Main Page/POTD/Archive/2008/April

1 April[]

A line up of trams in Blackpool's Rigby Road depot.

From left to right trams are:

Brush Railcoach
Coronation
Progress Twin car
Brush Railcoach
Coronation
Sheffield Roberts Car no. 513

Archive – Nominate

The two Jubilee cars, 761 and 762, were rebuilt from Balloon cars 714 and 725 in 1979 and 1982. The reconstruction of 725 included moving the stairs to the end and extending its body length. 762 remained with a central door.

The cars were 46ft long and 7ft 6in wide. They have two English Electric 305 HP 57 motors. They served on the Fleetwood to Starr Gate service year-round with a driver in winter plus a conductor in summer. Since 2003 they have been limited to the Cleveleys to Pleasure Beach service. 761 currently wears a Manx2 livery, whilst 762 (as pictured here) wears a Unison advertisement. 761 is awaiting inspection by the Rail Accident Investigation Board after a collision in early November 2006.

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3 April[]

Parry People Movers (PPM) is a British company manufacturing lightweight railbuses that use Flywheel energy storage (FES) to store energy for traction.

PPMs utilise rotating flywheels as a store of kinetic energy which is then used to power the vehicle. A typical PPM flywheel is made from steel laminates, 3 feet in diameter and 1120 lbs in mass, rotating at a maximum speed of 2,500rpm. The flywheel is mounted horizontally at the centre of the unit, beneath the seating area.

The flywheel allows the direct capture of brake energy (when slowing down or descending gradients) and its re-use for acceleration. Since the short-term power demand for acceleration is provided by the energy stored in the flywheel, there is no need for a large engine. A variety of small engine types can be used including LPG, diesel or electric.

On a route with stations a short distance apart it is theoretically possible to use the unit as a streetcar without any engine or overhead electrification at all. Instead the flywheel could be reenergised at each station storing enough power to carry it on to the next one.

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4 April[]

Manchester Metrolink is an urban light-rail system in Greater Manchester, England centred on Manchester City Centre. It operates services to the towns of Bury, Altrincham and Eccles.

Metrolink is operated under a management contract by Stagecoach Group, on behalf of the system’s owner, the GMPTE. The Metrolink network is approximately long, with 37 stops along the route. Because much of the Metrolink route was formerly main-line railway with platforms about 900 mm above ground level, the new stops in the city centre also have 900 mm-high platforms.

Many more extensions to the Metrolink system are planned providing funding can be found. The ambitious "Big Bang", now named Phase 3 would take services to Oldham and Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne, Stockport, Manchester Airport and to the Trafford Centre.

Archive – Nominate

5 April[]

070120 Tramlink 2535 approaching Lloyd Park on a Wimbledon service

Tramlink (initially known as Croydon Tramlink) is a tramway system serving the south London area of England, United Kingdom. The service is currently operated by FirstGroup on behalf of Transport for London (TfL) but it has been agreed that TfL will purchase the system and take control of it later in 2008^[1]. Tramlink meets National Rail lines at a number of stations, but because it runs in an area relatively under-served by the London Underground (one of the reasons for its creation), its only interchange with the Underground is at Wimbledon. The system, centred on Croydon, began operation in May 2000.

Tramlink consists of a mixture of street track shared with other vehicles, dedicated track within the street, and off-street track. The off-street track includes new rights-of-way, former railway lines, and one section that shares the right-of-way (though not track) with a third-rail electrified Network Rail line.

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6 April[]

Leeds 345 was built in 1921 as an open-balconied tramcar.

It was converted in 1938 by enclosing the balconies and changing the type of stairs. An internal bulkhead was also removed. Because of this the tramcar became known as a "Convert Car".

In 1948 the tramcar was withdrawn from service, and should have been scrapped. However, it lasted until the system closure in 1959, whence upon it was given to the National Tramway Museum who had acquired their site in the sam year. It was the first passenger carrying car to arrive at Crich, the first car being Cardiff 131, a water-carrier.

The tramcar was not restored immediately however, and went to the Clay Cross store in the 1980s.

In 2002 the car was returned and it's 4 year restoration started, before being returned to service on the 1st April 2006. The tramcar is now one of the most use cars in the Crich fleet.

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7 April[]

Beamish, The North of England Open Air Museum is an open air museum located at Beamish, near the town of Stanley, County Durham, England.

Beamish’s guiding principle is to show what life was like in urbanised North East England at the climax of industrialisation in the early 20th century — much of the restoration and interpretation is specific to 1913 — together with portions of countryside under influence of the Industrial Revolution in 1825. On its 300 acre (120 hectar]) estate it utilises a mixture of translocated, original and replica buildings, a huge collection of artifacts, working vehicles and equipment, costumed interpreters, and livestock.

Beamish is the first English museum to be financed and administered by a consortium of County Councils (Cleveland, Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear) and it was the first regional open air museum in England. The museum was first proposed in 1958 and the collections were established on the Beamish site in 1970 under director Frank Atkinson (b. 1924). Atkinson, concerned to preserve the customs, traditions and ways of speech of the region before it was too late, adopted a policy of "unselective collecting" — "you offer it to us and we will collect it."

