Picture in Time: Blackpool Twin Car 676+686

Posted on Friday 12 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

It’s 1981 again for our latest Picture in Time image as we head back to Blackpool and feature Twin Car 676+686 rounding the Metropole Hotel.

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In Pictures: The Merseyside Four in Fleetwood

Posted on Friday 12 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

As reported on a couple of occasions earlier this week the four trams which had been stored in a yard in Knowsley made their return to the Fylde Coast this week having been purchased by a private individual. Brush cars 625 and 637 and Twin Trailer cars 681 and 687 were moved at the start of this week and are now to be found stored at Wyre Dock in the same compound as that leased by the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust. These photos show the trams arriving at their new home and also have been offloaded and are provided courtesy of John Woodman.

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In Pictures: More from Sheffield as the rail replacement works continue

Posted on Friday 12 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

The rail replacement works on Stagecoach Supertram have now moved on the area 7 which is again within Sheffield City Centre. Work started on 2nd June and is due to continue until 28th June with track being replaced around the Castle Square and Cathedral tramstops.

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Beamish Balloon goes off the rails – literally!

Posted on Thursday 11 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Following its withdrawal from service earlier this year, Blackpool Balloon car 703 – or Sunderland 101 as it is now known in its new home at Beamish Museum – has now been moved off the tracks in the tram depot at Beamish. This has been done to free up space for other trams, including Sheffield 264 which will need to be reassembled soon and so will require more depot space in the fairly near future.

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Going for a ride…

Posted on Thursday 11 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

It is time again to bring you a round-up of when and where you can enjoy a ride on a traditional tram with the British Isles over the next week. The highlight of this period looks set to be the relaunch of London County Council 106 into service at the Crich Tramway Village during the Classic London event (13th and 14th June) whilst on the Isle of Man the intensive TT service on the Manx Electric Railway is coming to a close with the last operation of this timetable due on Friday 12th June. Looking further ahead Sunday 21st June will see the next operation of the Gold timetable in Blackpool but more on that next week…

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More trams move from Merseyside to Fleetwood

Posted on Wednesday 10 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Merseyside is now bereft of Blackpool trams, following the departure of both Brush Railcoach 637 and Trailer 681 on Wednesday 10th June. The duo have now joined the two other trams which had previously been stored at an industrial site in Knowsley – Brush car 625 and Trailer 687 – in open storage at Fleetwood fish docks along with the majority of the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust’s vehicle collection.

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Posted in Birkenhead Heritage Tramway, Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 1 Comment

The Merseyside four to return to the Fylde Coast

Posted on Tuesday 9 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Four trams whose future has been in doubt since the end of last year following news that Merseytravel were seeking to dispose of them have been saved and are starting to return to the Fylde Coast. Brush Cars 625 and 637 along with Twin Trailer Cars 681 and 687 were acquired by Merseytravel for the Wirral Waters project which would have seen the Birkenhead Heritage Tramway extended but following the formal abandonment of this project they were deemed surplus to requirements and made available for purchase. All four trams have been purchased by a private purchaser and will be stored at the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust’s site at Wyre Dock.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 2 Comments

Tram and Light Rail journeys in England up once again

Posted on Tuesday 9 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Tram and light rail usage in England has reached record levels (well since 1983 when records began anyway – it was probably a lot higher in the heyday of the tram!) according to the latest figures released by the Department for Transport. 239.8 million journeys were recorded in the 12 months up until the end of March 2015 which is a 5.6% increase since 2013/14. Much of the increase is down to the Docklands Light Railway, Tyne and Wear Metro and Manchester Metrolink who have all enjoyed a significant rise during this period. Unfortunately the rosy picture doesn’t extend across England with as Midland Metro, South Yorkshire Supertram and Blackpool Tramway all recording decreases.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway, Docklands Light Railway, London Trams, Manchester Metrolink, Nottingham Express Transit, South Yorkshire Supertram, West Midlands Metro | 1 Comment

Crich Event Preview: Classic London – 13th & 14th June

Posted on Tuesday 9 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Over the weekend of Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th June the Crich Tramway Village will be celebrating all things London with the Classic London event. The highlight of the weekend will undoubtedly be the return to service of London County Council 106 following an overhaul but there will also be plenty of other activities to keep you happy.

