THE TRAMS
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Manchester Corporation Tramways 173
Built in 1901 173 is a representative of the first batch of Manchester 4 wheel double deck trams. Built by Brush to the pattern of a prototype car constructed by the Manchester Carriage and Tramways Company as part of a series of prototypes built by a number of different manufacturers to find the most suitable types for Manchester use. The car saw service until 1931 having been rebuilt with a top cover during its life. It then spent a further 40 years as a garden shed before being rescued for restoration. This project which has been carried out at a number of locations in Greater Manchester is nearing completion at the Greater Manchester Museum of Transport at Boyle Street to the rear of the former Queens Road tram depot from which the car would have operated in its early years. As part of the restoration process the Society purchased and imported a former Oporto coal tram to provide running gear and equipment. It is intended that 173 will operate on the tramway in Heaton Park once complete.
(Photo MTMS archive)
View showing 173 in its later guise as a balcony top covered car in front of another similar car on Cross Street in a typical traffic jam of the period.
(photo S.G.Hyde)
The two Oporto coal cars imported for equipment for 173 and Stockport 5 shortly after their arrival at Kearsley Power Station Bolton.
(Photo W.G.S. Hyde)
173 under restoration at the Manpower Services Workhop at Horwich Loco Works
(photo S.G.Hyde)
173 on display at the Greater Manchester Museum of Transport , Boyle Street, Manchester.
Manchester Corporation Tramways 765
(photo S.G.Hyde)
765 posed at Cabin in Blackpool the day after its arrival for the 1985 centenary celebrations.
(Photo MTMS archive)
The late Cliff Taylor the man who masterminded the Heaton Park Tramway Project driving 765 at the Park.
This car really represents the start of the whole project for the Manchester Transport Museum Society. Built in 1914 by The United Electric Car Company at its works in Preston it is a single deck 'California' combination car. Manchester possessed a predominantly double deck fleet, however the circular 53 route passed under a number of low bridges on it's journey around the city and this necessitated a fleet of single deck cars, 765 was one of the third batch of these. When the route was converted to buses in 1930 a number of the cars were retained for works duties but many of the rest were sold off for use as summer houses or garden sheds. 765 found it's way onto the Yorkshire moors above Huddersfield where it remained for the best part of 30 years before being rescued by members of the then Manchester Transport Historical Collection for preservation. Over a period of nearly 20 years the car was returned to operational condition before running at The National Tramway Museum for a few years in the 1970s. It returned to Manchester in 1979 to become the mainstay of the Heaton Park operation. A brief interlude saw it operate in Blackpool from 1985 for a year or two as part of the heritage fleet assembled for the centenary of Blackpool's tramway.
MANCHESTER TRANSPORT MUSEUM SOCIETY