Archive – Nominate

8 April[]

Commissioned in 1933 by Walter Luff, the controller of the network, in a bid to modernise the tramway's fleet, and were intended to replace the Dreadnought cars that had been in service since the opening of the tramway. Built by English Electric during 1934 and 1935, the first being presented to Blackpool on 10 December 1934. 26 were delivered, of which 12 were open-topped. Numbered 237-263 and used on both summer and winter services.

They had central doors and stairs, with a capacity of 94 (54 in the upper saloon, 34 in the lower saloon, 6 standing). Half-drop windows provided ventilation and art-deco curved glass lights provided electric lighting. The enclosed-top trams had sliding roof windows and thermostatic-controlled radiators.

The cars originally worked on the Squires Gate service, and it was during this time that they became known as Balloon Cars because of their bloated streamlined appearance. During World War II the need for the open-top cars fell significantly and cars 137-149 had their tops enclosed (without roof windows). Also during this period the fleet was painted in a green and cream livery in order to conserve paint and time, as well as to reduce the chances of their being spotted from the air.

Archive – Nominate

9 April[]

Birkenhead 20 was built by the Birkenhead firm of Milnes in 1900 and ran in the town for 37 years. In the 1920s it was fitted with a wooden upper saloon. Since 1937 it had rested on the banks of the Dee, south of Chester, as a potting shed. Identified by MTPS members and swapped for a real shed in 1983, restoration began in a hangar at Speke Airport.

Numerous parts have been acquired including a Brill truck from Barcelona and a trolley pole from Blackpool. With extra cash raised by the Friends of Birkenhead 20, restoration continued at Princes Dock, Cammel Lairds and Pacific Road until Good Friday April 2 1999 when Birkenhead 20 joined the operational fleet on the Wirral tramway.

Archive – Nominate

10 April[]

Blackpool 49 is one of the many Blackpool Standards, and is preserved at the National Tramway Museum. It is seen here at Glory MinJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAe during the 1992 Tramathon.

Blackpool 49 has now been withdrawn from service, and is now langushing in the Exhibition Hall. It is hoped the tram may one day return to service.

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BORING

11 April[]

The winter saloons are the backbone of the tramway's fleet; they are all still in regular service, but car 22 was completely rebuilt following a fire in 1992 and is now to all intents and purposes a replica car. They have appeared in a variety of liveries but suit the 1930s style the best in many people's opinion. In a sad chapter of their history, 22 was singled out to be painted in plain red and cream livery to resemble the island's buses in 1999; this was universally hated and thought by many to be unnecessary and she now carries the usual livery whilst 20 is in "austere" livery.

Archive – Nominate

12 April[]

The PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) streetcar (tram) design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world. The PCC car has proved to be a long lasting icon of streetcar design, and PCC cars are still in service in various places around the world.

The unusual name comes from the fact that the car was designed by a committee, formed in 1929, representing various electric street railways. The Electric Railway Presidents' Conference Committee, or ERPCC, was tasked with producing a new type of streetcar that would help fend off competition from buses and automobiles. The committee produced a high-performance design that was commonly used in the following decades. The cars were popular because of their distinctive streamlined design and smooth acceleration and braking, sometimes quoted as soft ride. The design patents were held by a business called the Transit Research Corporation, who licensed features to various streetcar manufacturers.

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13 April[]

070222 Melbourne W2 tram 244 in Christchurch

The W class is a class of electric trams that operates in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. A number of older variants have been withdrawn from service, with those still in use seen on the City Circle tourist route and the North Richmond to Prahran / St Kilda Beach route (Route:78/79).

W class trams were introduced to Melbourne in 1923 as a new standard design. They had a dual bogie layout and were characterised by a substantially timber frame supplanted by a steel under frame, a simple rugged design, and fine craftsmanship (particularly the older models). The W Class was the mainstay of Melbourne's tramways system for 60 years. A total of 748 trams of all variants were built. The W class is an icon to the city and recognised by the National Trust of Australia.

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14 April[]

The Sheffield Supertram is a tram network in Sheffield, England, the system is operated by Stagecoach Group under a concession contract to the [[South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive.

It runs from Sheffield city centre northwest to Middlewood and Malin Bridge, via the University of Sheffield and Hillsborough; northeast to Meadowhall, via Attercliffe; and southeast to Halfway and Herdings Park, via Norfolk Park, Manor, and Gleadless. Construction started in 1991 and the first section to open was along former heavy rail alignment to Meadowhall on 21 March 1994, shortly after the similar Metrolink scheme in Manchester

Archive – Nominate

15 April[]

021030 Blackpool 673 and 683 at North Pier at night

Blackpool Tramway has a varied fleBORING Welcome to the Worldwide Trams Wiki!

The Worldwide Trams Wiki is what you want it to be - we host all content from Tramways to Light Rail System, Metros to Underground Railways, Light Rail Vehicles to First Generation Trams: It's a Wiki for Tram Fans everywhere that anyone can edit. The English-language Trams Wiki started in January 2008, and currently consists of 302 articles.

TODAYWelcome to the Worldwide Trams Wiki!

The Worldwide Trams Wiki is what you want it to be - we host all content from Tramways to Light Rail System, Metros to Underground Railways, Light Rail Vehicles to First Generation Trams: It's a Wiki for Tram Fans everywhere that anyone can edit. The English-language Trams Wiki started in January 2008, and currently consists of 302 articles.