In Pictures: Old Liverpool overhead support poles still in place

Posted on Monday 4 February 2019 by Gareth Prior

Earlier this year we reported on the last remaining overhead support poles in Liverpool which are set to be removed during 2019. Now in sole use for street lighting an upgrade of this equipment will necessitate the removal of these remarkable survivors – still in place over 60 years since the last trams ran in the city. Dave Jones captured the below images for posterity.

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Around the World in Trams: Tenerife Tram 20

Posted on Sunday 3 February 2019 by Gareth Prior

It is time for the last of our images for now from the Canary Islands as we take a look at one more of the Alstom 302 trams which operate the service in Tenerife.

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Campaign launched to restore Douglas Horse Tram 32

Posted on Sunday 3 February 2019 by Gareth Prior

The Douglas Bay Tramway Heritage Trust have announced plans to raise funds to restore Sunshade tramcar 32 to become part of the museum fleet to operate on the tramway. 32 is one of the trams which has been retained by Isle of Man Railways with the intention of it being used on a more limited basis (along with trams 12, 18 and 44) but before this can happen it will need a full restoration.

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In Pictures: Standard Life advert on Edinburgh 261

Posted on Sunday 3 February 2019 by Gareth Prior

As we reported at the end of last month, Edinburgh Trams 261 has received a new advert for Standard Life replacing its previous ad for C R Smith. First noted in mid-January this advert is of the usual Edinburgh Trams style with above window adverts along the entire bodyside and then the third and fifth section of the tram have full height ads. John Hampton with the photos.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 3 February 2019 by Gareth Prior

More photos for you this week in our latest main site update:

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Site News | 1 Comment

Details announced for Isle of Man’s Rush Hour on the Railways 2019

Posted on Saturday 2 February 2019 by Gareth Prior

It’s a surreal sight for us to see an official leaflet publicising a major event celebrating the fact that the Manx Electric Railway won the British Trams Online Tramway of the Year for 2018 but that is exactly what greets you when you look at the details for the Rush Hour on the Railways event which takes place across the Isle of Man’s heritage railways over the Easter weekend. As always with this early season event there will be a mix of events mainly on the MER and Steam Railway which should have plenty to occupy enthusiasts.

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Picture in Time: Tyne & Wear Metro 4033

Posted on Saturday 2 February 2019 by Gareth Prior

From last week’s image looking at the outside of South Gosforth Depot this week we head inside the building for an image taken during the 30th Anniversary Open Day.

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In Pictures: Snow on Tyne & Wear Metro

Posted on Saturday 2 February 2019 by Gareth Prior

It’s not just Manchester which has been hit by snow this week – the Tyne and Wear Metro has also seen fairly significant snow falls although it doesn’t seem to have much of a negative impact on service which has been running at its usual level despite the snow. Trevor Hall braved the elements for the below photo.

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In Pictures: More snow on Metrolink

Posted on Saturday 2 February 2019 by Gareth Prior

The white stuff is still sticking around for a little while longer it seems and although it is nowhere as bad as 2018’s “Beast from the East” it has still made for interesting photographic opportunities on the Manchester Metrolink network. On Friday 1st February Keith Chadbourne went out onto the Oldham and Rochdale line armed with camera to capture a few images of trams in the snow.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 2 Comments

Event Report: First ‘Gold’ weekend of 2019 in Blackpool

Posted on Friday 1 February 2019 by Andrew Waddington

January 26th & 27th saw the first Gold Weekend of the year in Blackpool, with an interesting and varied turnout of trams in action despite some rather challenging weather conditions, particularly on the Sunday when string winds battled the coast! Harold Hull was present for this event, including the Branch Line Society tour using Balloon 713 on Saturday 26th, and this is his account of the weekend.

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Tramlink Nottingham post loss of £18 million

Posted on Friday 1 February 2019 by Gareth Prior

Tramlink Nottingham – the company who operate Nottingham Express Transit – have posted their latest accounts which have shown a loss of over £18 million in the past year; a not insignificant sum but one which is £48.5 million less than the previous years loss. Operating under a private finance initiative it is said that figures such as this are not uncommon with officials from both Tramlink Nottingham and Nottingham City Council saying there is no cause for concern.

