Blackpool 31 was built in 1901 at the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Co. for Blackpool Tramway, originally as a four-wheel double-decker open topper, for use on the Marton route. In a trial of its intended Standard class tram designs, it was rebuilt in 1918, which saw the body being extended and remounted on a new underframe fitted with two English Electric 4′ wheelbase equal-wheel bogies, to the American McGuire pattern (the smaller end windows correspond to the length by which the body was extended), with BTH 265C 35 hp motors and BTH 510 controllers.

It operated as an open top unvestibuled tram until 1928, when a top cover was fitted. A transfer to the Engineering Department in 1934 saw the tram renumbered 4 and modified for engineering use – the top cover being removed and replaced with a central wire inspection tower with current collection poles front and rear, and driver’s windscreens fitted. In the Blackpool fleet renumbering of the 1960s, it was renumbered 754.

After seeing regular use as an engineering tram, in July 1984 it was placed on long-term loan to the museum, with the intention of restoring it to its 1920s condition (open top, open platform double-decker). It entered service in 1988, being used in the summer seasons. it returned to Blackpool for the 1998 summer season only, to take part in the Blackpool – Fleetwood Tramway centenary celebrations. The tram was withdrawn for overhaul in 2016. This work involved attention to the motor, controllers and the paintwork and was completed in 2018.

Image details
Date: 1 May 2023
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Tamron 70.0-300.0 mm f/4.0-5.6
Focal Length: 300mm
Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/640s
ISO: 400
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Blackpool 31 was built in 1901 at the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Co. for Blackpool Tramway, originally as a four-wheel double-decker open topper, for use on the Marton route. In a trial of its intended Standard class tram designs, it was rebuilt in 1918, which saw the body being extended and remounted on a new underframe fitted with two English Electric 4′ wheelbase equal-wheel bogies, to the American McGuire pattern (the smaller end windows correspond to the length by which the body was extended), with BTH 265C 35 hp motors and BTH 510 controllers.

It operated as an open top unvestibuled tram until 1928, when a top cover was fitted. A transfer to the Engineering Department in 1934 saw the tram renumbered 4 and modified for engineering use – the top cover being removed and replaced with a central wire inspection tower with current collection poles front and rear, and driver’s windscreens fitted. In the Blackpool fleet renumbering of the 1960s, it was renumbered 754.

After seeing regular use as an engineering tram, in July 1984 it was placed on long-term loan to the museum, with the intention of restoring it to its 1920s condition (open top, open platform double-decker). It entered service in 1988, being used in the summer seasons. it returned to Blackpool for the 1998 summer season only, to take part in the Blackpool – Fleetwood Tramway centenary celebrations. The tram was withdrawn for overhaul in 2016. This work involved attention to the motor, controllers and the paintwork and was completed in 2018.

Image details
Date: 1 May 2023
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Tamron 70.0-300.0 mm f/4.0-5.6
Focal Length: 300mm
Aperture: ƒ/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/500s
ISO: 560
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Newcastle 114 was built in 1901 by Hurst Nelson and Co. of Motherwell for Newcastle Corporation Tramways, one of a batch of 24 open-top short-canopied ‘A- Class’ vehicles delivered to replace horse trams. It is the only example of its type to have survived. As built, it was fitted with 53 wooden seats, and ran on a 6′ 6″ wheelbase Brill 21E truck powered by GE 58 motors with BTH B3 controllers. They received multiple rebuilds while in Newcastle service, including the fitting of a top cover for the upper deck seating. Latterly consigned to the Gosforth Park scrap siding, in 1941 it and most of its sister trams were instead sold to Sheffield Corporation to replace war damaged vehicles. Further rebuilt by Sheffield to be totally enclosed and vestibuled, it entered service in their fleet as No. 317, before finally being withdrawn in 1951.

The tram’s body was later rediscovered on an arable farm near Scunthorpe, and arrived at Beamish in 1987 via various other locations. The museum restored it to 1901 condition, using a suitably modified truck with GE 270 motors sourced from Oporto in 1989, and rebuilt BTH B18 controllers. It entered museum service in May 1996. It received a mid-life overhaul in 2011.

Image details
Date: 2 April 2023
Camera body: Nikon D50
Lens: Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm ƒ3.5-5.6G ED
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/4
Shutter Speed: 1/1,000s
ISO: 200
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International