Most visitors to Crich Tramway Village tend to pay most attention to those trams that are operating during their visit, so for a change we are featuring some photos taken in and around the museum’s depot complex. These pictures all come from the camera of Andrew Spencer, who paid a visit to the museum on 10th June.
Most of the trams housed in the running sheds are in similar positions to last year, with a few exceptions. Following their recent withdrawal from service, Johannesburg 60 is now at the top of Road 12 in the depot, which is of course only accessible via the traverser, whilst Blackpool & Fleetwood 2 has been moved to the back of Road 10. Both of these trams are unlikely to return to the main operating fleet until they can receive significant workshop attention, under the museum’s ‘8 year overhaul’ policy which requires service trams to be lifted for a general overhaul periodically. Other cars stored in the depots awaiting similar work include Liverpool 869 (at the rear of Road 9) and Oporto 273 (behind 60 on Road 12). Due to the recent workshop budget cuts and several large projects being undertaken, it remains to be seen when these cars will be accommodated in the works although it is hoped that they all be returned to traffic before too long.
Other ‘out of service’ trams currently stored in the depots include Glasgow 1282, fresh from its starring role at last year’s excellent ‘Glasgow 50’ event, which is at the back of Road 8, and Blackpool Standard 49 which can now be found tucked away on Road 9. Leeds tower car 2, Grimsby & Immingham 14, Edinburgh 35 and Blackpool 298 all remain in the same positions as last year, with the rest of the depot area housing the running fleet.
Thanks to Andrew Spencer for kindly allowing us to publish his photos on British Trams Online. For more of Andrew’s excellent pictures of trams at Beamish and Crich, why not take a look at his own photo blog: http://trams.tk/