{"id":4536,"date":"2013-07-15T12:45:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T11:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=4536"},"modified":"2013-07-23T20:27:26","modified_gmt":"2013-07-23T19:27:26","slug":"oldham-tram-for-heaton-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=4536","title":{"rendered":"Oldham tram for Heaton Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Manchester Transport Museum Society have acquired the unrestored body of Oldham 43,<\/strong> a tram which has been languishing in outside storage on a farm for more than sixty years! The ultimate intention is to restore this tram for service on the Heaton Park Tramway at Manchester, giving the heritage line another fine addition to its collection of trams from the North West of England.<\/p>\n

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Oldham 43 was built in 1902, starting life as an uncanopied open topper (similar to the MTMS-owned Manchester 173<\/strong>, currently based at the Greater Manchester Museum of Transport). However, in the 1930s it was cut down into a fully enclosed single deck four-wheel car for use on the Oldham to Middleton route, and it is in this condition that the tram is ultimately expected to be restored by its new owners. Following its withdrawal from service, the body was sold and ended up in private hands along with the remains of two other Oldham trams, which sadly did not survive the ravages of time. Incidentally, 43<\/strong> was offered to the MTMS some years ago but at the time the Society felt unable to cope with another vehicle and it was declined. However, a lot has changed in recent times with the MTMS becoming one of the most progressive tram preservation groups in the country, with a new depot in the pipeline and plans for further expansions of the tramway at Heaton Park, and therefore a second opportunity to acquire the Oldham car was happily taken.<\/p>\n

Although 43<\/strong> is little more than a shell, it has actually survived in surprisingly good condition considering its past six decades exposed to the elements, and retains numerous detail parts such as the ruby quarter lights (which have already been removed and put aside so that they can be conserved), light fittings and even its internal strap hangers! These items will prove invaluable when the huge task of restoring this tram to its former glory begins, and should enable these parts to be replicated where re-use is not possible.<\/p>\n

The preservation of Oldham 43<\/strong> shows that, despite the addition of several Blackpool trams to their collection in recent times, the MTMS remain committed to their primary aim: the preservation of trams from the Greater Manchester area. Although 43<\/strong> is likely to be a long-term project, at least it can look forward to a brighter future, and hopefully the completion of the new Lakeside Depot at Heaton Park later this year\u00a0will enable it to be housed undercover before very long.<\/p>\n

It is also remarkable how many trams are finding new homes with some of the smaller preservation groups in Britain this year, even excluding Blackpool trams,\u00a0with Oldham 43<\/strong> following on from the move of Krefeld 412<\/strong> to Sunderland after being purchased by the North Eastern Electrical Traction Trust, and the remarkable repatriation of Glasgow 488<\/strong> from France for future operation at the East Anglia Transport Museum. With such exciting projects\u00a0taking place around the country, these less well known organisations really are showing the way forward for the UK tram preservation movement, and definitely deserve our support for their efforts to preserve our heritage for future generations to enjoy.<\/p>\n

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Oldham 43 in its current condition, showing the clear potential for a future restoration to working order.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The tram origins of the Oldham car body are obviously apparent when the interior is viewed, as shown by this image.<\/p><\/div>\n

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A view from the MTMS archives, showing how Oldham 43 should eventually appear at Heaton Park. Here the tram is shown in its 1930s condition. (All photos courtesy of the Heaton Park Tramway Facebook page)<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Manchester Transport Museum Society have acquired the unrestored body of Oldham 43, a tram which has been languishing in outside storage on a farm for more than sixty years! The ultimate intention is to restore this tram for service … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4536"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4536"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4616,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4536\/revisions\/4616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}