As part of an annual Nexus volunteer day, a team of maintenance engineers from the Tyne and Wear Metro carried out essential repairs on the overhead power lines of the iconic tram network at the Beamish Museum in County Durham.

The engineers’ knowledge and expertise were a great help to the world-famous open-air museum, which looks after a fleet of crowd-pleasing trams and trolley buses. During the museum’s busy summer season, thousands of visitors flock there to travel on the historic tramway, and these works were an important part of getting the tramway ready for this year’s operations.

To help the engineers undertake the works, which involved the replacement of span wires and electrical insulators, they brought in advanced equipment that is normally used on the Metro system for nightly maintenance tasks. The visit followed a similar exercise in December 2021 when Metro engineers carried out safety-critical inspections on the Beamish tramway.

The tramway at Beamish museum opened in 1973 with a single track from the depot at Foulbridge to the boundary of the Town site. It provides transport for visitors around the site, as well as re-creating the experience and atmosphere of tramways from many years ago.

In 1975, the original route was extended into the growing Town, and then in 1988 extended beyond Foulbridge to the new Visitor Entrance, which created a mile-long route, with passing loops at all three stops. A major extension was completed in 1993 with a circle from Town via Pockerley, with a further passing loop, up a steep gradient through Birch Wood, and then back to the Visitor Entrance. The total route length is now one and a half miles, with four passing loops.

Further information about the museum can be found at www.beamish.org.uk

Service Delivery Manager at Nexus, Malcolm Irving, said: “It was great to be back at Beamish Museum as part of our volunteer day to help with some of the repairs on the famous tramway.

“We undertook some inspections in 2021 and there some small overhead line repairs which we carried out on this visit.

“Three teams of our engineers used our special mobile raised platforms to undertake the works. We replaced span wires, insulators, and did some other routine maintenance. This all helps Beamish to get ready for their summer season. Our team had a great day, and we were delighted to help them out.”