More trams.

I haven't blogged for a while. Not sure I have a decent excuse so I will try to do better in future.

Today I was passed out on a new tram. Oporto 273.



It went OK apart from one problem mixing up the hand brake and air brake.



Today was horse tram day.



And a chance to see 2 Sheffield cars together.



Alison rode with me all day.



And finally back to shed with no problems.



On May 1st I drove 236 again but forgot to blog.

Something went right for a change

Today I went down to see the boat to do some maintenance jobs. It's about time I did some and the weather was lovely.
The first thing I realised is that there is now a high security gate at the marina. We always thought a wooden 5 bar gate with the high security fence was an obvious weak link as you could just climb it. We are very pleased with this new gate.



My first job was to fit a new plug socket. I have bought some that have integral USB chargers as loads of things these days seem to need one of these. It was an easy fit and will make life a lot easier.



Then it was time to replace the tunnel light. We have done a lot of research and have decided to try and get one which has a magnetic mount so we can move it. After lots of research we found a nice magnetic mount and it was reasonably cheap at about £10. I have also fitted a couple of extension wires both with plugs and sockets on the end so that we can position at the light at other points on the boat to use as a work light. Very pleasingly it has worked out perfectly.







It is easy to move to other locations as required.





The magnet is strong enough to put the light on the side of the boat too so it will be very helpful in rural moorings to aid safe movements.



We are worried it may be too bright but only time will tell.

First Trams of the Year

Yesterday saw me on duty for the first time this year.

No surprise that I chose a Blackpool Tram.



There were 2 others on duty and Kevin Boyd was my conductor.

Unfit for purpose

Last year we fitted a new LED tunnel light, which sits proudly on the port side at the bow.

 

It has now been fitted for 10 months and yesterday when we paid one of our regular inspection vists to Magpie II we found the tunel light half full of water and therefore totally ruined.

 

What a total waste of money. This was advertised as the only tunnel light we would ever need. It is clearly not fit for purpose, and should never have been sold as marine quality.

 

Durite and Midland Chandlers, we are really not impressed!

Bus t

I couldn't resist this picture of a broken down bus, front touching a traffic light totally blocking the junction of Harborne High Street by The Green Man.
Taken from the top deck of a suddenly diverting 23.

Wolverhampton Top Lock

On Saturday there was an open day at Wolverhampton top lock.

Although we have been in a wide lock before this was our first visit inside a narrow one.

The lock itself is 15 years older than the USA. And it is in better condition too.



The reason the lock was drained was to allow for new gates to be fitted. Here they are.



We went down into the lock, which is a grade 2 listed building. The talks were interesting and everybody was happy to answer all questions.

We then looked at the state of the drained canal below the lock.





We now know why it is so easy to ground. We will stay closer to the middle from now on.

The other surprises were the answer to the questions:
What do life expired lock gates look like and where do they go.

We found both answers at lock 2.

Starlight Halloween

On Friday it was my last duty of what has been a long season.
I had finally secured the chance to drive in the dark. An experience I was really looking forward to.

When i arrived however, I was told things had been altered and as I was the only one qualified to drive every tram in service I had been moved to do reliefs and then finish early. Not Happy.

First tram was Leeds 180.



Then 345



And then 812



I had said when I was being briefed that I didn't want to drive 812. I cannot see properly and have to stoop to drive which badly effects my back. When we reached Glory Mine my back was playing up. Neil, my conductor, phoned through to explain and duties were altered, back to how they had been originally so i had my own tram.
It turned out to be Blackpool 40.



As the clocks have already changed it got dark earlier.





I did lots of trips and even got to drive 236 in the dark.



I still ended up being last away even though I wasn't last tram. We had to run North wrong line to avoid the Fire Engine that was attending the false alarm. An interesting day.