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In Pictures: Blackpool Boat 228 in San Francisco

Posted on Tuesday 9 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

As the majority of readers to this website will probably be well aware there are two Blackpool Boat cars in San Francisco running on the historic F-line. One of these was, of course, the subject of British Trams Online sponsorship a few years ago when under the ownership of the Lancastrian Transport Trust and was then sold to San Francisco to join their fleet although you may be relieved to know that this article is not concerning 233 and we won’t be going into that whole sorry saga this time! No this time we are concentrating on 228 which has been in San Francisco since 1984 and is a popular member of the historic fleet there.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 5 Comments

Picture in Time: Great Orme Tramway 4

Posted on Tuesday 9 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

We are heading up the mountain today in “Picture in Time” as we feature an image of one of the fleet of trams used on the Great Orme Tramway – no. 4.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Sunday 7 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

There are another two Photo Galleries for you to enjoy this week as part of our main site update:

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Picture in Time: South Yorkshire Supertram 05

Posted on Sunday 7 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Its time for another trip to the second of the UK’s new on street tramways for this installment of “Picture in Time” as we take a look at South Yorkshire Supertram 05 in April 1994.

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More non-runners shunted at Crich

Posted on Saturday 6 June 2015 by Andrew Waddington

Since the article published on British Trams Online regarding the placement of Southampton 45 in the Great Exhibition Hall at Crich Tramway Village, it is pleasing to report that the tram has been removed from its inappropriate position in the chronological display showing the development of tramcar design. After about a week it was returned to the main depots, having been moved to allow Sheffield 15 be extracted for operation on a number of special days in May.

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In Pictures: Oh I do like to be beside the seaside…in Derbyshire!

Posted on Saturday 6 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

The Crich Tramway Village was turned into a seaside resort for a nine day event from Saturday 23rd to Sunday 31st May as the annual “Beside the Seaside” event took place once again. This family oriented event saw a fun fair at the museum alongside another visit from Woodies Wings and their collection of birds. There was also a beach for the children to play in and a visit from a band playing in the bandstand in Victoria Park. And of course there was a tram service for each day mainly utilising Blackpool trams but some other towns and cities were also represented, particularly when the weather prevented the use of the open Blackpool trams!

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Posted in National Tramway Museum | 9 Comments

In Pictures: Seaton Tramway runs 24 hours for charity

Posted on Saturday 6 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Between 1300 on Wednesday 27th and 1300 on Thursday 28th May a 24 hour charity Tramathon took place on the Seaton Tramway with tram no. 4 running a return trip every hour in aid of Prostrate Cancer UK, Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Epilepsy Research UK. Although a few trips during the night (when a special flat return fare was on offer) ran without passengers the event was declared a success with raffle tickets also being sold to raise funds for the charities. £1825.83 has been raised so far for the four charities from the event.

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Picture in Time: Blackpool Balloon 701

Posted on Friday 5 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

It is back to Blackpool for the latest instalment of “Picture in Time” with a view from 1993 of Blackpool Balloon 701 when it was wearing the Red and White “Routemaster” livery for the first time.

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In Pictures: London County Council 106 returns to the rails

Posted on Thursday 4 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

On Thursday 4th June London County Council 106 made a return to the rails at the Crich Tramway Village as it underwent some testing and driver refamilirisation on the mainline at the home of the National Tramway Museum. 106 had last run in 2010 when it was withdrawn from service requiring workshop attention which it has been receiving since last year thanks to sponsorship from the London County Council Tramways Trust.

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In Pictures: Deansgate-Castlefield outbound platform re-opens

Posted on Thursday 4 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

As expected on Tuesday 2nd June the new outbound platform at Deansgate-Castlefield reopened to Manchester Metrolink services for Altrincham, Eccles, MediaCityUK and East Didsbury. On the same date the new TMS control system for the three track layout was brought into use meaning trams can now use the full flexibility of the new layout.

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In Pictures: Edinburgh Trams celebrate one year of service

Posted on Thursday 4 June 2015 by Gareth Prior

Edinburgh Trams reached its first anniversary of passenger service on Sunday 31st May and to celebrate the occasion the trams ran over the anniversary weekend with balloons in the cabs. Special anniversary silver hats were also handed out onboard the trams and Edinburgh Trams ran a competition on Twitter encouraging people to post selfies wearing the silver hats with the best photo winning a year’s free Ridacard.

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