In Pictures: NELSAM Open Day

Posted on Thursday 23 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

It is sometimes easy to forget that the northeast of England is home to two significant tram collections. Of course, we all remember about the operational tramway and the trams which operate it at Beamish but a few miles away can be found the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum (NELSAM) which has a number of trams belonging to the North East Electric Traction Trust (NEETT) on display, many of which came from Blackpool at the time of the tramway upgrade. NELSAM has an annual Trams and Transport Day which for 2018 was held on Sunday 19th August. Trevor Hall with the photos.

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Posted in North Eastern Electrical Transport Trust | 1 Comment

In Preview: August Bank Holiday Gold, Blackpool

Posted on Thursday 23 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

Its another Bank Holiday this weekend which can mean only one thing – another Gold weekend in Blackpool! With the previously announced Centenary Car tour on Friday 24th August kicking things off there will then be three days of intensive heritage tram tours between Pleasure Beach and Fleetwood Ferry which will now be unaffected by a Prom closure after the cancellation of the planned concerts on the Tower Headland.

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Around the World in Trams: Oporto 191

Posted on Thursday 23 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

Into Portugal as we continue a tour of trams from around the world, this one coming from Oporto.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Wednesday 22 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

It may only be a few days since our last update but we are back again tonight with another Photo Gallery:

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A Blackpool Coronation car in Heywood!

Posted on Wednesday 22 August 2018 by Andrew Waddington

In an unexpected but extremely welcome development, Blackpool Coronation car 663 departed Rigby Road depot on the morning of Wednesday 22nd August, bound for the Heywood workshop premises of Ian Riley Engineering. There, extensive work is to be carried out which will bring the tram much closer to a return to service than would be possible in the same timescale at Blackpool.

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642 returns to service in Blackpool

Posted on Wednesday 22 August 2018 by Andrew Waddington

Blackpool Centenary car 642 made its welcome return to passenger service, as expected, on Sunday 19th August, when it was one of four trams to be employed on the enhanced heritage service between Pleasure Beach and Little Bispham. It has also been confirmed that it will operate a special evening tour on Friday 24th August – this time paired with sister car 648. This of course celebrates 642‘s recent mini-overhaul and repaint into an amended version of its 1995 ‘Travelcard’ advert livery.

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In Pictures: Trafford Park line junction installed

Posted on Tuesday 21 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

Between 28th July and 10th August no trams on Manchester Metrolink ran between Cornbrook and Eccles to allow for the construction of the junction with the new Trafford Park line at Pomona. The work was completed on time allowing Metrolink services to resume as planned and in this pictorial we see the finished work at the junction on 17th August.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 4 Comments

Picture in Time: Blackpool Ex-Towing Railcoach 678 & friends

Posted on Tuesday 21 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

We continue our look at some early 1990s images from Blackpool today as we see Ex-Towing Railcoach 678 along with a couple of the ubiquitous Balloon Cars.

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Visitor’s Guide to…Crich Tramway Village

Posted on Monday 20 August 2018 by admin

In the third of our series of guides suggesting ideal photographic locations on tramways within the British Isles, Edward M Koehler takes a look at the Crich Tramway Village. Home of the National Tramway Museum many who read this website will be well aware of this location but here Edward gives the observations of a first time visitor taking a look at where best to get photos of those all important trams.

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In Pictures: Purple Tram Friday

Posted on Monday 20 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

Friday 17th August was the second of three Purple Tram Fridays at Crich where Blackpool Jubilee 762, in its advertising livery for Nickelodeon Land at the Pleasure Beach, was in operation as part of a four tram service at the museum. Also in service were fellow Blackpool cars Toastrack 166 and Brush 630 along with London County Council 106.

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In Pictures: 36 returns to service

Posted on Sunday 19 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

Only five days after being involved in a RTC with a car in Wolverhampton battery fitted Urbos3 36 returned to service on the West Midlands Metro on Saturday 18th August. With repairs to the damaged front end completed 36 was cleared to return to action looking none the worse for wear, with the exception of the missing West Midlands Metro logo on the damaged end with just the fleet number currently applied. Kevin James with the photo.

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In Pictures: Rainbow Tram in Manchester

Posted on Sunday 19 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

Every year when Manchester Pride takes place Metrolink enter into the spirit of the occasion by adding extra vinyls to some of the trams. In the past this has mainly included changing the colours of the spots on the standard livery but for 2018 they have gone a little bit further with additional temporary vinyls applied.

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Posted in Manchester Metrolink | 1 Comment

Supertram gets ready for next stage of rail replacement

Posted on Saturday 18 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

The major project to replace life expired rail on Stagecoach Supertram is continuing with details of Area 4 now fully revealed. This phase of work will take place between 25th August and 9th September with services on both the Blue and Purple lines affected with buses running instead.

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Picture in Time: Seaton Tramway 14

Posted on Saturday 18 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

Into the traditional tram archive again today and we are back in Devon for a view of the Seaton Tramway.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Saturday 18 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

We continue our look at the transport events on the Isle of Man in July as part of this week’s main site update:

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Event Review: Manx Heritage Transport Festival

Posted on Saturday 18 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

Continuing his diary whilst on the Isle of Man, David Mee describes the action during the Manx Heritage Transport Festival at the end of July before concluding on the state of the tramways on the island.

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New safety campaign in Edinburgh

Posted on Friday 17 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

Did you know that one Edinburgh tram equals the weight of nine African Elephants? No, well you do now! As part of a new safety campaign in the Scottish capital pedestrians are being encouraged to “Look out for the tram-pede” with posters being added to tram stops.

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Improved service for West Midlands Metro on Bank Holiday

Posted on Friday 17 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

Usually when a Bank Holiday arrives most tramways announce how they will be running a Sunday timetable – except for Blackpool where Bank Holidays are just another day! – but that situation has change on West Midlands Metro where it has been announced trams will run every 10 minutes for most of the day instead of the usual 15 minute Sunday frequency.

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In Pictures: Area 3 Supertram rail replacement

Posted on Thursday 16 August 2018 by Gareth Prior

The 2018 phase of rail replacement works on Stagecoach Supertram are continuing with work now having moved on to Area 3 which has seen trams suspended on the Purple line between Gleadless Townend and Herdings Park. Stuart Cooke has visited the scene and sent these photos. Continue reading →

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London horse tram set to be restored at Crich

Posted on Thursday 16 August 2018 by Andrew Waddington

Not content to be bringing the unique LCC 1 ‘Bluebird’ back to life, the London County Council Tramways Trust have confirmed that its next project will be the reconstruction of a London horse tramcar, which has been provisionally allocated a slot in the Crich workshop in 2021.

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