In Pictures: Wilko demolition continues

Posted on Tuesday 22 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

Never before has the demolition of one building attracted so much attention from tram enthusiasts! Yes, its another pictorial article looking at the old Wilko’s store on Talbot Road in Blackpool as it is raised to the ground to eventually allow construction of the new tram terminus along with a hotel. These pictures were taken on Thursday 17th September and show good progress now being made on removing the building.

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Still Standing! Brixton Hill Depot, London

Posted on Tuesday 22 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

Its another visit to London for this edition of “Still Standing!” as we take a look at Brixton Hill Depot.

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Summerlee Trams to run again from 23rd September

Posted on Monday 21 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

The Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life has been reopen again since 26th August but in that time the trams have remained quiet as preparations were made for their return with all the current Covid-19 restrictions in place. These have now been satisfactorily completed and Scotland’s only heritage tramway will be running again from Wednesday 23rd September.

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Birmingham Westside extension works move on

Posted on Monday 21 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

Saturday 19th September 2020 saw another major milestone achieved on the second phase of the Birmingham Westside extension when the new tracks laid in Broad Street were welded to those already in position in Centenary Square.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Twin Car 672+682

Posted on Monday 21 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

Today we take another look at a Metro Coastlines livery style carried on a Blackpool Tram in the early 2000s.

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Trams in Video: Western Railway Museum, Rio Vista, California

Posted on Sunday 20 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

In today’s video we are off to the United States of America for footage recorded at the Western Railway Museum in Rio Vista, California on 21st July 2002. Included are rides on a Sacramento Northern Birney car and a Peninsular Railway interurban car and we also take a look inside the car barn at some of the vehicles at rest.

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In Review: Sheffield: From Tram to Tram-Train

Posted on Sunday 20 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

We often start our reviews of books on modern tram systems with a similar line to – you don’t get many books dedicated to our modern tram systems but as more and more are released that seems to no longer be the case! The latest book comes from Platform 5 and is on the Supertram system in Sheffield and South Yorkshire.

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Lockdown Walks: Manchester Metrolink 3114

Posted on Sunday 20 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

In this latest edition of our series looking at trams operating in 2020 we are again in Manchester with the first in a series of images taken on the Trafford Park extension.

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Changes on the cards for Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours?

Posted on Sunday 20 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

As we all know Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours returned to action in August and will be seeing celebrations to mark the 135th anniversary of the tramway in September. But behind the scenes it appears there has been some governance changes with the the press release that accompanied the news about the resumption of service seeming to  confirm that the heritage tram offering will now become the responsibility of Blackpool Transport’s Head of Tramway.

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In Pictures: Track welding in Blackpool

Posted on Saturday 19 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

Monday 14th September saw some general track maintenance taking place on the Blackpool Tramway with the points at North Pier being attended to by the track crew. Some welding took place on the points leading to the loop here in between the normal tram service running making sure that the loop line is all ready for use throughout the remainder of the operating season with daytime heritage tours still using this location to start their journeys.

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Around the World in Trams: Innsbruck 305 & 303

Posted on Saturday 19 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

Today we again head to the Austrian city of Innsbruck for this edition of “Around the World in Trams”.

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Tram Pub Signs – Historic: The Terminus, Chesterfield

Posted on Saturday 19 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

We feature a pub which we’ve seen before in this short series as we head back to The Terminus in Chesterfield for a historic image of how the sign used to look in 1982.

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Lockdown Walks: Edinburgh Trams 269

Posted on Saturday 19 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

In this latest edition of “Lockdown Walks” we again head to central Edinburgh for another view of a tram running in 2020.

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In Pictures: Lowestoft 14 progresses at Carlton Colville

Posted on Friday 18 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

One of the lengthy restoration projects which has been ongoing around the UK for some time is Lowestoft 14 which has been under attention at the East Anglia Transport Museum in Carlton Colville. As this pictorial article shows the tram has recently found its way to the front of the tram depot where the chance has been taken to work on the upper deck paintwork.

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Metrolink release first performance stats since February

Posted on Friday 18 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

It has been nearly eight months since performance stats were last released on Manchester Metrolink – for pretty obvious reasons! – but KeolisAmey Metrolink have broken cover to publish the latest stats which as well as including details of the latest four week period (26th July to 22nd August) also gives an insight into the missing periods too.

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Picture in Time: East Anglia Transport Museum tracklaying

Posted on Friday 18 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

We continue our look at some archive images from the East Anglia Transport Museum today as we go back to the very early days of the museum with preparations underway for the arrival of another tram.

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In Pictures: More history discovered in Edinburgh as Trams to Newhaven project continues

Posted on Thursday 17 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

One of the fascinating aspects of the current stage of the Trams to Newhaven project in Edinburgh is the archaeological finds which have long laid buried under the streets of the city. This is certainly the case around the South Leith Parish Church where a skeleton has recently been unearthed as the team from GUARD Archaeology continue their work (please note this article contains images of the recent findings including the skeleton).

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In Pictures: Former Steam Tram engine returns to action

Posted on Thursday 17 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

Lucie – a former steam tram engine which was operated by the East Brussels Tram Company in Belgium – has recently been returned to steam at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, joining an elite group of steam tram engines which have run in the UK over the years.

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Lockdown Walks: Stagecoach Supertram 105

Posted on Thursday 17 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

In this instalment of “Lockdown Walks” we are in Sheffield as we take a look at another tram running on the Supertram network.

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Yellow for new Tyne and Wear Metro trains

Posted on Wednesday 16 September 2020 by Gareth Prior

Metro will be finished in a vibrant yellow colour scheme as a nod to the iconic original livery carried on the trains when the system opened 40 years ago. The yellow will be accompanied by black and pale grey along the bodyside and the livery has been chosen following input from passengers and employees.

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