Heaton Park Tramway

05/09/2024

Slightly more modern this week, but only just!

2024 is the 25th anniversary of the Metrolink T68A light rail vehicles, arriving in Manchester between May and September 1999 for the opening of the extension to Salford Quays in December that year, and on to Eccles in 2000.

Based on the original T68 design from 1991, the six T68A's (numbered 2001 to 2006) looked almost identical to their older cousins, but had a number of differences including a different traction package (running with AC motors rather than DC), full bodyside skirts and various modifications making them better suited for the longer stretches of on-street running on the Eccles line, as opposed to the Bury and Altrincham lines which were mainly on ex-railway routes.

After arriving from Italy (where all of the T68 and T68A vehicles were built) all six settled down into regular use on the Eccles line, alongside a number of the earlier trams that had gained the same modifications to allow them to operate on this route.

Despite some early teething troubles, five of the six T68As provided reliable service, especially from 2009 when their use on the Bury and Altrincham routes became more commonplace - the faster running and less frequent stops suiting the T68As a lot better than the more frequent starting and stopping and lower speeds on the Eccles route. 2001 spent a long period out of traffic with electrical faults, but became one of the most reliable vehicles following its return to use in 2011.

With the opening of various other routes and the arrival of the M5000 trams from Bombardier from 2009, the decision was made in 2012 to withdraw both the T68 and T68As, with this completed by the end of April 2014. It is appropriate that two of the T68As, 2001 and 2003, were the final 'first generation' Metrolink vehicles to remain in service, spending their last few months on shuttle journeys between Bury and Abraham Moss whilst work was undertaken at Manchester Victoria.

Sadly none of the T68A trams survive, however we are the custodians of T68 1007 - the first T68 to run into Manchester City Centre in 1991 - and have a wide range of Metrolink signage, machines and history on display in our museum at Middleton Road Depot.

03/09/2024

MTMS Statement - 3rd September 2024

As many of you will be aware from our posts earlier in the year, we had a component in our tramway's substation fail that prevented us operating the tramway until June. As part of the actions following this failure, our partners at Manchester City Council, who own and maintain the substation, have been working with us at the Manchester Transport Museum Society to completely renew all the components within the substation with more modern equipment, as obtaining replacement components for repairs to our existing equipment, which dates from the 1980s, has become increasingly difficult.

These works have now been scheduled and will commence in September - meaning we are unable to operate our trams until the works are complete.

As such, to allow all parties involved to prepare for the works, our operations have now finished for the season - meaning our running days during September, our Tramtastic gala & November are now cancelled.

Although these works curtail our season this year, it will result in us having a brand new substation ready to serve us for another forty years - and displays the commitment Manchester City Council have to the tramway and its Parks.

31/08/2024

We are pleased to advise we will be operating a THREE car service today, using our Blackpool cars, 619 and 623, alongside our stalwart Hull 96.

Services will operate from 12 till 16:30 - and we also have our FREE entry model tramway exhibition talking place within Middleton Road Depot.

The sun is shining and it's going to be a great day - see you soon?

27/08/2024

Some Might Say that half of Manchester feels like it wants to Live Forever this morning, and we too can't wait to have Oasis joining us in Heaton Park next July! In the meantime, we'll let you know the Sunday Morning Call for the trams we're using in the meantime, and whichever one we choose, we promise She's Electric!

Seriously, our Mancunian volunteers are made up this morning and can't wait for July '25 🙂

26/08/2024

Under slightly moody skies, we have braved taking Blackpool 619 out! The tram will be running until 16:30 today.

Our friends at the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester are running TWO free buses today, operating every 30 minutes from 11:10 onwards from the Park gates, until 16:00.

See you soon?

25/08/2024

100% electric isn't new - our trams have been 100% electric since 1901! 😁

25/08/2024

Another day out today for our smallest car in the fleet, Hull 96!

