Open cars come out to play at Crich

Thanks to some glorious spring weather during the Easter school holiday period, the use of open tramcars at Crich Tramway Village has increased significantly. Last year’s two most extensively used trams, Glasgow 1068 and Blackpool ‘Boat’ 236 have been in regular use along with Blackpool 166, but the highlight of the season so far has probably been the welcome return to service of Southampton 45.

When 45 was consigned to the Exhibition Hall a year ago it was feared that this popular tram was destined for a lengthy period of inactivity, but it has now been prepared for use with minimal effort and is back in service. The tram’s first appearance in passenger service since 2012 came on 9th April, and the car has been used at least once since, no doubt prompted by the excellent weather we have been enjoying of late.

It is known that 45 is not in the best condition and will probably require fairly significant attention if it is to remain serviceable for much longer, and so with this in mind the car will see restricted use during 2014. This is undoubtedly a preferable situation to it not running again, and should allow this iconic tram to feature in the events to mark 50 years of electric tram operation at the museum this summer. Whilst the museum deserve praise for returning Southampton 45 to use, it could be questioned why it was stored last year when relatively few open cars were available at the start of the year, and indeed, if its withdrawal was only ever planned to be temporary, perhaps this should have been better communicated to avoid a potential enthusiast backlash? However, the most important thing right now is that 45 can now resume doing what it does best – carrying happy visitors on warm sunny days – and its return now gives Crich a good selection of three open top double-deckers, with London 159 and Glasgow 1068 also operational.

Another advantage of the recent spell of fine weather has been that visitors have been able to enjoy the opportunity to alight from the trams at Glory Mine. Picnic tables have recently been placed near the terminus so that people can enjoy the stunning views of the Derbyshire countryside, a development which is so far proving to be very popular. Hopefully this area can now be expanded, but already a new dimension has been added to the attraction at fairly minimal expense, and hopefully this will ensure that more people visit Crich this year, whilst also encouraging those who do go to stay on site a little longer so they can sample more of what is on offer.