views

It looks as though one of the rustic tables is about to receive a new underframe.

A visitor admiring and photographing the magnificent view of the Derbyshire countryside.
A sneak view of Chesterfield 7.

A host of golden daffodils.

Chesterfield and Sheffield

On Tuesday the tram service was operated by Chesterfield 7 and Sheffield 74

An unusual view of Town End from the members' entrance.

Leeds 399 and Glasgow 812

Leeds 399 has been lifted and its truck is being dismantled. Glasgow 812's top deck seats have been returned and need to be refitted.

Tram conductor

Yesterday I worked my first full traffic duty since August 2008 and renewed my conductor's licence. My knowledge of Berlin 3006 was a bit rusty and I have asked to spend a bit of time with an instructor re-familiarising myself with this tram.

A full check of the line is now made before the service starts which enabled me to get this picture of Chesterfield 7 at Wakebridge.

Southampton 45 passing Felixstowe docks on the last journey of the day.

It has been suggested that this notice represents a business development opportunity.

Sunday

Current collectors

I had a look at the trams in the big shed on Thursday and compared with those in the depots something didn't seem quite right. Then I realised it was the lack of overhead wire and the unatural positions of the current collectors.
Derby 1 has an immitation trolley head. Hardly appropriate in an exhibition that has supposedly cost half a million pounds.
Leicester 76's trolley is pulled right down and somehow reminded me of a picture of withdrawn trams in a scrap yard.
If you look really really carefully, you can just see Glasgow 1115's bow collector.

HTM 1147's pantograph is neatly folded down but that is not how it would have looked when running through streets of the Dutch capital.

Despite concerns for my mental health, I think that overhead line and current collectors were a significant part of tramways. I therefore suggest that overhead is errected this coming winter to enable the trams to be displayed as they appeared in the streets.

My response to Andrew's comment is that as the National Tramway Museum in receipt of public funds, we have a duty to make the exhibition as historically accurate as possible. It will be necessary to make compromises to operate trams but not for those on static display.

Contact number 392 gives some information on the second phase of the project although there is no mention of any conservation or remedial work on the trams themselves. Despite my critics, I do think that the displays should be as accurate as possible and unsightly overhead wiring was a hot topic when tramways were first built and is to this day in several French cities where costly alternatives have been developed.

exhibition hall - lots to do

The green door has be repainted but there is nothing to tell visitors what is inside.
Mid-sized exhibits from the old exhibition await their fate.
I assume this wiring is for the solar panels.
These display cases used to contain lots of interesting small exhibits. Where are they now?

Spring is here

Ian Longworth has had a long journey and thought he was on the IOM driving a ratchet.

A change for John Marsh who was driving Liverpool 869 yesterday. John has agreed to help with my Sheffield 264 documentation project.
If any reader of this blog has any pictures of 264 before it entered service at Crich in 1970 please join the team and contact me by email.

Cardiff 131 at Beamish

Andrew Waddington kindly sent me these pictures of 131 on its short visit to Beamish. They were taken by his father, Tony Waddington.

More pictures of the event can be found on the Beamish blog http://beamishtransport.blogspot.com/
and the May issue of Tramways Monthly will carry a full account.

Return to Crich

Cardiff 131 has been to Beamish and back whilst I was on holiday.

The two trams in service yesterday were Liverpool 869 and London Transport 1622.

Lviv to Waingroves (2)

During the night the minbus continued to drive accross Germany stopping only for pee breaks and driver changes. We passed Dresden, Leipzig and Halle. The roads started to get busier as we passed Dortmund at 5:50 and Koln at 6:15 before stopping at a service area near Achen at 7:00 for a forty minute breakfast. We crossed into Belgium at 08:00 and passed Mons at 10:00. The picture is at a fuel stop just before crossing into France.

The minibus had been booked to go to Caen for a Brittany Ferry to Portsmouth but following various phone calls we found out the the only available sailing was at 23:45 from Cherbourg.
We drove on through France passing Amiens at 12:25 and Rouen at 13:20 and finally arrived in Caen at 15:20. The minibus completed its journey outside the station where the next train was at 16:59. This allowed time for something to eat for a picture of the guided trolleybuses.

We arrived in Cherbourg at 18:10 and walked the 2 km or so to the ferry terminal where we had a glass of red wine which was cheaper than beer. The arrangements had worked and after inspecting our passports, we were given boarding cards. These were checked twice before we finally boarded the Cap Finistere which only entered service with Britany Ferries in March. We tried to sleep in a corner of the bar but then at 1:00 Kath went for a pee and came back with a cancellation on a cabin.  On arrival in Portsmouth we had to get to LHR to collect the car. National Express operate a coach service but not a ticket office and the phone lines were busy. The next option was a taxi to the station and then a train but the taxi driver made us a tempting offer to drive us to the car park. Kath is convinced that there was volcanic dust on the car but it started first go and we drove home to Waingroves.