We'll be running until 4:30pm - unless the rain really comes in, in which case we may finish early. 🌧️

23/08/2024

Tramway Service over the Bank Holiday Weekend

We're sorry to advise that the tramway will be CLOSED on Saturday. We will be operating on Sunday and Monday at our usual times between 12pm and 4:30pm.

Additionally, our friends at the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester will be operating their vintage bus service to the Park on Monday. See their page for more info!

Our volunteer shortage is unfortunately continuing to bite. We are happy to advise that we have a number of new recruits already having joined us in our Operations Team (although more are always welcome!), but the training process to become a Guard takes between 7 and 10 days and having this spread out across our weekend only operation means that it isn't an immediate fix!

22/08/2024

is right in the heart of cottonopolis today and outside the Manchester's spectacular town hall, often know as 'King Cotton's Palace'.
Balloon tram 576 waits to head to West Point in Levenshulme on the 38B service on the 27th of May 1938, with the guard enjoying a few moments break in the lower saloon.
576 had been built in 1903 as an open topper by by the end of 1905 had been fitted with one of the new balloon style top covers and ran unchanged in this condition until withdrawn, a few months after Mr Gunn took this lovely shot.
Soon Manchester's Town Hall will once again shine in the sun, once the ongoing restoration work is completed. It will look very different than it does in this view, where it had become blackened with the years of smoke the city's many chimneys.

18/08/2024

LOST AND FOUND

We have found a camera on Hull 96 this afternoon - without its owner! This has now been handed to Park Security if it is yours - please send us a message and we can assist arranging collection.

18/08/2024

We're very pleased to advise we have TWO tramcars in service today - Blackpool 619 and Hull 96. We'll be running until 4:30pm today.

Our friends at the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester are also running their hourly bus service between their museum and the park - operating on the hour until 4pm - so why not enjoy a day of vintage transport here in Manchester?

16/08/2024

EVENING TRAMS AND HERITAGE BUSES THIS WEEKEND!

We've been getting our vintage trams ready for two days of special events this weekend. Saturday sees a rare chance to take an evening tram ride through Heaton Park, as we're operating from 12pm all the way until 8pm! 🚋🌅

Sunday sees our popular link with the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester with heritage buses running every hour from our Middleton Road terminus, to the Museum of Transport at Boyle St - a great way to enjoy a variety of Manchester's transport heritage.

We're currently intending to operate our open-sided Blackpool Vanguard car 619 on both days, subject to the Manchester sunshine!

We're looking forward to seeing as many as possible of you over the weekend - will you be joining us? 🙂

Normal tram fares apply for both days.

15/08/2024

and the long hot days of a wartime summer.
During what looks like a period of hot weather during the summer of 1944, Maurice Mrashall grabbed this hurried picture of Manchester Water Car No5. It's heading from Birchfields Road depot and round, onto the top end of Kingsway, probably heading back to the Car Works at Hyde Road.
The water cars with their large tanks of water and carborundum grinding shoes were used both to grind off any irregularities which could build up on the track over time, but also were used to flush out the track grooves of dust and dirt that could build up from other traffic.
Only the railway embankment on the left edge of the image survives now, Birchfields road shed now has a retail complex on its site, the Kingsway Cinema is long gone and the iconic Kingsway pub was recently demolish and replaced with a new block of apartments.

09/08/2024

TRAMWAY & MUSEUM CLOSED TOMORROW

Due to a lack of volunteers, we are sadly forced to close the tramway and museum tomorrow - however, we will be fully open on Sunday.

We are at the height of the summer season and our volunteers are taking their hard earned holidays with families and friends - combined with a nationwide shortage of railway volunteers, this results in the closures we are experiencing at present.

We are actively recruiting for new volunteers in our shop and operations departments - if this is something you could be interested in, please get in touch!

