Beamish is the location again for this edition of “Trams &”.
In the photo at the end of this article we are just outside the 1900s Town at Beamish where the tramway circuit passes the end of the Rowley railway. If you’re lucky here you may see one of the passenger services on the railway just as a tram passes by, or in this case it’s a bit more likely as the loco on the railway is stationary!
The tram probably needs little introduction as it is Oporto 196, a tram which has been at Beamish since 1989 and in service three years later. It is now in the bright South Shields livery and is working an anti-clockwise service around the museum tramway.
On the railway we can see 1955 built diesel locomotive Planet, on hire to Beamish having previously been at the Tanfield Railway. The 4Wdm loco is at the head of a rake of trucks with it taken at a time when preparations were underway for the reopening of the railway.
Photograph by Trevor Hall, 25th March 2026