Firstly, the project to increase the amount of covered accommodation available to the tram fleet at Beamish is rapidly approaching completion – amazingly, just a few weeks after work began! New rails have been laid in gaps cut in the depot floor, and all that remains to be finished is now the pouring of some concrete to tidy up the floor space. This work is expected to be carried out in the next week, and then the fourth depot track will be available to occupy. Two trams are expected to benefit from this in the very near future;
Sheffield 264, which has been stored ‘off the rails’ for just over a year, and is stored awaiting a major overhaul, and Leeds 6 which has spent much of 2011 stored outside the shed. This particular car is of course on loan from the Heaton Park Tramway and remains in regular service on the tramway at Beamish, which will presumably be the case until the new depot at Heaton Park is constructed.
Another important current project is the overhaul of Beamish 196 which continues to progress following the recent separation of the body and truck. It has already been confirmed that, once the work on 196 is completed, attention will then turn to Sunderland 16 which requires the replacement of worn tyres, but is not expected to receive any other significant work at this stage. However, it is expected that Gateshead
10 will be treated to a heavy overhaul, including a full repaint, next winter to restore it to a pristine appearance in time for 2013, when the 40th anniversary of tram operation at Beamish will be celebrated in fine style.
Even more excitingly, a suggestion has been made that 10 could possibly be repainted green to represent its latter-day guise as Grimsby & Immingham 26, as it was sold to British Rail for further use following the closure of the Gateshead system. If this goes ahead – and for now this is a big IF – the tram could initially be outshopped in BR green livery for the 2012 ‘Power from the Past’ event, which is due to be held in early September. This would only be a short-term measure however, as the car is of great local interest and was also the first tram to operate at Beamish, so would be needed to return to its more familiar identity as Gateshead 10 by summer 2013. However, this is certainly a very interesting idea and one that we very much hope will become a reality! The Museum’s Curator of Transport has invited feedback on the proposal on his Internet blog and any
readers who are keen to see 10 returned to Grimsby & Immingham livery are encouraged to comment on the site here: http://beamishtransport.blogspot.com/2011/12/wonder-of-internet-gateshead-10-and.html – where a photo of 10 as 26 prior to restoration is also on view. Incidentally, if the project goes ahead sponsorship will be sought to help cover the costs of repainting the tram. The distinctive advertising boards on the roof sides would also need to be removed temporarily, and a few other detail touches would increase the authenticity of the suggested repaint.
Whatever happens, the future of the trams at Beamish seems brighter than ever before, and if the loan of vehicles from elsewhere continues then this looks set to be an increasingly popular destination for tram enthusiasts in the years to come.
Report by Andrew Waddington