Wednesday 30 November 2016

On trams David has seen .............. Manchester tram number 3118

Now there will be those who collect stamps and others who have spent a lifetime on the edge of railway station platforms jotting down the numbers of passing locomotives.

Recently I even encountered a group of four middle aged men at Oxford Road animatedly discussing just where was the best spot on the Sunderland to Newcastle line to observe passing rail traffic.

To these I can add my old friend David Harrop who is two off collecting the entire set of tram numbers for the Manchester Metro fleet.

He tells me “that so far they run from 3001 to 3120 and I have just seen my last tram 3118 in Oldham.”

And not content with that he also supplied me with a picture of an Oldham tram about to arrive at Market Street.

All of which took me off on one.  I pondered whether to reflect on the hobby of collecting “things” or instead to explore some of the different trams I have come to know.

I am too young to remember the old stately ones which graced our streets during the early 20th century having been born in the year the last Manchester tram completed its last trip, although I was taken to see the last LCC tram complete its final journey into the New Cross depot in 1952.

So I have to be content with that new generation of trams.

And of these pride of place has to go to our own yellow ones.

But I won’t be sniffy, and must mention the Sheffield ones who according to our Josh and my friend Patricia have a “clippy.”

Now I bet David didn’t know that.

Although he cleared up my confusion over the letters  A and some a B which appear after the number and just "indicate the tram end."

So I an now in the market for pictures of Sheffield trams and pretty much anywhere else.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; tram 3105 at Exchange Square, and 3069 in St Peters Square, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson and tram 3064 coming into Market Street, 2016 courtesy of David Harrop

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