Heaton Park Tramway

Heaton Park Tramway The official Facebook group for the Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester, and all of its activities.

The line is jointly run by the Manchester Transport Museum Society, who own a number of vintage trams and Manchester city council. The current operating fleet at Heaton Park consists of:

*Manchester 765 - single deck 'combination' car dating from 1914 and restored locally in the 1970s
*Blackpool Brush Car 623 dating from the 1930's and made its preservation debut in January 2012 currently on loan

in Blackpool
*Hull 96 A 1901 built tramcar which was our last major workshop project being completed in October 2015.
*Stockport 5 - A four wheel open top Stockport with reverse staircases built in 1901 on loan returned to service in Late 2020 following an extensive 5 year overhaul. Also resident but currently out of service are
*Blackpool 619 - replica of a Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad vanguard built in 1987 currently mid overhaul
*Blackpool 702 - Currently stored in Lakeside depot awaiting overhaul to return to operational condition
* Manchester 173 - 1901 built short canopy open topper, currently awaiting workshop capacity for its restoration to be completed
* Blackpool 752 - the tramway's multi-purpose works car which was acquired from Blackpool in 2008, currently awaiting attention to its motors & a rewire
* Oldham 43 - Built in 1903 acquired by the society in 2014 after being rescued from a farm, a longer term project.
* Manchester Horse Bus
* Rawtenstall 23 - awaiting major restoration and currently stored in various pieces

Several other trams are housed off-site. Reversible Horse car L53 is in Bury Transport Museum
Blackpool 680 is on loan to Blackpool heritage tram tours
Blackpool Balloon 708 is in store in Rigby Road Depot, Blackpool.

  speeds across the moss towards town.Some of the routes where Manchester's Pilcher cars worked were those heading to As...
06/02/2025

speeds across the moss towards town.
Some of the routes where Manchester's Pilcher cars worked were those heading to Ashton, and here sometime in the mid 30s Car 228 heads back to Manchester and the terminus of the 26 route in Stephenson Sq.
Pilcher 228 was commissioned into service in November 1931, taking the fleet number, not of a withdrawn 4 wheel car as most did, but of a totally enclosed car. The original 228 had been built by Brush as an open topper in 1903, but had been written off after an accident with a lorry in July 1930.
After serving the city until 1947, it was then sold for further service along with the rest of this batch of cars - Manchester's only 'modern' trams. But of course you can still speed across the moss to and from town by tram today.

A trip out east for some of our volunteers today to the Crowle Peatland Railway, who are the owners of ex-Lisbon tramcar...
01/02/2025

A trip out east for some of our volunteers today to the Crowle Peatland Railway, who are the owners of ex-Lisbon tramcar 711.

As this is being restored by them as a non powered vehicle, we were kindly offered a number of components that will prove very useful to us in ongoing restoration works of our own fleet.

These include a pair of traction motors, a compressor, two destination blinds and a number of other mechanical spares. Lisbon's trams are in many ways similar to our own and all of these parts will be reused on our fleet.

We'd strongly recommend paying a visit to see their great efforts in preserving the history and heritage of a unique Peatland Railway 😊 we can't wait to head back on one of their open days this year

  shines a very large headlamp onto Ashton Under Lyne this week, with this cracking shot of car 21 in the town centre. I...
30/01/2025

shines a very large headlamp onto Ashton Under Lyne this week, with this cracking shot of car 21 in the town centre. It is seen on the corner of Henrietta St just about to turn into Penny Meadow, before working past the depot to Mossley road.
Whether the first general manager of Ashton Corporation thought the town's streets were especially dark we'll never know, but what's clear is they ordered extra large headlamps for their cars - this one having not one bulb like some trams but in this case three.

  is in Stockport this week, on the fringes of Mersey Sq where Wellington Road North meets Princes St and Heaton Lane. H...
23/01/2025

is in Stockport this week, on the fringes of Mersey Sq where Wellington Road North meets Princes St and Heaton Lane. Here car 11, delivered as an open topper in 1901 and enclosed over the years, reverses on the crossover ready to take up service. The driver waits patiently on the front platform while the guard places the trolley onto the correct wire, ready for them to set off on their next duty in this view taken in the early post war years.

  is at the Tram terminus at Summit in Royton between Oldham and Rochdale. Rochdale car 92 is at the terminus with the g...
16/01/2025

is at the Tram terminus at Summit in Royton between Oldham and Rochdale. Rochdale car 92 is at the terminus with the guard checking his tickets ready for the return journey to its home town, while an Oldham bus waits in the lay by outside the Summit Inn.

