A new owner for Blackpool Centenary 643

Posted on Tuesday 14 July 2015 by Gareth Prior

Blackpool Centenary Car 643 has a new owner with the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust arranging for the private sale of the tram to a specialist firm responsible for railway equipment sourcing. The tram will remain at the Wyre Dock storage facility for now but will eventually move on to pastures new.

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Operating plan for Fleetwood ‘Tram Sunday’ announced

Posted on Tuesday 14 July 2015 by Andrew Waddington

After much speculation a plan of action has now been revealed for the operation of heritage trams to and from the annual Fleetwood Festival of Transport, better known by many as Tram Sunday and happening this year on Sunday 19th July. An impressive total of eight historic trams will feature at this year’s event, six of which will operate a frequent timetabled service whilst two others will be on static display in Fleetwood.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 6 Comments

More volunteer drivers for Blackpool

Posted on Tuesday 14 July 2015 by Andrew Waddington

The Blackpool tramway’s heritage team continue to make positive progress of late, with two more volunteers being issued their tram driving licences this week. This will obviously provide a very welcome boost to the available pool of trained drivers for heritage tours as the most intensive period of the year approaches, with near daily use planned during the school summer holidays and the illuminations.

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In Pictures: 50 years at Carlton Colville celebrated in style

Posted on Monday 13 July 2015 by Andrew Waddington

2015 marks 50 years since the start of the East Anglia Transport Museum at Carlton Colville near Lowestoft, with the site first being acquired for use as a fledging transport museum, and the arrival of the first vehicles on site. This important milestone was celebrated on the weekend of Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July and naturally, the museum’s trams played a key part in the event.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 12 July 2015 by Gareth Prior

The main site update is back this week as we bring you a further three Photo Galleries plus a few updates to the Fleet Lists section:

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Picture in Time: Croydon Tramlink 2553

Posted on Sunday 12 July 2015 by Gareth Prior

We head back to Croydon Tramlink for our latest Picture in Time image today. This time we go to last of the original CR4000 trams – 2553 – for a view at Arena at the very beginning of the lines operating life.

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101 M5000s

Posted on Saturday 11 July 2015 by Gareth Prior

Cruella De Vil may well be interested in Manchester Metrolink now following the delivery of the 101st M5000 to Queens Road Depot. 3101 arrived in the usual Saturday lunchtime slot on 4th July having made its way across Europe via Hull. It was then moved into the workshops where it will undergo commissioning and mileage accumulation works. All recent deliveries have joined the non-ATS/VRS fleet at Trafford but with the line through St Peter’s Square closed this will be unable to happen immediately so it remains to be seen when 3101 enters service. Obviously when 3101 enters service it will have received its spots…

Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 5 Comments

Edinburgh & Croydon suffer as the week of woe continues

Posted on Saturday 11 July 2015 by Gareth Prior

Aren’t bad things meant to come in threes? Well the tramway of the British Isles are disproving that theory as following on from a collision in Blackpool and derailments on both Manchester Metrolink and the Manx Electric Railway there have been further incidents in both Edinburgh and Croydon whilst an investigation has been launched into a pedestrian being hit by a tram in Manchester back in May.

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Posted in Edinburgh Trams, London Trams, Manchester Metrolink | 2 Comments

New fare structure & new CCTV system for NET

Posted on Saturday 11 July 2015 by Gareth Prior

Preparations for the opening of the Nottingham Express Transit extensions are continuing with the announcement of a new fare structure whilst a state of the art CCTV system has been switched on. There also continue to be remedial works on the extensions as everything is put into place ahead of the opening later this summer.

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Posted in Nottingham Express Transit | 4 Comments

Picture in Time: Blackpool Marton VAMBACs

Posted on Friday 10 July 2015 by Gareth Prior

We head to the Marton route of the Blackpool Tramway for today’s “Picture in Time” image with a couple of Marton VAMBACs passing on 27th October 1962 – the penultimate day of operation for this line.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Picture in Time | 6 Comments

Going for a ride…

Posted on Thursday 9 July 2015 by Gareth Prior

Yes folks its time once again for our weekly look at just when and where you can enjoy a ride on a traditional tram in the British Isles over the next seven days or so. Again the next week doesn’t have any specific special events taking place but isn’t every day with a traditional tram running special anyway? If you haven’t got anything to do over the next seven days why not chose from one of the 12 tramways below and go and have a ride – you surely won’t regret it!

