Farewell to Midland Metro T69 13 as more are withdrawn

Posted on Monday 6 October 2014 by Gareth Prior

13 has become the second of Midland Metro’s T69 fleet to depart Wednesbury Depot with several more examples expected to leave in the next couple of weeks (as many as six more have been suggested!) Allelys were once again called upon to move the vehicle – Allelys seem to be the company of choice to take your withdrawn second generation trams away! – with the lorry departing Birmingham shortly before 1400 on Monday 6th October.

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In Pictures: A Manchester tram at Briggate

Posted on Monday 6 October 2014 by Andrew Waddington

Following on from its brief visit to Yorkshire to appear at a World War One centenary commemoration event earlier in the year, Manchester 173 made a second trip across the Pennines in early October, to participate in a second special event. This time the tram was taken to the heart of Leeds city centre for inclusion in an evening event entitled ‘Light Nights’, with its display organised by members of the Leeds Transport Historical Society.

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Balloon 726 put up for sale

Posted on Sunday 5 October 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The future survival of Blackpool Balloon car 726 has been placed in serious doubt, with an announcement from its owners, the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust, that the tram is being offered for sale to any interested parties. It has been confirmed that 726‘s current owners would be willing to either sell the complete tram, or sell off parts for use to assist with other restoration projects, confirming that the Trust has now ended its interest in this particular tram.

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Posted in Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust | 26 Comments

In Pictures: Birkenhead prepare for Bus & Tram Show

Posted on Friday 3 October 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The biggest event of the year for the Birkenhead tramway will take place on Sunday 5th October, in the form of the popular annual ‘Bus & Tram Show’ which will feature a wide range of visiting road vehicles as well as an intensive service using trams from the collection of the Merseyside Tramway Preservation Society. In anticipation of Sunday’s big event, several tram moves occured on Friday 3rd October and these are illustrated below.

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This week on British Trams Online

Posted on Thursday 2 October 2014 by Gareth Prior

Now online we have over 200 photos from the recent Electric 50 event at Crich (we should have had 224 in the two galleries but it turns out that I can’t count so we only ended up with 123 in day one’s collection!). There are two galleries from the main event – one from Day One and the other from, you guessed it, Day Two! – and we have hopefully covered most of just what happened during Electric 50.

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Heritage Trams this week

Posted on Thursday 2 October 2014 by Gareth Prior

It’s that time of the week again as we round-up just when and where you can ride on heritage trams in the UK and Isle of Man. On Sunday 5th October it will be the highlight of the calendar for the Birkenhead Heritage Tramway with the annual Wirral Bus and Tram Show taking place. As always the most intensive tram service of the year will be in place alongside lots of buses. Following on from that the next event will be at the Crich Tramway Village when Blackpool 711 will be celebrating its 80th birthday with its fellow Blackpool trams.

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Blackpool Transport appoint a new boss

Posted on Thursday 2 October 2014 by Andrew Waddington

It has been announced that Blackpool Transport have finally appointed a new Managing Director, some seven months after Trevor Roberts departed from the company. The new boss is Jane Cole who will commence in the position on November 3rd, duly becoming the first ever female manager in the history of the Blackpool tramway!

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 7 Comments

Crich Event Preview: Blackpool 711’s 80th birthday

Posted on Wednesday 1 October 2014 by Andrew Waddington

On Sunday 12th October, a special event will be held at Crich Tramway Village to celebrate the 80th birthday of Blackpool Balloon car 711 which is of course currently on loan from Blackpool Transport. The event also takes advantage of the fact that there are currently ten operational Blackpool trams on site, and will including the last chance to ride on Rack 2 for a while and Box 40‘s final appearance in passenger service at Crich before it returns home.

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Ups and downs for the Blackpool illuminations

Posted on Tuesday 30 September 2014 by Andrew Waddington

It would be fair to say that the Blackpool tramway has faced a challenging few weeks at the start of the 2014 illuminations season, with a noticeable reduction in the number of illumination tours being operated for a number of reasons. Despite this, passenger numbers on the tours are reportedly up on this point in time in 2013 – an encouraging start and a trend that will hopefully continue throughout October.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 2 Comments

Sheffield 513’s wiring woes

Posted on Tuesday 30 September 2014 by Andrew Waddington

Since arriving at the East Anglia Transport Museum in early 2011, Sheffield ‘Roberts’ car 513 has seen somewhat erratic use compared to the extensive use that had been hoped for. Its appearances in passenger service during 2014 have been noticeably scarce, primarily due to some issues with the tram’s antiquated wiring.