08/08/2024

While we always think of the trams running to Heaton Park as being part of the Manchester Corporation operation, Salford too ran trams past the park gates on its service to Rhodes. It was to prevent congestion on the services on the main road that the line into the park was built. Salford Balcony car 191 from 1908 is seen working to Rhodes some time around the time of WW1.

01/08/2024

Abbey Lakes terminus between Orrell and Up Holland was the outer edge of the Wigan Corporation Tramways network and the scene of our historic image today.
Balcony car 81 has adverts in the saloon windows for local sporting fixtures. In the Lancashire Bowl local team Wigan Athletic will be taking on Oldham Athletic for which a special service of cars were to be provided.
The other poster seems to be a bit of a mystery to us now. In a cup final Hindley Green will take on "Top Jack Temp" it looks like - maybe you know something more to fill in the details there.

29/07/2024

A reminder that, as per the calendar on our website, Heaton Park Tramway is closed this coming weekend.

Most (although not all!) of our hard working volunteers are keen tramway enthusiasts and this week is the highlight of the calendar, with the Manx Heritage Transport Festival on the Isle of Man taking place from tomorrow until Sunday evening.

This, unfortunately, results in a number of our volunteers taking a well earned break on the Island and leaves unable to run a service.

A number of you got in touch last week for our plea for volunteers - thankyou ever so much! However, we will always welcome further new volunteers in any of our departments within the tramway, from manning our shop, gardening around the tramway, operating and maintaining the trams...the list goes on! If you think you might be interested, get in touch with us via [email protected]

27/07/2024

Come join us today for Hull 96's first day in service this season and enjoy a ride through the luscious greenery of Heaton Park!

We'll be running until 4:30.

25/07/2024

and 'How it started' for Hull 96.
After a very short recommissioning period following 29 years in store, Hull 96 arrived in the park on the 14th of June 1988, transformed from its previous identity as Leeds Store Car 6.
Within minutes it arrived at what is now Whitegate, the then terminus of the line on its maiden test run.
After a winter slumber, Hull 96 has been again commissioned for service at the tramway for the rest of this summer and should again be giving rides in the park this Saturday from 12pm.

20/07/2024

SERVICE CANCELLED TOMORROW BUT MUSEUM IS OPEN - 21st July

Due to volunteer availability, we are unable to operate the tramway tomorrow. We will have our museum at Middleton Road open as usual.

If crewing our vintage tramcars or helping us run our museum and shop sounds like something you'd like to do, please get in touch via [email protected]!

19/07/2024

RAIN STOPS PLAY TOMORROW EVENING

Due to the poor weather forecast, we will be curtailing our operation to finish at our usual time of 4:30pm, instead of running through until 8:00pm as planned. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused by this late notice cancellation. We still plan to operate our next evening session on Saturday 17th August.

The dramatic photo below comes from one of our previous evening runs (which we always seem to schedule during the rain!) last year, with the rain quite literally bouncing off the roofs of Manchester 765 and Hull 96!

18/07/2024

Summertime and Carnival time
Hopefully summer will kick in soon and we can all enjoy the warm weather. Our look back at greater Manchester's tramway history takes us to Hazel Grove south of Stockport and its carnival time. Sometime soon after it as built in 1926, Manchester bogie car 987 is caught up in the parade outside the Grove Inn on London Road, along with a Stockport car and a North Western bus.
All local scout groups love to get involved with the local parades and so too did this one, with the cubs "camping" on a float and the scouts wearing their classic 'lemon squeezer' hats marching behind carrying the troop's flag.

15/07/2024

Through the ages at Heaton Park! Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester operated their vintage bus service to the Park yesterday and one of our Guards captured this wonderful view of our 1901 Stockport tram, the MoT's 1951 Leyland Titan PD2 and 'the new order' in the form of a 2024 Bee Network Enviro 400EV - a zero emission vehicle much like our vintage tramcars!

The next vintage bus service to the Park operates on Sunday 18th August - but the next tramway event is THIS Saturday, with trams running into the evening until 8pm. Normal fares apply!

