The visit to Morley went very well despite some proper Pennine weather.   On the Friday  (Yorkshire Day) a group of volunteers from Heaton Park loaded the tram onto a Gillespie's low loader in the pouring rain.

The next morning it was taken over the hills to Morley

Arriving at 7.50am.  It was then positioned in Peel Street with a poster in front of it showing the original recruiting tram.

During the day it was used as an impromptu stage for two singers performing a medley of WWI era songs.

And the Mayor of Morley was photographed on the platform of the tram, in between rain showers.

We were rather dissapointed as Leeds City Council rescinded permission to park the tram next to the Town hall, at the last minute.  However we were able to see the Town hall from where we were parked.

Then just after 4pm  the tractor unit was re-coupled and reversed carefully down Peel Steet then turned around for the journey home.

Arriving at Heaton Park about an our later the ramp was quickly built and the careful journey back to home rails began.

The final part of the ramp consisted of two taper pieces specially made that week after a design conference over the telephone.  These had two pegs on their inside faces that  held the rails to gauge and ensured that the wheels came correctly onto the track.

Then finally at 18.02, less than 3 hours after the tram left Peel Street in Morley it was back on home rails.

I hope it won't be another 79 years before a tram comes to Morley again but don't hold your breath.

A grateful thanks to all the hard working volunteers at Heaton Park for making this possible and LTHS member Dennis Marshall for coming up with the idea.

79 years ago on 23rd January 1935 the last tram ran along Queen Street in Morley.  It was heading from Worrall Street depot to Swinegate depot in Leeds following the closure of the Morley Corporation tram system the night before.  Now for one day only a tram is to return to Morley.

On 2nd August 2014 an event is going to be held on Queen Street in Morley to commemorate the outbreak of the First World War.

In the First World War many cities ran specially decorated trams to help with recruiting efforts.  Leeds had one that toured the city with the destination reading 'Berlin'.

Thanks to the efforts of Morley Chamber of Trade, The LTHS and the Manchester Tramway Museum Society (The MTMS)  at Heaton Park a replica of a recruiting tram is going to be in Queen Street in  Morley on Saturday 2nd August.  Manchester 173, an open topped double decker is being specially decorated to look like a recruiting tram and is then being loaded onto a low loader and brought to Morley where it will be parked in Windsor Court on Queen Street as the centre piece of the Remembrance Commemoration from 10am to 4pm.  It will then return to Heaton Park, still decorated and may well be used at an event there in September.

UPDATE  29-7-14.   THE TRAM WILL NOW BE POSITIONED ON PEEL STREET AT ITS JUNCTION WITH QUEEN STREET.

The LTHS would like to express their gratitude to the MTMS and Morley Chamber of Trade for their hard work in helping this to happen.

The running gear for Cambridge 7 was collected from Leeds by a team from the Ipswich Transport Museum on Wednesday 12th March.   This marked the very successful completion of a project for the LTHS with a complete new set of running gear for a horse tram delivered in just over 6 months.  The LTHS would like to acknowledge the help and cooperation of the staff at the Middleton Railway, who machined some of the parts, used their rail mounted crane to move the wheelsets and completed running gear, and also allowed the LTHS to complete the work in their workshops. Without this cooperation the project would not have been possibe.

The running gear was taken back to Ipswich that afternoon and was successsfully taken through the museum, turned and positioned alongside the body of Cambridge 7.  It is planned to fit the running gear to the body in a few months time.

Here the complete Runing Gear is shown outside the Engine House building at the extreme end of the short length of 4 foot gauge track prior to being lifted. The lower tie bars are only temporarily secured so that they can be drilled when the gear has been fitted to the original underframe.

The gear was then carefully lifted and taken down to where the lorry was waiting and placed on some temporary wooden track for its jouney to Ipswich.

Well today was a hard but good day.  We started with a pile of parts and ended with a complete set of running gear complete with brakes.  And it runs, though there is only 6' of track at the moment.

At 9.45 the wheelsets were delivered from Multitech of Ferrybridge.

Here the wheelsets have just arrived.

The crew from the Middleton Railway arrived with the crane and the first pair were lowered onto the ground.  Up went the cry, "They're the wrong gauge.".

Then I went to set up the temporary 4' gauge track outside the Engine House.

The first set of wheels then arrived.

The crane slewed and they ere lowered carefully onto the temporary track.

The crane then went back for the second set.

Before long the second set of wheels appeared and they were then slowly rolled into the Engine House.

The dummy underframe was then lifted onto the trestles positioned by the wheels.

The various parts were then laid out ready for the assembly to begin.

The four suspension units were then attached along with all the springs, dampers and various collars and spring seats.

After lunch the sway bar was attached and work began on fitting the brake gear.

A couple of small items of machining needed to be done but by 4.30 the whole unit had been assembled and the brakes tested.  The cross beams are in but the tie bars have not been drilled at this stage so they hang below the axleboxes.

All in all a good days work. Now just get the wheels and axles painted and the brake springs fitted and it's ready for delivery.

Another good work day was held and a lot achieved. During the week I had taken delivery of the 8 coil springs from the Lancashire Spring Co at Milnrow, in Lancashire (Yes I did have to travel to the dark side). I also collected various bit of steelwork from Jason Reeve. These are the two brake beams, the sway bar and the sway bar bracket. These together with the remaining three brake shoes were taken to Middleton. Malcolm spent the morning machining pivots for the pawls for the brake ratchets and I spent the morning drilling holes in the brake blocks. These weren't easy as they are a very awkward shape to clamp.

After lunch Malcolm made the pivot for the sway bar and I drilled the remaining holes in the sway bar. The pivot hole then needed milling to make it oval. Apparently this allows the brakes to self centre. Meanwhile I had ground some metal off the brake beams so that they fitted into the brake shoes then drilled the first beam. Here is a completed brake beam with the blocks temporarily bolted on.

The brake blocks can be seen at either side plus the angled boss that allows the push rod to apply the brakes.
Once Malcolm had finished machining the parts for the sway bar it was test assembled with the pivot fitted.

After that it was time to clear up but I couldn't resist adding two of the coil springs to the trial suspension unit. This now has both spring seats on it.
A lot of work is left but next week the wheelsets and dummy underframe are to be delivered so there should be a lot to report.