Our first   post is a somewhat sad one, marking 76 years since the end of Manchester's first generation trams. This was ...
09/01/2025

Our first post is a somewhat sad one, marking 76 years since the end of Manchester's first generation trams. This was when car 1007 the official last tram ran from Piccadilly to Birchfields road shed on the morning of the 10th of Jan 1949 after the last true day of service finished on evening of Sunday the 9th. Sadly instead of being preserved for future generations to enjoy, 1007 and its fellows that also lasted to the end, were then burned in the yard at the rear of the Hyde Road works some weeks later.

Heaton Park Tramway would like to wish our friends and followers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.Work is continui...
24/12/2024

Heaton Park Tramway would like to wish our friends and followers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Work is continuing on our substation renewal - we don't have a date for the completion of these works in 2025 as of yet, but you will all be the first to know once we know!

The lack of tram power is not stopping us in our tracks however, as we have a tramcar in our workshops being restored and teams undertaking maintenance on our track and overhead making sure it is ready and fit for next season. If you fancy joining us, please get in touch! Work parties take place every Wednesday evening (excluding the next two...!) and one day each weekend.

  goes to the coast. Your scribe's work as a film archivist brings them into contact with many other archives and collec...
12/12/2024

goes to the coast.
Your scribe's work as a film archivist brings them into contact with many other archives and collections across the region. This includes the Sankey Photo Archive held by the Cumbria Record Office. In that wonderful collection are images of the trams in Barrow in Furness, copies of a few of which we also hold. This image taken by Edward Sankey is of the opening of the tramway to Bigger Bank on 4th of August 1911. You can find more from this wonderful collection at https://www.sankeyphotoarchive.uk/

  harks back to a wintery scene in Haughton Green as the conductor of Manchester 317 braves the cold and snow to turn th...
05/12/2024

harks back to a wintery scene in Haughton Green as the conductor of Manchester 317 braves the cold and snow to turn the trolley at the terminus.
Its working the Route 57 Ashton under Lyne to Haughton Green, a joint service with Ashton Corporation, which was converted to bus operation in November 1936. So Charles Young may well here have captured one of the last workings of this service.

Pick yourself up a piece of Metrolink history this weekend! We'll be attending the Christmas Cracker event at the Museum...
04/12/2024

Pick yourself up a piece of Metrolink history this weekend! We'll be attending the Christmas Cracker event at the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester this weekend and, as well as an extensive selection of rare bus, tram and rail books, we'll have a selection of original Metrolink T68 tram fixtures and fittings available.

All parts have been reviewed and are surplus to the ongoing preservation of surviving T68 trams, and all funds raised will go towards the future restoration and conservation of Manchester's heritage tramways.

  is in Edgeley in Stockport this week, where car 40 has arrived and is about to reverse ready to work back to Bredbury ...
28/11/2024

is in Edgeley in Stockport this week, where car 40 has arrived and is about to reverse ready to work back to Bredbury station on the route to Hyde. Built in 1905 as an open topper by Brush, it had a top cover fitted only a few years after and had the lower vestibules enclosed in 1937-8 around the time of this shot.
Being a 'high-bridge car' it would not have been permitted to travel beyond the railway bridge at Bredbury station, so was only working part way on the route towards Hyde.

  another view taken by Charles Young in the mid 1930s, this time we're in East Didsbury with Manchester Corporation Car...
14/11/2024

another view taken by Charles Young in the mid 1930s, this time we're in East Didsbury with Manchester Corporation Car 404 passing the then-relatively new Parrs Wood bus garage.

Both tram and garage are products of the 1920s, with No.404 being built by the Corporation at its Hyde Road works in 1928, and the the garage constructed two years earlier. It was the first purpose built motor bus garage for Manchester Corporation, opened in late March 1926 with capacity for fifty motor buses.

Car 404 was the second tram with this number in the MCTD fleet, with an earlier Milnes open-top 4 wheel car, delivered in 1901, withdrawn shortly before the construction of the new 404, one of twenty-eight cars built that year and taking the numbers of previously withdrawn cars.

