In Pictures: A Belgian resident in Suffolk

Posted on Monday 23 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

Think trams in Suffolk and you would probably immediately go East Anglia Transport Museum or the Ipswich Transport Museum. However, there is another tram in the area in Southwold on the site of a proposed new museum called Steamworks. It is a tramcar trailer from Charleroi and has been in the UK for a number of years since withdrawal in 1975.

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Around the World in Trams: Den Haag 1024

Posted on Sunday 22 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

We stay in Amsterdam for this week’s overseas tram image but show a tram from elsewhere in the Netherlands, Den Haag to be precise.

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In Pictures: Birmingham 107 at Aston Manor Road Transport Museum

Posted on Sunday 22 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

Across the UK there are a number of small transport museums run by volunteers with limited opening hours which tend to go under the radar somewhat but still have many key exhibits which have been saved for the future. One such museum is the Aston Manor Road Transport Museum which amongst several buses has the lower deck of Birmingham Corporation Tramways 107 on display.

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Memorabilia from old South Shields station to be donated to museum

Posted on Sunday 22 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

Items from the old South Shields Tyne and Wear Metro station – which was replaced by an all new interchange in August – have been donated to the South Shields Museum and Art Gallery. The “iconic” items include signage and one of the famous yellow Metro station cubes will go on display at the museum with a special exhibition of public transport in the area set to follow in 2021.

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Picture in Time: Docklands Light Railway 04

Posted on Saturday 21 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

We are off to London’s Docklands again for today’s image from the archives as we head back to 1994 for a photo taken in a different time for the Docklands Light Railway.

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In Pictures: Blackpool 31 in action at Beamish

Posted on Saturday 21 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

Beamish is now without any loan trams following the departure of first Manchester 765 and now Blackpool & Fleetwood 40 meaning the standard service at the museum is being operated by the home based fleet solely. The schools may now be back but Beamish remains busy with plenty of coach trips making the trip to the northeast for a day out at this excellent museum, indeed on Tuesday 17th September there were no fewer than 10 coaches noted in the car park. And with fine late summer weather still being enjoyed it was a chance for the open top trams to stretch their wheels a bit more.

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In Pictures: 4040 returns to service on Tyne and Wear Metro

Posted on Saturday 21 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

Whilst we have been concentrating on the new Tyne and Wear Metro fleet currently being procured we mustn’t forget the current fleet which continues to operate the service. Shortages of the Metro Cars are often seen with peak time extras unable to run which does mean that some of the unrefurbished vehicles are pressed into service at times. The four which weren’t refurbished were 4001, 4002, 4040 and 4083 with 4040 recently seen back in service for the first time in 2019.

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Tram on the move

Posted on Friday 20 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

A tram that little is known about is set to move soon, leaving its home of the past four years in Colwyn Bay for pastures new. The replica tram – which has been around for a number of years and is believed to have at one stage been used by Balfour Beatty for publicity events – was cosmetically restored and put in Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay but its time there is now at an end.

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Final piece of track for Phase One of Westside extension welded into place

Posted on Friday 20 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

Construction work which will enable West Midlands Metro trams to run on the first phase of the Birmingham Westside extension to Victoria Square and Centenary Square by the end of this year is now entering its final stages with the latest significant milestone of all track in place being achieved this week.

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Standard 143’s restoration in the final stages

Posted on Thursday 19 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

On Monday 23rd September a tram is set to be returned to service in Blackpool, some 62 years since it last carried passengers. That tram is Standard 143 which is coming to the end of its extensive restoration with the final few jobs being completed at Blackpool Transport’s Rigby Road Depot ahead of its big return.

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Have Hitachi been unsuccessful in their bid to build new Metro trains?

Posted on Thursday 19 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

Reports on the BBC have suggested that local train builder Hitachi – local as in they have a factory in the north east at Newton Aycliffe – have been unsuccessful in their bid to build the new trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro but Nexus have denied they have made a decision yet. The new trains are set to be introduced on the network from the end of 2021 with three companies in the running to supply the fleet of 42 vehicles: Hitachi, Stadler and CAF.

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Picture in Time: Glasgow 1100 and 1297

Posted on Thursday 19 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

Another trip to Crich for this latest edition of Picture in Time as we take a look at the 1973 Grand Transport Extravaganza.

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See inside the tram depot at Summerlee for Doors Open Day

Posted on Wednesday 18 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

On Saturday 21st September the annual Doors Open Days will be taking place across Scotland and this year Summerlee – The Museum of Scottish Industrial Life will be taking part, which include the chance to see behind the scenes in the tram depot and to see latest progress on the restoration of Glasgow 1245.

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In Pictures: 269 makes it three AMEX trams in Edinburgh

Posted on Wednesday 18 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

We previously brought you news that there were two trams in Edinburgh advertising American Express and now there is a third! Following hot on the heels of 264 and 270, 269 has also seen the adverts applied and as with the other two trams the adverts are identical extoling the virtues of an American Express credit card with suggestions where you can use them in Edinburgh.

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In Pictures: Blackpool Boats in action during Muni Heritage Weekend

Posted on Tuesday 17 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

They may be 5,151 miles away from home but the San Francisco Blackpool Boats were both in action over the Muni Heritage Weekend on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th September with the more long-standing resident 228 in service on both days whilst newer arrival 233 only put in an appearance on the Saturday. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world but it would appear that Blackpool Boat Cars are popular anywhere with both cars proving popular in a well organised event which saw many historic streetcars and trolleys from around the world in action during the two days. Stephen Cobb visited and the below photos show the Boats (and newly found friends!) in action.

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In Pictures: Blue continues its West Midlands Metro takeover

Posted on Tuesday 17 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

The end is nigh! The end of the magenta livery on West Midlands Metro that is! There are now only two trams in the full magenta, silver and white livery with a further two Urbos3s having now been spotted in the all over blue livery – 26 (which has run in service) and 22 (which has yet to run in the blue).

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Engineering Car 754

Posted on Tuesday 17 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

We have a lot to be grateful for to various transport undertakings across the country as if they hadn’t converted earlier passenger trams into works cars there may be several types of tram we now enjoy which had been confined to the history books. One such example comes from Blackpool and at the time of the feature of today’s Picture in Time edition was Engineering Car 754.

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In Preview: Crich 60 – Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd September

Posted on Monday 16 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

We finally reach that busy period of major tram events with Crich’s the first to take place over the weekend of Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd September. Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the discovery and adopting of the site in Crich as the home of what we now know as the Crich Tramway Village (well, officially anyway) this two day event is due to see 13 passenger trams running each day – including Blackpool & Fleetwood Box 40 – plus the Barnsley bus will be in operation both days. As always with events such as this at Crich there will also be photo line-ups which will include Gateshead 5 plus a Leeds (Saturday) and Sheffield (Sunday) line-up.

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In Pictures: Edinburgh Trams from above

Posted on Monday 16 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

It’s not often that we take a look a tram in Edinburgh from above with the opportunities to do so fairly limited but in this short article that is exactly what we do as we see all the various equipment located on the roof of one of the CAF trams operating in the Scottish capital. Roy Calderwood captured the following images.

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Around the World in Trams: Amsterdam 662

Posted on Sunday 15 September 2019 by Gareth Prior

For the next few weeks it will be more a case of “odds and sods” for our worldwide tram picture series as we take a look at trams from various different systems, starting off with a historic image from Amsterdam.

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