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Seaton Tramway.

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45669

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Farnborough.
Afternoon All,

While I was on holiday in Dorset, I made a trip across the border into Devon to visit the Seaton Tramway. A few short videos are now on YouTube, with more to follow as time permits:





Hope they're of interest.

TTFN,

Ron.
 
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eMeS

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Thanks for posting. Good to see that it's getting some investment.
It was 1978 when we took our two daughters & pet dog on the tramway. It was raining so we sheltered downstairs on one of the 2-storey trams, and my memories of that period are that it wouldn't survive more than a few years! If I can still find it, my video is on 8mm cine!
 

geoffk

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I must make another visit but am waiting for them to open Riverside Halt. Anyone know if it's open yet? The website still says "opening soon". The third video shops a stop there but apparently only for operational reasons.
 

45669

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I must make another visit but am waiting for them to open Riverside Halt. Anyone know if it's open yet? The website still says "opening soon". The third video shops a stop there but apparently only for operational reasons.

You can keep an eye on Riverside Halt vis the webcam:
 

45669

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Joined
26 Jul 2010
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1,028
Location
Farnborough.
Thanks for posting. Good to see that it's getting some investment.
It was 1978 when we took our two daughters & pet dog on the tramway. It was raining so we sheltered downstairs on one of the 2-storey trams, and my memories of that period are that it wouldn't survive more than a few years! If I can still find it, my video is on 8mm cine!

It only opened in 1970, but has come on in leaps and bounds since then. I'll be posting more video on YouTube as time permits so you'll see for yourself...
 

RailDepartures

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Visited here a few times, love this place. Great day out. Wish we had a vintage Tramway in Bristol.

What other vintage tramways are in the uk? Iv been to Blackpool one and need to visit Crich, but are there any others? Can’t find much more on Google.
 

45669

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26 Jul 2010
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Location
Farnborough.
Visited here a few times, love this place. Great day out. Wish we had a vintage Tramway in Bristol.

What other vintage tramways are in the uk? Iv been to Blackpool one and need to visit Crich, but are there any others? Can’t find much more on Google.

There's the East Anglia Transport Museum just outside Lowestoft:


There's also one in Birkenhead and another one in or near Manchester, but I haven't been to either of them so don't know much about them.
 

geoffk

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Visited here a few times, love this place. Great day out. Wish we had a vintage Tramway in Bristol.

What other vintage tramways are in the uk? Iv been to Blackpool one and need to visit Crich, but are there any others? Can’t find much more on Google.
Visited here a few times, love this place. Great day out. Wish we had a vintage Tramway in Bristol.

What other vintage tramways are in the uk? Iv been to Blackpool one and need to visit Crich, but are there any others? Can’t find much more on Google.
There's the Wirral Tramway at Birkenhead. Other heritage trams run inside museums, like Crich - Beamish Museum, the Scottish Industrial Museum, Summerlee, Coatbridge, the East Anglia Transport Museum at Carlton Colville near Lowestoft and the Black Country Museum near Dudley. I think the latter tramway is currently out of service. Oh and Heaton Park in Manchester.

 

45669

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Farnborough.
There's the Wirral Tramway at Birkenhead. Other heritage trams run inside museums, like Crich - Beamish Museum, the Scottish Industrial Museum, Summerlee, Coatbridge, the East Anglia Transport Museum at Carlton Colville near Lowestoft and the Black Country Museum near Dudley. I think the latter tramway is currently out of service. Oh and Heaton Park in Manchester.


Oops! Forgot about Beamish. None of the ones we're suggesting are much good if you want a day trip from Bristol though!
 

geoffk

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You can keep an eye on Riverside Halt vis the webcam:
Thanks. I spent the day on the line last Saturday and visited both new halts, Riverside and Seaton Wetlands. Six double-deck trams were out, some of them running as duplicates, while single deck car 15 was running the Fairy Special. F1010r.JPG
 

45669

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Location
Farnborough.
Three more episodes of the narrow gauge Seaton Tramway are now on YouTube:




Hope they're of interest.

TTFN,

Ron.
 

John Luxton

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23 Nov 2014
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Liverpool
I recall visiting the Seaton Tramway as a 10 year old on when it first opened when they used battery tenders. A freight wagon with a load of batteries on them with a cable leading up to the trolley. Visited a few time as a youngster as Seaton was certainly the place to go with Peco model railways originally being further along what was then Station (now Harbour) Road before they moved out to Beer.

I also visited a few times in the 1980s and 1990s and have scanned my images from this time - these are on my web site at:

https://www.jhluxton.com/The-35mm-Film-Archive/Tramways-/Seaton-and-District-Electric-T/

Only been once in recent years - that was 2019 and it was a quick trip from Colyton to Seaton and back - didn't have time to hang around.

However, the tramway is on my agenda for a longer visit in 2023.
 

45669

Member
Joined
26 Jul 2010
Messages
1,028
Location
Farnborough.
I recall visiting the Seaton Tramway as a 10 year old on when it first opened when they used battery tenders. A freight wagon with a load of batteries on them with a cable leading up to the trolley. Visited a few time as a youngster as Seaton was certainly the place to go with Peco model railways originally being further along what was then Station (now Harbour) Road before they moved out to Beer.

I also visited a few times in the 1980s and 1990s and have scanned my images from this time - these are on my web site at:

https://www.jhluxton.com/The-35mm-Film-Archive/Tramways-/Seaton-and-District-Electric-T/

Only been once in recent years - that was 2019 and it was a quick trip from Colyton to Seaton and back - didn't have time to hang around.

However, the tramway is on my agenda for a longer visit in 2023.

It's certainly changed a lot over the years and your photos are a splendid record.

When the line at Eastbourne closed I, together with a few friends, went down to Eastbourne to help Claud Lane lift the track and load it onto his lorry. Later, some of my friends went down to Seaton to help relay the track down there; I couldn't get the time off work, so was unable to join them. One of my friends liked it so much that he gave up his job in Middlesex and went down to Seaton and became one of the first full time employees.

On my visit this year, the first for some time, I was disappointed that the tram terminus had been replaced. But talking to one of the staff there he said that the old terminus had suffered badly in the salty sea air and had to be replaced on safety grounds. However, the new terminus building is also a tram depot in which trams can be stabled overnight, so having a tram depot with public access does compensate for the loss of the old terminus.

The new terminus / depot will feature in a future video which I hope I shall time to edit shortly, so watch this space...
 

John Luxton

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Joined
23 Nov 2014
Messages
1,653
Location
Liverpool
It's certainly changed a lot over the years and your photos are a splendid record.

When the line at Eastbourne closed I, together with a few friends, went down to Eastbourne to help Claud Lane lift the track and load it onto his lorry. Later, some of my friends went down to Seaton to help relay the track down there; I couldn't get the time off work, so was unable to join them. One of my friends liked it so much that he gave up his job in Middlesex and went down to Seaton and became one of the first full time employees.

On my visit this year, the first for some time, I was disappointed that the tram terminus had been replaced. But talking to one of the staff there he said that the old terminus had suffered badly in the salty sea air and had to be replaced on safety grounds. However, the new terminus building is also a tram depot in which trams can be stabled overnight, so having a tram depot with public access does compensate for the loss of the old terminus.

The new terminus / depot will feature in a future video which I hope I shall time to edit shortly, so watch this space...
The new terminal is quite an impressive building - I am sure I read somewhere it can also function as an exhibition space if required. I do intend to get back there in 2023 and spend a full day there. Long overdue.
 
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