Manchester Corporation Tramways 765 makes an unusual appearance through the Heaton Park Gates onto Middleton Road to celebrate the delayed 40th Anniversary Celebrations of the opening of the Heaton Park Tramway.

With the driver in period uniform the scene could have been taken in the early 20th Century. The illusion is just compromised by the father and son in contemporary fashion to be glimpsed to the left!

The event was due to be held in April 2020. Normally trams terminate the other side of the gate. It is at the maximum extent possible with the trolley just remaining on the overhead wires.

For more photographs of the Heaton Park Tramway please click here: www.jhluxton.com/Railways-and-Tramways/British-Irish-Tram...


Manchester Corporation Tramways car 765 of 1914 is the only remaining original electric tramcar from Manchester in regular operation. It was one of a series of unusual single-deck bogie cars of the combination car type, with a central saloon and open smoking compartments at the ends, built for routes with low bridges.

The conversion of these routes to buses in 1930 led to most of these cars being sold, and the body of 765 was acquired by a farm near Huddersfield. In 1960 it passed to a group that was to become the Manchester Tramway Museum Society and restoration work started. It has operated at Heaton Park since 1979.

Tags:   2022 Great Manchester Heaton Park Heaton Park Tramway John H. Luxton Photography Leica Leica VLux 5 Manchester Manchester Transport Museum Society park tram tramcar tramway www.jhluxton.com England United Kingdom Manchester Corporation Tramways HERITAGE TRAMWAY TRANSPORT HERITAGE MONOCHROME B&W BLACKANDWHITE

© All Rights Reserved

To mark the opening of the 2022 Season and to commemorate two years later than intended 40th Anniversary of the Heaton Park Tramway Hull City Tramways 96 and Manchester Corporation 765 ran in parallel between the Museum and Middleton Road.

The double track section of tramway laid in Heaton Park is the only restored section of municipal tramway track in the UK. This track was laid into the park in the early 1900s shortly after Heaton Park opened as a Municipal Park following its purchase by Manchester Corporation following purchase of Heaton Hall and Estate.

For more photographs of the Heaton Park Tramway please click here: www.jhluxton.com/Railways-and-Tramways/British-Irish-Tram...

Tags:   2022 Great Manchester Heaton Park Heaton Park Tramway John H. Luxton Photography Leica Leica VLux 5 Manchester Manchester Transport Museum Society park tram tramcar tramway www.jhluxton.com England United Kingdom heritage tramway

© All Rights Reserved

Manchester Corporation Transport tramcar 765 operating on the Heaton Park Tramway. The building was once the waiting room for Manchester Corporation Tramways passengers visiting the large Heaton Park and dates from the early 1900s. It is now the Heaton Park Tramway Museum.

The Heaton Park Tramway is a heritage tramway that operates within Manchester. The tramway is operated by the Manchester Transport Museum Society, a registered charity.

The tramway operates on Sunday afternoons between March and mid-November and on Saturday afternoons between May and mid-September.

Heaton Park was originally the private estate surrounding Heaton Hall, that was sold to Manchester City Council in 1902 for use as a municipal park. Shortly after the park was bought by the council, a branch of Manchester Corporation Tramways was built 280 yards (260 m) into the park from the existing tramway on Middleton Road. A large waiting shelter was constructed at the end of this branch, and the first tram arrived on 31 May 1903. Around 1934 buses replaced trams and the tramway into the park was abandoned and the tram reservation surfaced for use by buses.

The Manchester Transport Museum Society (MTMS) was founded as a registered charity in the early 1960s, with the aim of the preservation of documents and artifacts relating to public transport in the Manchester region. An early project of the society was the restoration of Manchester Corporation Tramways 765, which had been found on a farm near Huddersfield.

Following restoration of 765 and operation at the Crich Tramway Museum the MTMS were looking for an operating site around Manchester.

In the 1970s the society approached the city council with this idea. The initial plan, to construct a tramway from Grand Lodge to Heaton Hall, was considered too expensive, as it would require remedial works to carry it across the railway tunnel. A new scheme was proposed to reopen the old Manchester Corporation Tramways spur from Middleton Road to the old tram shelter. The original track was buried under a layer of tarmac which was cleared and the tram shelter restored and modified to form a depot and museum. Work was completed in 1979 and the Heaton Park Tramway officially opened on March 28, 1980.

Since 1980, the museum tramway has been extended further into the park on three occasions, and it is now some 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long. The most recent extension was in 2011 and reaches the boathouse and lake. A new tram depot has been constructed at this terminus.

For more photographs of the Heaton Park Tramway please click here: www.jhluxton.com/Railways-and-Tramways/British-Irish-Tram...

Tags:   2022 Great Manchester Heaton Park Heaton Park Tramway John H. Luxton Photography Leica Leica VLux 5 Manchester Manchester Transport Museum Society park tram tramcar tramway www.jhluxton.com England United Kingdom Manchester Corporation Tramways heritage tramway

© All Rights Reserved

36 years of tram car design evolution Blackpool Tramways Brush Railcoach 623 of 1937 with Stockport Tramways 5 of 1901. Both vehicles are seen a the Heaton Park Tramway. The Blackpool tram still looks quite modern today.

For more photographs of the Heaton Park Tramway please click here: www.jhluxton.com/Railways-and-Tramways/British-Irish-Tram...

Tags:   2022 Great Manchester Heaton Park Heaton Park Tramway John H. Luxton Photography Leica Leica VLux 5 Manchester Manchester Transport Museum Society park tram tramcar tramway www.jhluxton.com England United Kingdom BLACKPOOL CORPORATION TRAMWAYS STOCKPORT CORPORATION TRANSPORT

© All Rights Reserved

Reprocessed to mono this image of D1501 departing Bury for Rawtenstall on April 03, 2022 could have been taken in the 1960s!

When I paid a flying visit to the Bury Bolton Street Station of the East Lancashire Railway on April 03, 2022.

I didn't realise that Class 47 D1501 / 47402 was on its final weekend at the railway before transferring to Peak Rail. That only became apparent when I looked up information on the locomotive after downloading the images.

This was only my second visit to the ELR, my previous one was in the 1990s. I must return and take a ride.

For more photographs of the East Lancashire Railway please click here: www.jhluxton.com/Railways-and-Tramways/Heritage-Railways-...

Tags:   2022 Bury Bury Bolton Street ELR East Lancashire Railway Great Manchester John H. Luxton Photography Leica Leica VLux 5 eisenbahn heritage railroad heritage railway railway rheilffordd www.jhluxton.com England United Kingdom D1501

© All Rights Reserved