Although the tram and garage are sadly long since gone, one survivor from this photo is the clock tower, which still stands proud in Parrs Wood as part of Tesco's East Didsbury store.

  is in Ashton under Lyne. In the summer of 1935, it seems Alistair Gunn, who regular viewers to this strand will know o...
07/11/2024

is in Ashton under Lyne. In the summer of 1935, it seems Alistair Gunn, who regular viewers to this strand will know of by now, travelled out to Ashton and took several views of the towns trams on his way there and back. Outside the Tramway Bureau in the town centre by the market, he took this view of car 31 one of a batch of 12 cars built by English Electric in Preston in 1921.
Car 31 was then due to work back to the city on the joint route 28 mixing in with Manchester's bigger bogie cars.

Was it really 10 years ago today our flagship tram 765 was back in the city centre to commemorate the centenary of WW1 a...
04/11/2024

Was it really 10 years ago today our flagship tram 765 was back in the city centre to commemorate the centenary of WW1 and the 2900 men from the city transport department who served and the 300 who never came back.
It seems like only 5 minutes but we still remember the day as we do the service of those men.

  is a bit late today - turning into a mystery tour too. What's clear is its Salford bogie car 380 working to the docks....
24/10/2024

is a bit late today - turning into a mystery tour too. What's clear is its Salford bogie car 380 working to the docks. but while my knowledge of the city's streets is not that bad this one has me foxed - so over to you.
Anyone like to hazard a guess where on its way to the docks 380 was when it caught the unknown cameraman's attention.
Lets hear those thoughts please.

  Its a busy time in post war Stockport as Car 9 arrives into Mersey Sq from Wellington Road south. Built originally as ...
17/10/2024

Its a busy time in post war Stockport as Car 9 arrives into Mersey Sq from Wellington Road south.
Built originally as an open balcony car by the English electric co in Preston in 1919 and numbered 62 in the fleet, it was renumbered to number 9 in 1944 in a move that saw all the "low bridge" cars grouped together in the range 1-29.
It remained in service almost until the end of the trams in Stockport, being withdrawn in March 1951 5 months before the last trams in August that year.

 . A very special car. Right back to the very early days of Manchester's electric trams this week for a photo we came ac...
10/10/2024

. A very special car. Right back to the very early days of Manchester's electric trams this week for a photo we came across in the collection the other day and just had to share. Inside the Queens road depot a group of Inspectors gather on car 254 for a photo. Posing in their splendid new uniforms they look very proud of their new roles and the new trams they had to work with. Queens Road continues to be the home of buses still giving service to the residents of this part of Manchester and our friends at the Greater Manchester Museum of Transport are just next door

We held our society annual general meeting today and as chairman it was my honour to recognise some of our members for t...
06/10/2024

We held our society annual general meeting today and as chairman it was my honour to recognise some of our members for their contributions to the society. Over 140 years of voluntary service to the society in this one group. Thank you all so much.

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Heaton Park Tramway, Heaton Park
Manchester
M252SW

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The line is jointly run by the Manchester Transport Museum Society, who own a number of vintage trams and Manchester city council. The current operating fleet at Heaton Park consists of: *Manchester 765 - single deck 'combination' car dating from 1914 and restored locally in the 1970s

*Hull 96 A 1901 built tramcar which was our last major workshop project being completed in October 2015.

*Blackpool Brush Car 623 dating from the 1930's and made its preservaton debut in January 2012 Also resident but currently out of service are *Stockport 5 - A four wheel open top Stockport with reverse staircases built in 1901 on loan from it's owning group the friends of 5, currently undergoing overhaul in our workshop. *Blackpool 619 - replica of a Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad vanguard built in 1987, currently undergoing overhaul in our workshop * Blackpool 752 - the tramway's multi-purpose works car which was acquired from Blackpool in 2008, *Blackpool 702 - Currently stored in Lakeside depot awaiting overhaul to return to operational condition * Manchester 173 - 1901 built short canopy open topper, currently awaiting workshop capacity for its restoration to be completed * Oldham 43 - Built in 1903 acquired by the society in 2014 after being rescued from a farm, a longer term project. * Manchester Horse Bus * Rawtenstall 23 - awaiting major restoration and currently stored in various pieces Several other trams are housed off-site. Reversible Horse car L53 is in Bury Transport Museum Blackpool 680 is on loan to Blackpool heritage tram tours Blackpool Balloon is in store in Rigby Road Depot, Blackpool.