This is another edition of “Meet the Trams” and it’s the last tram which has run in passenger service during 2026 (at least for now) that we feature tonight – Newcastle 102.
Whilst we have mainly featured trams in the order they have run this year, that isn’t quite the case for Newcastle 102 as it was actually one of three trams to be allocated to service on the first day of the season. But it suffered a mishap at Glory Mine which saw it miss several months of service until it returned, and has now seen regular use since.
1901-built Newcastle 102, has been part of the operating fleet at Crich again since 2024 when it returned to service after 24 years out of use, and after an overhaul in the Workshops. It had been withdrawn in 2000 after suffering from a broken axle which saw it confined to the Exhibition Hall and depots until a move came into the Workshops during 2018.
102 had arrived at Crich in 1975 and entered service that same year and remained part of the operating fleet for the next quarter of a century. That period saw it return back to the northeast on two occasions – once in 1981 when it was part of a cavalcade to mark the opening of the Tyne and Wear Metro and then, perhaps more famously, when it was used at the Gateshead Garden Festival in 1990.
The tram had been built by Hurst Nelson, Motherwell as a single deck tramcar but would never be used in service like this with a decision made to rebuild it as a “F-class” tram which was an open top decker. It remained in service until 1949 when it was withdrawn and was acquired by the Light Rail Transport League. But with nowhere to house it, 102 ended up moving around with first a home found in Bury before it went south to Beaulieu (where it found company from Southampton 45). It did return to Newcastle from 1967 for a start to be made on its restoration, and as mentioned above it finally made it to Crich in 1975.
Newcastle 102 departs from Wakebridge on a day not exactly shouting out open top tram ride! (Photograph by Gareth Prior, 14th September 2025)