Chairman’s Chat

First of all, I would like to welcome all new members who have joined our Group. Please introduce yourselves to our active members either crewinq the trams or working in the Tram shed next time you visit the heritage park. We will make you very welcome. Thanks to everyone who turned up at this year's AGM which was very well attended. The AGM is always a good opportunity to meet new members and catch up with old friends. We were all pleased to see Bob Connor, our President, who has not been able to visit the Park for some time. The review of the past year and plans for the future led to an interesting and informative debate. After the AGM our group enjoyed teas, scones and snacks courtesy of Andy, Marjory, Bob Sutherland and lan Morton while sitting on the picnic benches in glorious sunshine, before enjoying the Trams and touring the depot.

Picnic after the A.G.M.

The rectifier unit that supplies power to the trams has been causing problems for some time, on occasions leading to cancellation of tram services with resulting loss in revenue for the Park. The unit, I believe, was obtained from the Glasgow subway where it was used to power an overhead crane and probably dates from the 1960's. Unfortunately, the overload breaker no longer worked and when a fault condition arose fuses blew. The fuses protecting the diodes are fast acting cost over £20 each to replace. A technician from a specialist company inspected the unit when it failed completely. This visit cost several hundred pounds in call out charges. Clearly this situation could not go on and, with no diagrams to even begin to diagnose the old units fault; a new rectifier unit was clearly required. The Committee, realising the budget restraints the park management would be under, offered to contribute £1,000 to the cost of a new unit. The rectifier complete with modern overload protection is now in place, a very worthwhile major investment in the tramway infrastructure for the future.

The Group was able to donate £1,000 thanks to the hard work and time of our Treasurer Harvie Milligan and Membership Secretary Ronnie Maclean who between them processed many forms to obtain the back dated Gift Aid tax repayment claim our Group was able to claim on the very generous donations our members have given over the last five years. I emphasise care has been taken to set aside any donations that specified a particular
project. Gift Aid is now a very important tool in our fund-raising, if you are eligible please fill in the form as your membership subscription will qualify under this scheme.

Trams
Graz 225 This car was recently acquired by a group restoring Brighton tram 53. 225 left Summerlee on 5th July bound for its new home. More details regarding the Brighton group can be found on their website http://btontram53.blogspot.com

Glasgow 1017
This car is now the workhorse of the fleet and has received quite a bit of attention over the last few months. John Traynor during a lubrication routine noticed that a sideways thrust bearing in one of the axle boxes had risen up. Fortunately we were able to locate a spare and this
has now been fitted. John also suspects the white metal bearings are beginning to wear and we have informed the Park maintenance team. The bow collector has been problematic on this car for some time. Last year the bow collector tension was increased by the Park maintenance team in an effort to stop bow bounce and loss of contact experienced by the car.

Whilst this measure did improve contact with the overhead line it has led to unacceptable wear of the bow collector and I suspect the overhead wire. Chris Johnson arranged to have a new bow collector plate manufactured by a local company (the first since before 1962) Chris and Bob Stewart fitted the new plate and the bow is now operating at the correct tension. Ian McDougall and Archie Martin are leading a Team to repaint the exterior of this car which has deteriorated badly over the last few years. After seeing the body of the car with some of the paint removed I suspect the bubbling paintwork could have been caused by a reaction with fillers that had been used. Most of the damage however is water ingress proving the urgency of the work we have undertaken. We do not intend to paint this car to a high standard at this time as we must ensure all negative reactions are rectified before thinking about investing in a coach painter. Ronnie Maclean and John Traynor are also standing by to give the floor a fresh coat of grey paint when the car can be taken out of service.

Working on 1017 on a Thursday night

Lanarkshire 53 With the better weather this tram is seeing extensive use. Adjustments have been made to the controller making for a more positive notching contact. Once suitable material has been sourced new flash guards will be made and fitted.
Dusseldorf 392 This car continues to see occasional service in inclement weather when the Park is not busy. Unfortunately, we are still not able to use it for its primary function as a wheelchair access tram as we are awaiting guidance from the North Lanarkshire Council Disability team with whom the Park Manager is arranging a meeting.

Glasgow Coronation 1245
We are still seeking expert opinions on how we should proceed with this project. To this end, George Murray organised a survey of the tram by a friend who has been involved with the Bo'ness railway coaching stock which was very useful. We hope we can also obtain some advice from local bus preservation groups.

Thursday Work nights
Work nights continue to be well attended. As you can see above we have a very enthusiastic and skilled team. We are very fortunate to have the services of Chris Johnson, Bob Stewart and lan McDougall who have very good engineering backgrounds and readily share their knowledge and skills. This matched with the enthusiasm of our other regular attendees Ross Fulton, Alistair Shaw, Archie Martin, Janet Watson, lan Morton, John Traynor, George Murray, Bob Sutherland, Harvie MiIIigan and Andy Jamieson ensure very productive and enjoyable work sessions. We are always looking for more assistance and we will always welcome anyone wishing to pop along on a Thursday night who would like to see what is going on.

Tram Crew
Providing Tram crews is the Group's main responsibility to the Park. And we have a great team who willingly give their time freely to the Park. For the first time in a few years we now have a number of younger members who are trained and carrying out duties. Our tram crews over the last few months have provided the Park with a very good level of service. Bob Stewart in particular has made himself available at short notice when there has been a shortage of park crews.

We are always looking for ways to attract new members who hopefully will become involved with night work groups or as crew members. Douglas Boyle recently arranged a Thursday Night visit for his colleagues at the Cathcart Club to meet our works group. By all accounts the visit was by the modellers and it is hoped some will become active members in our Group.

With this in mind we hope to organise an open evening in the near future for our members to come along with friends who, after a safety briefing, can look round the depot, meet our works group and perhaps try out an introductory driver training lesson with one of our instructors.
George Broom,
George Broom