The Shipley Glen Tramway in West Yorkshire is facing a bill of £89,000 for major repairs to the historic line, and to help them to complete these repairs they have launched a fundraising appeal.
On their official website they have posted the following message: “Emergency!!! The weather has played havoc with the Tramway. Like many places, we have experienced problems attributable to the recent weather conditions. This has led to having to reconstruct sections of the track to maintain safety. Unfortunately, it will not be a cheap exercise, so we are looking for more of your generous donations.”
They have gone into more detail in a BBC News article where one of their trustees, John Pitcher, has said: “What has happened, over the years, is that the damp has washed away underneath the tracks actually into the track bed, so the track bed is now a little bit unstable. Over the years we’ve maintained it, and you can stick patches on for so long, but there comes a time when you need a little bit more than an Elastoplast.”
“We’ve got to raise abut £89,000, so it’s not an inconsiderable sum of money. We’ve got a fair amount in our own reserves, but certainly not enough to cover anything like that expense. Really we need to do it as soon as possible because, obviously, we want to be up and running hopefully for Easter and continuing into the next 10 or 15 years.”
The tramway has been cleared as safe to carry on operation but the work will be needed in the close future to ensure it remains fully operational.
The Shipley Glen Tramway is a historic cable funicular tramway which runs for 400 metres on a 20 inch gauge at a 1 in 7 gradient. It was opened on 18th May 1895 and was originally built to serve a number of attractions in Shipley Glen (long since closed), gas operated initially its been powered by electricity since 1920.
Its now operated by a charitable trust and was closed in 2010-11 to allow for an upgrade, this included a new braking system to bring it up to modern standards.
- To donate towards their appeal visit the website at https://www.shipleyglentramway.co.uk/donations/