The Heaton Park Tramway have an ambitious workshop programme planned for winter 2016\/17 and beyond, and to allow the scarce volunteer resources to be focussed accordingly, it has been decided not to operate a tram service this winter. This also means that the Autumn Gala, previously advertised to go ahead on 3rd November, has been cancelled.<\/p>\n
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Instead, the last trams of the year will run on Sunday 30th October for the tramway’s Halloween event. Services will resume following an extended break on 12th February with trams operating from 1200 to 1700. A programme of opening dates and special events for 2017 is currently being finalised and is expected to be announced shortly.<\/p>\n
Whilst the loss of the Autumn Gala is regrettable, this period of closure will hopefully enable volunteers to make much more progress with a number of important projects which should enable them to put on more impressive events in 2017 and beyond. Indeed, with nothing ‘new’ to showcase the gala would probably not have been that well attended anyway.<\/p>\n
In the workshops, attention is still concentrated on Stockport 5 <\/strong>which has now missed the last three seasons. Modern weatherproofing materials have been used to seal the lower deck roof\/upper deck flooring in place of the traditional canvassing. Further attention has seen the sides of one staircase replaced due to the discovery of corrosion and this is currently in hand. It is hoped to finish the work on 5 <\/strong>early next year to get this much-loved tram back into service, which will be a very welcome boost to the running fleet.<\/p>\n With 5 <\/strong>approaching completion thoughts are turning towards the next major project, the completion of restoration work on Manchester 173 <\/strong>which was started many years ago. The tram should be moved to Middleton Road depot over winter for assessment to determine the exact nature of works required to get this beautiful tramcar into service. At the same time, it is proposed to carry out some tidying-up of Blackpool Vanguard 619 <\/strong>which is looking very shabby at present. It is not known how thorough this will be, although the wooden ceiling and the external paintwork would certainly benefit from some attention.<\/p>\n Other tasks which need to be tackled in the future include remedial work on Blackpool Brush Railcoach 623<\/strong>‘s brakes which have been giving concern for a while, forcing its use to be limited this year. It was hoped to have this completed sooner but it has been impossible to examine the car properly whilst Stockport 5 <\/strong>has been over the maintenance pit, and as this tram was partly dismantled with its decency panels lifted off it could not be moved out of the way. Manchester 765<\/strong>‘s running gear is also in need of attention, with the bearings overheating recently. Further assessment indicated that the main bearings and wheel journals will need attention in the near future. Current plans are to commission a contract firm to refurbish 765<\/strong>‘s bogies as soon as possible, so that once cars 5 <\/strong>and 173 <\/strong>are completed, a body overhaul can proceed as the second phase of the major renovations.<\/p>\n The above will definitely keep the team at Heaton Park very busy for some time to come, and will also dent the charity’s finances considerably, but should create a very robust and diverse fleet of operational trams for visitors to the park to enjoy. With Hull 96 <\/strong>restored to a high standard last year (although a few minor jobs remain outstanding, notably the fitting of platform doors which is not seen as a high priority at present), hopefully in a few years the Heaton Park fleet will be at an all-time high after a few challenging years with various issues affecting these elderly trams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Heaton Park Tramway have an ambitious workshop programme planned for winter 2016\/17 and beyond, and to allow the scarce volunteer resources to be focussed accordingly, it has been decided not to operate a tram service this winter. This also … Continue reading