Blackpool ‘Replica Vanguard’ No. 619 stands at the Middleton Road entrance to Heaton Park on December 10, 2022.
MTMS
THE formal launch into service of Blackpool ‘Replica Vanguard’ No. 619 will take place on March 26 – the first public operating day of 2023 for Manchester’s Heaton Park Tramway. No. 619, which had been out of service for overhaul since 2017, returned to action on the tramway in December, for the annual Lightopia event hosted in the park, but there were still some finishing touches to be completed. Among the outstanding tasks were adding lining to its red and white paintwork and the reattachment of advertising boards.
Originally constructed in 1935 as English Electric Railcoach No. 282, the car was converted into OMO (One Man Operation) No. 7 and ran in this form in Blackpool until 1987 when it was rebuilt in its current guise.
WINTER WORK: As part of the annual winter maintenance routine at the Great Orme Tramway, both infrastructure and vehicles receive attention. Tram No. 5 is pictured on December 15 at Victoria station in Llandudno (right), with its bogies removed. It gave an opportunity to see components such as axle boxes in detail, including the one pictured above, dated 1912.
GARY MORGAN JONES