The past week has seen positive news stories emerge from two of the country’s most progressive tramway preservation groups of which the most rewarding has been the move of the former Blackpool Illuminated Hovertram 735 to a new home in Sunderland where it can finally be appreciated by a wider audience after many years spent languishing out of sight in Beith. Only a few years ago the site in Sunderland was barren of tram but the North East Electric Traction Trust have now assembled an impressive six permanent exhibits plus one other on loan and have constructed a brand new depot in which to house them. From small acorns, NEETT have become major players in the tramway preservation world and the arrival on site of the Hovertram is only the latest on a long line of achievements which will hopefully continue well into the future. In Manchester the official opening of Lakeside Depot in Heaton Park has finally crowned the achievement of the Manchester Transport Museum Society in bringing this ambitious project to reality. Now, at last, there is sufficient accommodation to house their tram collection and provide some scope fir future expansion; already the MTMS have amassed the second largest collection in Britain and with the forthcoming arrival of at least two future additions to the fleet, including the only preserved second generation tram, the future for this organisation has never looked brighter. Heaton park is the venue for the next big tramway gathering when, on June 6th, Manchester 765, the tram which inaugurated services on the heritage line in 1979, returns to service after a winter overhaul. A lavish celebration is planned to mark its return and also its centenary year, with photographic line ups, a three car service and static trams on display as well as some visiting Manchester area buses. All this should ensure that 765 is given a birthday party to remember. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of 765, the tram is the appropriate star of this week’s cover photos with two views of the tram in action at Heaton Park. The banner picture features the centenarian in a very autumnal scene approaching the terminus of the line at Lakeside whilst the profile picture is of a rare night time excursion along the line, posing with Blackpool Brush Car 623. Looking ahead to the week to come and, other than the event at Heaton Park, it is expected to be a fairly quiet one; the calm before the storm with an eventful time the following weekend when Tram Sunday is held and Liverpool Baby Grand 245 is launched at Birkenhead as well as the Festival of Model Tramways in Manchester. However, even though no major developments are anticipated, any news which occurs will, as usual, be resorted in detail on Trams Today. One of our features reaches its conclusion early in the week when we complete the detailed look at the fleet of the East Anglia Transport Museum, having covered every tram currently on site as well as those which have visited but subsequently departed for pastures new. This concludes our look at all the trams which exist in Britain, a project which began over two years ago. However, inevitably, since the series began changes have occurred in the composition of the fleets covered and thus these will eventually be revisited and the appropriate changes and additions included. To replace the feature on East Anglia, we return to looking at events from the past. Already this year, all the developments from 1954, 1964 and 1974 have been covered and it is now time for attention to turn to 1984 and look at what was happening in the tramway world thirty years ago. This will begin by examining developments in Blackpool, then the only surviving tramway system in mainland Britain, before events on the Isle of Man and from the various museums. As our second feature is continuing to feature line ups from Blackpool past, this will inevitably mean that, for a while, the seaside tramway will feature heavily on Trams Today. Finally, as we reach another milestone number of likes, a warm welcome is extended to all those who have joined the site in the past week. Happy viewing.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 19:52:03 +0000
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