29th November 2009

Today we operated 12 - 3 in extremely wet conditions!

Whilst we carried very few passengers it did give us the chance to take some wonderfully atmospheric photos and video!

And a few pics of the day.

Track conditions at 'Woodside'

With headlight reflecting on the wt cobbles, 6 waits for a few stragglers outside depot.

With just 3 weekends left until the end of 2009 (yes, its gone that quickly!) lets hope for some fine weather.

Just for the record, this time last year was minus 3 and dry as it was works car day. Here's a quick photo of 752 just to remind you how cold it was!

Until next time . . .

JOhn

Last weekend

Sunday 22nd saw a visit by the Branchlines Society. Both 6 nd 765 were in use and performed lots of unusual workings. For anyone interested these included:
Pushing 6 right out onto the cobbles at Middleton Road, working wrong line, parallel runs, using centre crossover, using crossovers 'wrong way,' riding in and out of depot, short working and anything else we could think to do!

This evening the Manchester LRTA visited and both Trams saw an after dark outing, which makes 3 after dark events this winter!

765 is now officially withdrawn to have some remedial work done before next season, this will include tidying up of paintwork, replacement of filler which has come out over the years etc.

6 will now maintain the service until March. This is the first winter 765 has seen so much use in passenger service and hopefully won't be the last. For the record it is the second winter opening of the Tramway and 15th of November marked the first 12 months of continuous operation (we closed for 6 weeks at the end of the 2008 season). We experienced only one weekend where we had to curtail operations due to the weather, but we still carried a couple of passengers. A big thank you to the Park authorities for the liberal use of a road sweeper to help clear away the leaves.

A correction to the new website, it should be www.heatonparktramway.org.uk

Enjoy, until next time!

John

The Trams

For anyone ubnsure of what we own and run and the current status of them all, here's the current state of play as of 22/11/09.

Manchester 765; Operational, was restored during the 60s and 70s. Entered service at Crich in 1977 while construction was underway at Heaton Park. Moved to the park in 1979. Due some remedial tidying up to paint etc over the winter. It is still hoped that 765 will visit Blackpool again next year.

Manchester L53; The only restored Eades reversible Horse Tram in the world. Entered service in March 2008. Planned to operate on 28th March 2010. (The picture is taken at Beamish)

Leeds 6; Entered service as Hull 96 in 1988. Truck refurbished during 2008 as well as some bodywork attention. Resurfaced in late 2008 as Leeds 6.

Blackpool 752; The Railgrinder arrived in November 2008 and is in use as a Works car. Some attention will be needed later but nothing major.

Rawtenstall 23; Currently in store.

Manchester 173; Our only electric double decker is undergoing restoration and is on display at the Museum of Transport in Boyle Street.

I will try and upload some more pics over the next few days.

http://heatonparktramway.co.uk

Up and running

Hi all.

This is a brand new blog all about the Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester. It will be maintained by me, John Whitehouse, Operations and Commercial Manager.

So much is happening in the coming months, as you can see from this recent photo of 6 at Lakeside.

We are now well into the winter season, when we are open every Sunday 12 - 4. 6 is the winter service Tram but 765 did make an appearance on 8th November and is booked for 2 private hires this month!

Keep an eye on the blog and email me on j.d.whitehouse2@tesco.net if you want to include anything. I will try and update each week, lets see how we go. Oh, and thanks to paul Jarman at Beamish for the inspiration to start blogging.