Going for a ride…

Posted on Thursday 18 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

So what is there on offer for you in the world of heritage tram running in the British Isles over the next week or so? Well the highlight looks set to be another intensive weekend of Heritage Tram Tours in Blackpool with the Green timetable (four trams mainly between Pleasure Beach and Little Bispham with one journey to Fleetwood) running on Saturday 20th June and the Gold timetable (six trams in use with some trips to Starr Gate including some full length Starr Gate-Fleetwood journeys) in operation on Sunday 21st June. Elsewhere it is pretty much business as usual although don’t forget just because there isn’t a special event going it doesn’t mean there isn’t a good reason to go for a ride at any tramway in the British Isles!

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A sign of development at Crich

Posted on Thursday 18 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

As promised some months ago, information on the tramcar collection at Crich Tramway Village is being made more readily available to visitors, with the addition of interpretive signs to the trams housed in the depots. Although there have been detailed labels on most of the trams inside the Exhibition Hall for a few years this is thought to be the first time that a serious effort has been made to label all of the trams on site in this manner.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 3 Comments

Liverpool 869 comes back to life

Posted on Wednesday 17 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Whilst most visitors to the Crich Tramway Village were enjoying the London-themed activities taking place on Sunday 14th June, another exciting development was taking place in the depot yard. There, Liverpool 869 was making its first tentative moves under its own power following an overhaul which commenced last year, ahead of its expected return to service later this year for the first time since 2010.

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Urbos 3 33 enters service on Midland Metro

Posted on Wednesday 17 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

The Midland Metro operational fleet is now up to 15 Urbos 3s following the entry into service of 33 on Wednesday 17th June. The tram had been undergoing commissioning, testing and mileage accumulation over the past few months and it has now been passed for service with 2411km already on the clock (each tram has to run 1800km before it can be considered for service).

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 4 Comments

Double slip diamond point – can you help?

Posted on Wednesday 17 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

During a recent visit to the AMITRAM museum line near Lille in France British Trams Online regular contributor Tony Sullivan viewed a double slip diamond point (photo provided below). Seeing this got Tony wondering whether any such point was ever used on UK lines and whether any readers of British Trams Online knew the answer? So it is over to anyone out there who can answer his question – please leave a comment in the comments section below if you can help.

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Picture in Time: London County Council 106

Posted on Tuesday 16 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

With London County Council 106 having just returned to service soon at the Crich Tramway Village what better tram to feature as part of our “Picture in Time” series? We catch up with 106 at Crich back in 1989 in today’s picture.

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Final push for Dudley & Stourbridge 5 overhaul

Posted on Tuesday 16 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

The Black Country Living Museum are making a final call to raise funds to complete the overhaul of Dudley & Stourbridge 5 with just £4,000 needed to finish the work. The Tividale tram has been receiving an extensive overhaul at the Llangollen Railway since February 2012 and finally the finishing line is in sight.

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Posted in Black Country Living Museum | 2 Comments

An enhanced Saturday service for NET

Posted on Tuesday 16 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Once again services on Nottingham Express Transit are to be enhanced, ahead of the opening of the Phase Two extensions this summer, with the Saturday timetable the latest to be looked at. Over the past few months weekday services have seen improved frequencies introduced and these are now to be extended to Saturdays from 27th June (although with slightly reduced hours of operation).

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 14 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Just the one Photo Gallery for you this week as our main site update is uploaded for your viewing pleasure:

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink, Site News | 4 Comments

A soggy return for LCC 106

Posted on Sunday 14 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

There seems to be a unwritten rule that when you launch an open top tram the weather should be as wet as possible and once again that rule was adhered to on Saturday 13th June when London County Council 106 was relaunched into service. The relaunch was the highlight of the Classic London event at the Crich Tramway Village which also saw an intensive tram service in operation along with various visiting vehicles with a London theme including a trolleybus from the Trolleybus Museum in Sandtoft.

