Over the years transport events at Beamish have evolved as a result of changing expectations and costs involved in their organisation. In 2026 it has become a nine-day long Festival of Transport which has included the Fares Please! bus event as well as Power from the Past over the May school half term holiday. Trevor Hall provides us with some images from both the event and shortly before it.
Ahead of the event on 21st May 2026 and there was some shunting at the depot which needed Sunderland 16 to be moved out the way as seen here with Oporto 65 for company under its tarpaulin. 16 remains out of service with the latest update from Beamish being that procurement of replacement tyres is in hand. It did run earlier in 2026 and is now stored back in the depot at the rear of road 4.
The reason for 16’s move was to extract 31 from the depot to go over the pit. This allowed the replacement of two bogie frame stretchers which had seen the tram withdrawn from use, and leaving Beamish with just two operational trams for several weeks. 31 returned to service on 23rd May 2026.
The first day of the Festival of Transport – 23rd May 2026 – saw Lisbon 730 displayed on the depot fan allowing its Newcastle Corporation Tramways livery to be seen out in the open. More work is needed on the tram before it can be considered for service which is relying on staff availability.
Inside the depot where we see Gateshead 10. During testing of the air brake system a fault has been discovered in the emergency valve which will need attention.
196 has kept going in service and is seen here alongside RTC822 Leyland Titan in Scout of Preston livery. 196 is in need of workshop attention but will remain available for use until such a time as more trams are available to operate the service.
31 is seen alongside one of the visitors for the Fares Please! event – Guy Arab III PHN 699.
Lisbon 730 and Sunderland 16 pose for photos outside the depot. (All Photographs by Trevor Hall)