14/07/2024

Our 1901 open top tram, Stockport Car 5 is running until 4:30pm on our tramway, with regular free vintage buses (a 1951 Manchester Leyland Titan, 3245) connecting at our Middleton Road terminus, running to the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester ! Come on down and say hello.

13/07/2024

A reminder that we are CLOSED today - but we'll see you tomorrow with a limited service on our Tramway and a FREE bus service in partnership with our friends at the Museum of Transport.

Thanks to some heroic efforts by our engineers, we are hoping tomorrow will feature Stockport 5 for the first time this season.

A slight update for our tramway operations this Sunday 🚋

Due to the 'Tough Mudder' event taking place on the roadway that forms part of our tramway route, we'll be operating on a shorter section of our line than usual, between Middleton Road Gates and our museum and shop at Middleton Road Depot. The section of track just after our depot will be in constant use by participants and sadly proves it almost impossible to negotiate with a vintage tram!

Trams will still connect with the Free vintage bus, operating between Heaton Park and the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester , allowing you to enjoy both a heritage tram and bus ride on the same day!

Any visitors who are used to seeing us at our Lakeside terminus can take a short walk to our Depot stop (signposted throughout the park as 'Tram Museum').

Tram fares will be at our usual prices of £2 for adults and £1 for children over 5, but these will let you have as many rides as you like. Our free tramway museum and gift shop will be open and we expect one of our classic Blackpool Trams to be in operation, either No.619 or 623 dependent on the weather.

We'll look forward to seeing you this Sunday.

08/07/2024

A slight update for our tramway operations this Sunday 🚋

Due to the 'Tough Mudder' event taking place on the roadway that forms part of our tramway route, we'll be operating on a shorter section of our line than usual, between Middleton Road Gates and our museum and shop at Middleton Road Depot. The section of track just after our depot will be in constant use by participants and sadly proves it almost impossible to negotiate with a vintage tram!

Trams will still connect with the Free vintage bus, operating between Heaton Park and the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester , allowing you to enjoy both a heritage tram and bus ride on the same day!

Any visitors who are used to seeing us at our Lakeside terminus can take a short walk to our Depot stop (signposted throughout the park as 'Tram Museum').

Tram fares will be at our usual prices of £2 for adults and £1 for children over 5, but these will let you have as many rides as you like. Our free tramway museum and gift shop will be open and we expect one of our classic Blackpool Trams to be in operation, either No.619 or 623 dependent on the weather.

We'll look forward to seeing you this Sunday.

04/07/2024

ALTERATIONS TO TRAMWAY SERVICE

Due to events taking place in Heaton Park that cross over our tram lines, creating an increased risk to our operation, we are having to alter our service pattern for the next two weekends as follows:

Sat 6th July - TRAMWAY & MUSEUM CLOSED

Sun 7th July - Tramway & museum open, with a full line service to Lakeside being operated from approx 1:30pm onwards. Services from 12pm to 1:30pm will be centered on our "double track" section outside our museum. This day is also our New Volunteer Day - come down and have a chat!

Sat 13th July - TRAMWAY & MUSEUM CLOSED

Sun 14th July - Tramway and museum open, but we will only be operating on our "double track" section outside our museum all day (11-4:30) - our standard fares (£2 adult, £1 child) will still be in use, but will be valid for travel all day. The Museum of Transport will be operating their bus service to the park on this day, see their website for more information.

27/06/2024

heads into town down Hyde Road and passed the home of Manchester's trams the "Car Works" at the junction of Devonshire st.
Here many of the city's trams were kept, many were built there and all came for overhaul from time to time.
This commercial postcard from around the time of WW1 show the general state of the local housing as well as the ornate tramway buildings, a feature of which was the 5 sided clock tower on the corner of the building. Sadly the frontage was demolished in the 1960s but the depot carries on as a bus garage and much of the works remains as industrial units.