Crossing over

Press statement issued by The Tramway Museum Society on 19th May 2011

I received an email copy of a press statement at 14:10 on Thursday afternoon. It appeared to be genuine but there was no reference to it on the Museum's web site and no explanatory note or context statement so I thought it may well be a hoax.

On Friday morning I received confirmation of this report from a reliable source. 

This was my initial reaction.

"This exciting news has the potential to be as transformational for the Museum as the track extension and job creation in the late 1970s. It could transform a moribund and slowly declining specialist museum into a 'must see' attraction. The reaction of the present lacklustre Board will almost certainly be to say no." 

At 22:10 I received a copy of the correct press release and a briefing note with a request that these are published and the old one removed. This I did at 8:00 on Saturday morning.

"I also appreciate that it could be a disaster if after fifty years of hard work the Museum is compromised or destroyed by unscrupulous developers. We must find out more about the developers and their plans and then consider them carefully. Doing nothing and pretending that the outside world doesn't exist is not an option."

Stone workshop (10)

The stone workshop is looking really good now that most of the windows have been fitted.

The bookshop has been open since Easter.

Here the tunnelers have found an old electricity cable...

... and here they have found a tram rail that used to lead to Depot A.

Construction Site

Town End is being used as a contractors car park.

The tunnelers are still digging.

The workshop viewing gallery is still closed.

Blackpool reconstruction (3)

Here are the last of the pictures Tony Stevenson sent me.

Cleveleys - note the crossover is now north of the road crossing.

Cleveleys looking north.

The new depot.

Blackpool reconstruction (2)

For some reason the poles have been removed. hence the scaffolding.

Blackpool reconstruction (1)

Tony Stevenson has sent me some pictures from Blackpool.

Fleetwood the loop now extends into pharoe street not sure if there will be a stop by the lighthouse.

Fleetwood ferry.

North Pier this is now open will send an up to date one soon.

Metropole -  this section to cabin will open soon.

Edinburgh 35 and Sheffield 510

Trams from two capital cities side by side with Liverpool 869 in the background.

Sheffield 510 has been dumped at the back of the depot for about 5 years now.

There was no update yesterday because Google had system problems and Blogger was unnavailable for updates. I think that any comments sent yesterday have also been lost. Please resend them.   Thanks.

Library and points

The tunnelers have returned so perhaps I will get back into the library after all. If not I will have to find another library where volunteers are welcome and not kept out by the vested interests of employees and control freaks.

?

Monday's trams

I was a conductor on Monday: Blackpool 40 and Chesterfield 7 were the service trams and Berlin 3006 made one trip.

Luckily we had a trainee driver so I was able to duck out of trolley turning. I am still trying to find out why the trolley reverser at Glory Mine is out of use. Monday's excuse from a Board member was that the reason was political. Whatever that means.

Stone workshop (9)

Stone workshop (8)

Jim Jordan has sent me this picture of the Stone workshop c 1965.

Tallinn (4)

The Tallinn tramways have changed remarkably little since our last visit in June 1990. The route network is the same with two cross town routes and four services (2 to each terminus). The Tatra T4 bogie cars have been replaced to by second hand KT4D artics from east Germany giving a very standardised fleet. The condition of the track has improved but neither the tramway nor the trams have been completely reconstructed as has been the case in eastern Germany. The tram service is both frequent and reliable. I think there are 12 cars with low floor sections and low floor journeys are identified in the timetables.

The big difference is the price of a tram ride. In 1990 the old Soviet fare of either 3 or 5 kopecks still applied and the official rate of exchange was 10 Roubles = £1. So the tram fare was either £0.005 or £0.003. Now Estonia is in Euroland and the basic tram fare is 96 Euro cents. The rate of exchange at East Midlands Airport was 1:1, so the fare has risen from £0.005 to £0.96. A day ticket costs 4.47 Euros which is more than in many British cities. Surprising the old ‘Komposters’ that cancel a ticket by punching a pattern of holes are still in use for single ride tickets.

Tallinn (3)

Three views of KT6s with low floor centre sections.

Thye answer to a frequently asked question for Crich tram conductors. Some of the cars had notices giving their weight. KT4s weigh 31,400 kg and KT6s 43,900 kg.

There are two tram depots and there must be a third for the trolleybuses. I was glad to see this one is still called TRAMMIPARK just as it was in 1990.

(I have posted a few trolleybus pictures on my bus blog.

Tallinn (2)

Second hand trams from the DDR.

Gera

Cottbus

Also Cottbus

Erfurt. This bilingual advert is a rare example of the Russian language which is spoken by about 35% of the population of Tallinn.

Erfurt again.