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Box 40 to run at Beamish and Crich in 2019

Posted on Friday 1 February 2019 by Gareth Prior

If the news that Manchester 765 was to visit Beamish in time for April’s Great North Steam Fair wasn’t enough to persuade you to make a visit how does it sound if you added Blackpool & Fleetwood Box 40 to the offering? Well, that is exactly what is happening with 40 set to leave Blackpool for the last time for a loan period until August – and it will then head to Crich in plenty of time to play a starring role at the 60th anniversary celebrations there in September! It has been confirmed that the tram will be leaving Blackpool permanently (well, at least for the foreseeable future anyway) and will remain at Crich following its arrival there after its spell at Beamish comes to an end. Continue reading →

Posted in Beamish Tramway, Blackpool Tramway, National Tramway Museum | 13 Comments

Power supply problems on Supertram

Posted on Thursday 31 January 2019 by Gareth Prior

Thursday 31st January has proven to be a bad day for Stagecoach Supertram with disruption to both the Tram-Train service and the Blue route thanks to two separate overhead line issues – one on the railway section of the Tram-Train route and the other at Birley on the Blue route.

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Tree brings a halt to West Midlands Metro services

Posted on Thursday 31 January 2019 by Gareth Prior

A large tree across the tracks between Dudley Street and Dartmouth Street on Sunday 27th January saw West Midlands Metro services disrupted for several hours whilst it was removed and safety checks made to check for any possible damage to the infrastructure. Trams were only able to run initially between Grand Central and West Bromwich Central and from Black Lake to Wolverhampton St George’s before the Birmingham section was able to be extended to Dudley Street.

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Picture in Time: Glasgow 1198

Posted on Thursday 31 January 2019 by Gareth Prior

We head back into the archives today with the first of three photos taken around Glasgow’s Coplawhill Works in 1962 just as the final trams were being prepared ready for scrapping.

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In Pictures: Snow hits Manchester – and overhead support wire breaks

Posted on Wednesday 30 January 2019 by Gareth Prior

The first real snowfall of this winter has hit Manchester with services suffering delays throughout the day – not helped by an overhead support wire snapping close to Victoria meaning that all services through the city centre have had to be diverted via the Second City Crossing.

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An advert free tram in Edinburgh!

Posted on Wednesday 30 January 2019 by Gareth Prior

For the first time since July 2018 there is a tram running in Edinburgh advert free! The tram noted sans adverts is 251 which has become the third tram to lose its C R Smith adverts (these were the Cumbernauld to St Fillans version) but rather than the previous trams to lose an advert it seems that there isn’t a new sponsor and it has become the first tram in full fleet livery for six months! In other advert news 261 has lost is C R Smith ad (Glen Nevis/North Queensferry) with a design for Standard Life applied instead.

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In Pictures: Balloon 713 tours the tramway for Branch Line Society

Posted on Tuesday 29 January 2019 by Gareth Prior

Saturday 26th January was not only the first day of the first Winter Gold weekend of 2019 in Blackpool but also saw a special tour take place for the Branch Line Society utilising B fleet Balloon 713 – plus Engineering Car 754 and Tow Truck 929! Covering rarely used – and unwired track, hence the use of the other vehicles – 713 was hired for this premium priced tour for a full day’s entertainment.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Jubilee 761 & Balloon 707

Posted on Tuesday 29 January 2019 by Gareth Prior

After a couple of weeks of “sorry we don’t know what the trams are” we are back to being able to identify the trams in this weeks Blackpool Picture in Time image. They are Jubilee 761 and Balloon 707.

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Pay as you Go Pop cards show their popularity on Tyne and Wear Metro

Posted on Monday 28 January 2019 by Gareth Prior

The continuing revolution in ticketing on public transport sees no signs of abating with the news that Nexus’ Pay As You Go Pop cards reached a record 1.5 million journeys on the Tyne and Wear Metro during 2018. The flexibility and convenience of paying for journeys on the Metro is proving increasingly popular with passengers according to the new figures recently released by Nexus.

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