In Pictures: Unusual moves at Beamish

Posted on Sunday 23 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

Track maintenance at Beamish on Monday 17th June meant that the tram service was unable to operate the complete circuit of the museum with trams only running between Foulbridge/Home Farm and the Town via Pockerley (the section between Foulbridge and the Town was out of action). This led to the more unusual sight at Beamish of the trolley having to be turned by the crews at both ends of the curtailed route. Two trams were in service with Blackpool 31 and Sheffield 264 in action.

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In Pictures: Latest update from Supertram rail replacement works

Posted on Sunday 23 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

With the Supertram rail replacement project tending to concentrate on fairly small sections at a time good progress does get made with the maintenance crew finishing one part before moving on to the next. The latest worksite goes through the tramstop at Langsett Primrose View on the inbound track between Cuthbert Bank Street and Ash Street. Stuart Cooke is the photographer.

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In Pictures: Latest from the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway

Posted on Saturday 22 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

With the busy TT period now over on the Isle of Man it is back to business as usual on Douglas Promenade with the redevelopment work having recommenced. This work, of course, also means more track will be installed which will, hopefully, allow for a longer journey later this year for the horse trams which are currently still only running between Derby Castle and the T-shirt shop. In this pictorial update we not only see some of the trackwork taking place but also a few other images around the horse tramway. Geoff Pickles with the pictures.

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Picture in Time: Luas 3009

Posted on Saturday 22 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

After last week’s look inside a tram in the Irish capital we return to a more conventional image this time around as we continue our series on Luas.

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In Pictures: 3099 goes all yellow for new advert

Posted on Saturday 22 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

We are used to Manchester Metrolink trams being yellow but this has been take a step further with the new advert applied to 3099 for Gymshark as apart from the writing for the sponsor(and the doors) it is now all over yellow. Whereas the last advert we featured kept the window clear there is no such consideration of this advert with those firmly covered by vinyls. Gymshark is a “fitness apparel and accessories brand”.

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Appeal launched for Railcoach 279’s restoration

Posted on Saturday 22 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

Over the past few months the restoration of the Fylde Transport Trust’s Railcoach 279 has been making excellent progress with recent concentration being on the full rewire of the tram to ensure it meets modern safety standards and can join the heritage fleet in Blackpool on long-term loan. With the need for this rewire, along with many other complex jobs, the FTT are now looking for donations to help fund the completion of the project with a target of £20,000 set for various ongoing jobs.

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In Pictures: 29 returns to service on West Midlands Metro complete with batteries

Posted on Friday 21 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

Just four weeks after the last battery fitted tram entered service, 29 is now part of the operational fleet on the West Midlands Metro having run for the first time in passenger service complete with batteries on Friday 21st June. This now means that over half of the 21 strong fleet of Urbos 3 trams now have batteries fitted and are in service with this being the eleventh.

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Attempted cable theft causes problems on Tyne and Wear Metro

Posted on Friday 21 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

Tyne and Wear Metro services between South Gosforth and West Monkseaton were suspended for over eight hours on Friday 21st June after a power supply problem caused by an attempted cable theft in the Benton area. No trains ran in the area from the start of service until around 1400 with replacement buses sourced to allow passengers to continue their journeys.

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In Preview: Totally Models in Blackpool

Posted on Friday 21 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

Just four weeks after the last Gold weekend in Blackpool its time for another two days of intensive heritage tram action with the added bonus of the Totally Models event at Rigby Road Depot. With 12 different trams from six different classes in service over the two days plus a heritage bus service (using 6 buses), trade stalls and model layouts there should be plenty to keep you occupied if you head to the Fylde Coast this weekend!

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In Pictures: 275 makes it two EE trams in Edinburgh

Posted on Thursday 20 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

We’ve already shown you pictures of Edinburgh Trams 267 is in its latest advert for EE’s 5G network and now it’s a case of seeing double on the streets of the Scottish capital as 275 has received an identical advert! Once again featuring the EE house colours of turquoise and yellow the advert debuted during mid-June and replaces standard fleet livery on this tram which had lost its C R Smith advert during May.

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In Pictures: More old tram track discovered in Sheffield

Posted on Thursday 20 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

It seems that if you like to see rediscovered tram track then the place to be at the moment is Sheffield as hot on the heels of the track found in Blonk Street more roadworks has seen further sections uncovered at Fitzalan Square.

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Picture in Time: Glasgow 812

Posted on Thursday 20 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

Today our dip into the archives stays in Crich for a view of a regular performer in service – Glasgow 812.

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English Light Rail journeys on the up again

Posted on Wednesday 19 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

After last year’s blip, when there was a small decrease in light rail journeys in England, the latest figures have shown that once again there has been an increase with a grand total of 272.4 million journeys recorded on the eight qualifying systems – an increase of 1.9%. All systems with the exception of London Tramlink and Stagecoach Supertram saw increases with the largest percentage rise being on Manchester Metrolink (6.1%), although for some systems it was a very marginal rise.

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Outline details announced for Tramtastic at Heaton Park

Posted on Wednesday 19 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

Sunday 7th July sees the main tram-only event of the year at the Heaton Park Tramway with the usual mix of trams in service and static trams on display set to be offered. Tramtastic will see trams running in service between 1100 and 1730 and will also include a five tram parade in the afternoon.

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Another award for Edinburgh Trams

Posted on Wednesday 19 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

Edinburgh Trams has been rewarded for managing to increase the number of passengers using the service to the Airport with an award at the Scottish Transport Awards.

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And then there were three! Nexus announces final shortlist for new trains

Posted on Tuesday 18 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

Nexus have announced the final shortlist of three firms who will be asked to submit best and final offers to supply a fleet of new 42 trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro with delivery due from the end of 2021. The three companies are all firmly established in supply rail vehicles across not only the UK but also the world. They are CAF, Hitachi and Stadler.

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In Pictures: Trams in action at Beamish

Posted on Tuesday 18 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

Saturday 15th June saw a Morris Car Rally take place at Beamish which gave some extra photo opportunities alongside the operating trams. A three car service was running on this day which included three resident double deckers: Sunderland 16, Blackpool 31 and Sheffield 264. Leo Dembry visited on the day and has provided us with the following pictures.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Balloon 705

Posted on Tuesday 18 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

We head back 50 years or so for the next few weeks of our Blackpool archive photo series for some images of a bygone era on the Fylde Coast, starting off with the first of the Balloon Cars to be scrapped.

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In Pictures: Just a normal day at Crich

Posted on Monday 17 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

As enthusiasts we tend to concentrate on the big events at heritage tramways with lots of trams in service, rare moves etc. but for the majority of the year it’s a far more sedate and calm affair. Take Crich as an example, most of the year sees a two or three tram service with the occasional other move to keep the paying visitors entertained. In this pictorial article we take a look around the museum on Friday 14th June when there was a two tram public service plus Oporto 273 out for driver training. We also take a look at Bluebird in the Workshop. Keith Chadbourne with the photos.

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Trams to Newhaven project look at support for businesses during construction phase

Posted on Monday 17 June 2019 by Gareth Prior

With approval having been given for the Edinburgh Trams extension to Newhaven the project team and now turning their attention to the support package which will be offered to businesses along the route during construction. To this end a new survey has been sent out finding out what “business as usual” look like today so that the support package can be properly scaled to try and reduce the obvious disruption construction will cause as much as possible.

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