Wednesday 14th December to Wednesday 21st December 2022
This week Yoshi’s mum and I took a trip on the Seaton Tramway’s Polar Express. We enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies and received the first gift of Christmas from the big man himself. Unfortunately, doggos were not allowed on the festive trams, but Yoshi had fun at his cousins’ for a few hours, as did we in the company of the conductor, chefs and elves on our journey to the North Pole.
Established in 1970, the Seaton Tramway is a 2ft 9in narrow gauge electric tramway located in Devon and runs for approximately 3 miles along the Axe Estuary and the River Coly between Seaton on the coast and Colyton and operates over part of the trackbed of the former Seaton branch line railway which closed in March 1966. The tramway was established by Claude Lane, founder of Modern Electric Tramways Ltd, which had previously operated in Eastbourne between 1954 and 1969.
Fourteen trams, all based on classic British designs and varying in size from half-scale to two thirds-scale, run on the tramway, which sees over 100,000 visitors per year. Most of the trams were built from scratch by Claude Lane or his successor Allan Gardner, however three were rebuilt from full-size tramcars which originally ran in London, Bournemouth and Exeter.
Built in 1906. An Exeter Corporation Tramways 3ft 6in gauge open topper, 1906 – 1931. Rebuilt at Seaton, 1994-1998. The only Exeter tram in preservation. Enclosed tram for wet weather – 15/12/2022
Built in 1988 at Seaton. Previously Car 17 and based on the Manx Electric Railway “toast-rack” cars. Rebuilt at Seaton in 2016 and transformed into an all-weather, enclosed single-deck tramcar – 15/12/2022
Built in 1904, the oldest tram in the fleet. A metropolitan Tramways “type A” originally numbered car 94 (Standard Gauge), rebuilt at Eastbourne and Seaton between 1962 and 1984. Enclosed tram for wet weather – 15/12/2022
Formerly Bournemouth car No. 106, built as a 3ft 6in gauge open-top double-decker in 1921 and withdrawn on the closure of the Bournemouth system in 1936. The body was subsequently discovered in use on a Dorset farm, acquired by the Bournemouth Transport Preservation Group and then donated to Seaton Tramway in 1974 where the body was narrowed, and then rebuilt in its current form. Launched in to service in 1992 – 15/12/2022
Video of the Seaton Tramway from 1996:
The recent cold spell saw the Snow & Ice Treatment Train make its second run this winter along the Bournemouth to Weymouth line with a daylight outing on 15th December.
For The Record
The final two scheduled test trains of 2022 failed to materialise with Monday evenings 1Q51 1115 Derby RTC to Eastleigh East Yard being cancelled at source due to ‘a problem with the train’ and Wednesday 21st December’s visit of the New Measurement Train operated by Colas Class 43 HST power car No.’s 43272 and 43257 via the West running as 1Q18 0754 Derby RTC to Bristol Kingsland Road was turned around at Yeovil Pen Mill because of late running.
That brings us to the end of another blog entry, and indeed, our final Railway Dog of 2022. All things being equal, we’ll be back in January 2023 – thank you for reading and all your comments, corrections and contributions over the last 12 months. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
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