Workshop

A rather cool day with showers threatened saw Johannesburg 60, Leeds 345 and Glasgow 1297 in service.
The pictures show the progress made on London United 159 (upper) and London Transport 1622 and Blackpool 40 (lower). 

Crich Tramway Village

HTM 1147 with a display of Meccano models by its side.
Two Ferguson tractors - although the registration of the first one suggests that, like the trams, it doesn't reallly belong to a Derbyshire village.

The pictures were taken yesterday at the Extravaganza. The Museum was busy with about 12 trams in service, lots of visiting vehicles and trade stalls and lots of visitors. From my brief visit it looked to be running very well and I accepted the offer of an article for The Journal from one of the organisers.

Bow collectors

A fine day except for a shower at about 3:30 pm. The trams in service were Blackpool & Fleetwood 2, Paisley 68, LCC 106 with Berlin 3006 making about 3 trips and Leeds 602 being used for driver training.
The overhead wiring at Crich has to cater for a variety of different current collectors leading to compromises that would not be needed on standardised tramways. A new by-pass wire to lower bow collectors has been installed at Glory Mine. The pictures show 602's bow collector entering and leaving the by-pass.
You may need to enlarge the picture to see the detail.

A busy day

Three trams were in service today: Johannesburg 60, Leeds 345 and Liverpool 869 together with Berlin 3006. In addition Leeds 180 and Halle 902 were on driver training duties.
The DDR at Crich with Halle 902 and Berlin 3006 standing side by side before the rain started.
The same two cars with Leeds 345 in the background after the first shower.
On a busy day a small delay in the 10 minute service soon causes a queue for the next tram.

 

The Journal & holidays

THE JOURNAL
Despite various set backs, I hope that the July issue of the TMS Journal will be delivered to Crich next Friday, 11 th August. This is a very busy weekend with the popular 1940s event so I am sure the Distribution Officer will appreciate offers of help with enveloping.
The Journal was delivered and dispatched whilst I was on holiday. I would like to thank all those who helped in this project.
HOLIDAYS
I will be on holiday for the next two weeks so this blog will not be updated until 23rd August.
The picture shows two pages from the next Journal on my computer screen.

Waldbahn

A fine day with the possibility of showers.
Blackpool 40, Johannesburg 60 and Oporto 273 were in service with Berlin 3006 making a couple of trips during the afternoon.

London in wartime

Today I worked as a conductor on Southampton 45. A customer told me of two wartime slogans he remebered on London trams and buses:
'Multiply the paper stocks'
'Put me in the ticket box'
and
'I trust you'll padon this correction '
'That stuff is there for your protection'.
The first slogan is asking for used tickets to be collected for waste paper and the second refers to the masking put on windows to protect from bomb blasts.
The trams in service today were Oporto 273 (seen at Stevenson Place), Southampton 45 (at Town End), and Paisley 68 (at Wakebridge). My assessment is that most customers rode on all three trams and enjoyed their day at the Museum.
On Southampton 45 most cusomers rode upstairs and were not frightened of the sunshine. Look at the pictures; our customers like to ride upstairs on open cars and one very different alternative adds to the experience.
Finally note that on the first week of the school summer holidays (ie peak season), Woodland Refreshments are/is closed.

No open top trams

Another very hot and humid day with very little wind and temperatures in the low 30s.
There were no open trams in service although the engineers assured me that several were available. Instead our customers sweltered. Why weren't they offered an exhilerating ride on an open car?
Leeds 399 at Glory Mine. The other two were Blackpool 40 and Johannesburg 60.

Leeds 399

Another hot and muggy day. The trams in service were Johannesburg 60, Sheffield 74 and Leeds 399 with no open top cars. I know my grandsons would have been disappointed. 

Trams & trees

Another warm day.
Glasgow 22 approaching Wakebridge, Oporto 273 leaving Wakebridge.
View of the Derbyshire countryside from the top of LCC 106.

Heatwave

It was very warm today so the trams were loading in the shade of the buildings rather than at Town End.
LCC 106 and Sheffield 74 with Paisley 68 in the background.
 

Modern Mini

Today the Museum was invaded by Minis but they all seemed to be more modern than WTY 894 that I used to own many years ago. This had the small engine and the long gear lever. It used to jump out of gear coming up the hill from Bull Bridge to Crich.

View from the Bridge

A beautiful day for visitors to enjoy a ride on Blackpool & Fleetwood 2, Sheffield 74 and Southampton 45.
Kerstin Wunsche at the controls of 74.

Computers and Horse Trams

What is Alan Phoenix doing to a defenceless computer - answer in the next issue of The Journal.
Sheffield 15 operated for the Edwardian weekend but is now back in the Exhibition Hall, sandwiched between Oporto 9 and Prague 180. Sheffield 264 is in the background.
Another fine day with Blackpool 166, LCC 106 and Leeds 399 in service.

Pims Served with Lemonade

Another mostly cloudy day with Blackpool & Fleetwood 2, Johannesburg 60 and LCC 106 in service. As we were expecting a special group of ladies the Red Lion was serving Pims rather than real ale.
 

Next weekend

Sheffield horse tram 15 in the workshop - presumably being prepared for the forthcoming Edwardian Weekend. There are also several barrels of real ale in the Red Lion (Leadmill, Ossett Silver King and Moorhouses Pendle Witch). I am hoping to call in the Red Lion on Sunday (9th) - how about you?
The weather was overcast and showery today. The trams in service were Blackpool & Fleetwood 2, Blackpool 40 and Sheffield 74.