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 3 Comments

Century up! Manchester Metrolink welcomes M5000 3100

Posted on Sunday 14 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Manchester Metrolink now have 100 M5000s on the books following the arrival of 3100 at Queens Road Depot on Saturday 14th June. The delivery of this trams comes just short of six years since the very first M5000 was delivered when 3001 arrived on 13th July 2009 and marks a significant milestone in the expansion of the Metrolink network with only another 20 trams now due to be delivered.

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Picture in Time: Croydon Tramlink 2530

Posted on Sunday 14 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

With the Classic London event taking place this week at the Crich Tramway Village it seems rather apt that for the first time “Picture in Time” heads to London as we take a look at the then Croydon Tramlink system ahead of opening with a view of the first numbered tram – 2530.

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More plans revealed for the ‘Merseyside four’

Posted on Saturday 13 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Just a few days after four Blackpool trams previously owned by Merseytravel were transported by road from Knowsley to Fleetwood fish docks for storage after being sold to a new owner, details have been released regarding the future plans for these trams. Unfortunately, despite the considerable cost of moving the quartet it seems that only one of them can be truly considered ‘preserved’, this being Brush Railcoach 625.

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Posted in Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 4 Comments

Heaton Park Tramway to remain closed this weekend

Posted on Friday 12 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

The Manchester Transport Museum Society have released a short statement confirming that no tram service will operate this weekend (13th & 14th June) on the Heaton Park Tramway. It is hoped that normal service will resume the following weekend, on Saturday 21st June and updates will be provided on the tramway’s frequently updated Facebook page.

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Posted in Heaton Park Tramway | 5 Comments

Picture in Time: Blackpool Twin Car 676+686

Posted on Friday 12 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

It’s 1981 again for our latest Picture in Time image as we head back to Blackpool and feature Twin Car 676+686 rounding the Metropole Hotel.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Picture in Time | 2 Comments

In Pictures: The Merseyside Four in Fleetwood

Posted on Friday 12 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

As reported on a couple of occasions earlier this week the four trams which had been stored in a yard in Knowsley made their return to the Fylde Coast this week having been purchased by a private individual. Brush cars 625 and 637 and Twin Trailer cars 681 and 687 were moved at the start of this week and are now to be found stored at Wyre Dock in the same compound as that leased by the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust. These photos show the trams arriving at their new home and also have been offloaded and are provided courtesy of John Woodman.

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Posted in Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 13 Comments

In Pictures: More from Sheffield as the rail replacement works continue

Posted on Friday 12 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

The rail replacement works on Stagecoach Supertram have now moved on the area 7 which is again within Sheffield City Centre. Work started on 2nd June and is due to continue until 28th June with track being replaced around the Castle Square and Cathedral tramstops.

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Beamish Balloon goes off the rails – literally!

Posted on Thursday 11 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Following its withdrawal from service earlier this year, Blackpool Balloon car 703 – or Sunderland 101 as it is now known in its new home at Beamish Museum – has now been moved off the tracks in the tram depot at Beamish. This has been done to free up space for other trams, including Sheffield 264 which will need to be reassembled soon and so will require more depot space in the fairly near future.

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Going for a ride…

Posted on Thursday 11 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

It is time again to bring you a round-up of when and where you can enjoy a ride on a traditional tram with the British Isles over the next week. The highlight of this period looks set to be the relaunch of London County Council 106 into service at the Crich Tramway Village during the Classic London event (13th and 14th June) whilst on the Isle of Man the intensive TT service on the Manx Electric Railway is coming to a close with the last operation of this timetable due on Friday 12th June. Looking further ahead Sunday 21st June will see the next operation of the Gold timetable in Blackpool but more on that next week…

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More trams move from Merseyside to Fleetwood

Posted on Wednesday 10 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Merseyside is now bereft of Blackpool trams, following the departure of both Brush Railcoach 637 and Trailer 681 on Wednesday 10th June. The duo have now joined the two other trams which had previously been stored at an industrial site in Knowsley – Brush car 625 and Trailer 687 – in open storage at Fleetwood fish docks along with the majority of the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust’s vehicle collection.

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Posted in Birkenhead Heritage Tramway, Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 1 Comment