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Posted in Going for a ride | 1 Comment

Midland Metro completes the Urbos 3 set

Posted on Tuesday 7 July 2015 by Gareth Prior

The 21st and final CAF built Urbos 3 tram for Midland Metro arrived under the usual secrecy on Tuesday 7th July at Wednesbury Depot. Number 37 arrived on the back of two low loaders having travelled from Spain by road and ferry some 21 months since the very first of the new order of trams arrived in the West Midlands.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 3 Comments

Picture in Time: Newcastle 102

Posted on Tuesday 7 July 2015 by Gareth Prior

We’re off to Crich again for our latest installment in “Picture in Time” and this time we take a look at Newcastle 102 – another tram currently out of service. Today we see the tram in action in 1989.

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In Pictures: 675 goes solo

Posted on Tuesday 7 July 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Recent work in Blackpool Transport’s Rigby Road workshops on returning Twin set 675+685 to a serviceable condition has focussed on the trailer car, which has spent several weeks in the Paint Shop. However, attention is expected to turn towards its partner 675 imminently and it was seen being shunted around the depot on 7th July in preparation for work to commence.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 5 Comments

NELSAM gets accredited

Posted on Tuesday 7 July 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Some recent positive news from one of our newer names in the tramcar preservation movement comes from the North East Land Sea & Air Museum (NELSAM) which has recently been awarded accredited museum status by the Arts Council England. This is a huge honour for this attraction and bodes well for its future development, following the merging of some local groups to create a quality transport museum near Sunderland.

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Posted in North Eastern Electrical Transport Trust | 3 Comments

MER trailer topples over at Laxey

Posted on Tuesday 7 July 2015 by Andrew Waddington

The title of this report is not an exaggeration, unfortunately. On the morning of Tuesday 7th July, a serious accident occured on the Manx Electric Railway when Winter Trailer 58 derailed during a shunting move near Laxey Station, resulting in it toppling over onto its side. As a result all tram services between Laxey and Ramsey have been suspended and are unlikely to resume until around midday the following day (Wednesday 8th).

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Posted in Manx Electric Railway | 3 Comments

More details on Metrolink derailment incident

Posted on Tuesday 7 July 2015 by Andrew Waddington

As investigations continue, more details have now emerged regarding a serious incident which occured on the Manchester Metrolink system late on Friday 3rd July. It has now become clear that two trams were affected; one which derailed, and another which sustained damage after being attacked by people throwing stones at the tram.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 11 Comments

A chance to visit Fleetwood’s tram graveyard

Posted on Sunday 5 July 2015 by Andrew Waddington

The open storage site at Fleetwood fish docks which is occupied by a large number of Blackpool tramcars is normally strictly off limits to members of the general public, but at 1230 on Saturday 18th July a limited number of guests will be able to view these trams for the first time since they arrived there.  Continue reading →

Posted in Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 4 Comments

Picture in Time: Manchester Metrolink 1007

Posted on Sunday 5 July 2015 by Gareth Prior

As we continue our way through the Manchester Metrolink T68 fleet the latest instalment of Picture in Time features 1007 which is, of course, the only modern light rail vehicle to have a guaranteed future in preservation having been acquired by the Heaton Park Tramway.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink, Picture in Time | 1 Comment

Vandals derail Metrolink tram

Posted on Saturday 4 July 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Saturday 4th July has seen considerable disruption for Manchester’s Metrolink network after a tram derailed late the previous night at St Werburghs Road. As a result of the incident, said to have been caused by an act of vandalism, services between East Didsbury and Deansgate Castlefield, and Cornbrook and Manchester Airport were cancelled with normal service not resuming until the evening.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 11 Comments