blackpool works car 752 which has been temporarily stored at the East Lancashire Railway since late August when it was moved off-site to create space for Stockport 5. Another tram which should benefit is Heaton Park 7, the ex-Blackpool replica Vanguard car which is currently stored outside having recently given its depot space to car 623.
It is hoped that construction work will be able to begin shortly, and that the new depot will be completed at some point in 2012 to enable the trams mentioned above to move to the park and be safely housed undercover. However, although the successful application is a huge leap forwards for the project, one other important element is still needed to make it into a reality: money! The appeal for funding to build a depot has already been quite successful, but more cash is still needed to ensure that the depot can be built without placing a serious burden on the MTMS’ finances. Anyone wishing to support this appeal
can do so on the tramway’s website here. All donations, large or small, will be extremely welcome, especially at this key turning point in the preserved tramway’s history.
Report by Andrew Waddington