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Another T68 departs

Posted on Monday 29 September 2014 by Gareth Prior

Wednesday 24th September saw the departure from Trafford Depot of the 16th T68 to go for scrapping with 1025 the latest to make the long and sad journey to Booths in Rotherham. The last few weeks have seen acceleration in the movement of the T68s away from Manchester for scrapping and it looks as if the end really is rapidly approaching.

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In Pictures: More new adverts adorn the Flexity fleet

Posted on Sunday 28 September 2014 by Andrew Waddington

The removal of Pleasure Beach advertising from Blackpool’s Flexity2 trams is continuing to make rapid progress, with two more trams appearing at the end of last week with new adverts in place of those for the theme park which they had carried for the last two years. The trams affected are 014 and 015, and unfortunately both now sport in-house advertising in the absence of any new commercial contracts.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 5 Comments

In Pictures: Blackpool Balloon 701 re-launched

Posted on Sunday 28 September 2014 by Andrew Waddington

After appearing in an incomplete version of its red and white ‘Routemaster’ livery over the August Bank Holiday weekend, Blackpool Balloon 701 has now spent some more time in the Paint Shop for completion of this stunning repaint. The tram was then officially launched back into service at a short ceremony on the afternoon of Friday 26th September, followed by a special run through to Fleetwood and back for the gathered enthusiasts.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 24 Comments

Another Urbos 3 arrives as the takeover continues

Posted on Wednesday 24 September 2014 by Gareth Prior

The takeover on Midland Metro of the CAF built Urbos 3 trams is continuing with this week seeing either five or six of the vehicles in service with Monday 22nd September seeing more than 50% of the service in the hands of the new trams. In addition 30 has become the latest of the trams to arrive at the depot, arriving at 2100 on Monday 22nd September.

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Posted in West Midlands Metro | 6 Comments

Douglas Horse Tramway closes until 2016

Posted on Wednesday 24 September 2014 by admin

On Sunday 14th September the Douglas Horse Tramway ran for the last time in its current form with Promenade reconstruction works due to see the double track tramway moved to the side of the road with only a single line and passing loop provided. These works will see no tram service offered at all in 2015 with the next horse tram service not expected to be run until 2016. With it being such a momentous occasion British Trams Online reader David Blake decided a day trip to the Isle of Man was in order and what follows is a personal recollection of the penultimate day of operation – Saturday 13th September.

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Posted in Douglas Bay Horse Tramway | 8 Comments

Variety is the spice of the lights

Posted on Wednesday 24 September 2014 by Andrew Waddington

With the 2014 Blackpool illuminations season now well underway, it is pleasing to see that quite a few different members of the heritage tram fleet have been used on illumination tour duties already this year. With a reduction in the number of tours being operated due to a combination of council-inflicted budget cuts and staff shortages, it was expected that the vintage trams would see less use than in previous years during the illuminations, but in fact the opposite has been true.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 8 Comments

Heritage Trams this week

Posted on Wednesday 24 September 2014 by Gareth Prior

It’s that time of the week again as we round-up just when and where you can ride on heritage trams in the UK and Isle of Man. This weekend will be your last chance to have a ride on a tram in East Anglia for 2014 with the East Anglia Transport Museum closing for the winter at the end of Sunday 28th September and then just a week later it is the highlight of the year in Birkenhead as the Wirral Tram and Bus Show takes place (Sunday 5th October). Elsewhere you can still ride a tram every day of the week at Beamish, Blackpool, Crich, Great Orme, Manx Electric Railway, Seaton, Snaefell Mountain Railway and Summerlee.

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New Blackpool tram book “Starr Gate to the Tower” set to be launched

Posted on Wednesday 24 September 2014 by Gareth Prior

A new Blackpool tram book by acclaimed writer Brian Turner is set to be launched before the launch of Balloon 701 on Friday 26th September at the Blackpool Tram Shop – providing that copies arrive there in time! Brian will be at the shop between 1530 and 1615 to sign copies before 701’s maiden trip following the completion of its repaint.

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In Pictures: London Tramlink Wimbledon branch upgrades

Posted on Wednesday 24 September 2014 by Gareth Prior

Work is now underway on the Wimbledon branch of London Tramlink to allow a further section of double track to be installed and also to change the layout at Wimbledon itself so that two trams can be there at the same time. The work at Wimbledon has seen the track from the platform beyond the buffers removed whilst land is being cleared at Beddington Lane in preparation for double tracking. Photos courtesy of Ian Buck.

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Posted in London Trams | 1 Comment

Another new Flexity advert in Blackpool

Posted on Tuesday 23 September 2014 by Andrew Waddington

Following on from the recent application of new side advertisements to Blackpool Flexity 006, sister car 005 has now joined it in gaining a new sponsor. This has now become the second of the Flexity2 class to receive advertising for the National Health Service, joining 008.

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Posted in Blackpool Tramway | 6 Comments