Seaburn and Roker are coastal resorts situated at Sunderland. The tramway network arrived at Seaburn from two directions, one from the town via Fulwell terminating in Dykelands Road and, the second from the town via Roker arriving at a circular terminus complete with tram shelter at Seaburn or Sealane as it was also known. The two termini were approx 300 yards apart but not joined.
Sunderland Corporation Tramways had a fleet of cars the variety of which gave the observer an opportunity to see cars from all over the country. As well as some splendid cars built by the corporation itself second hand vehicles could be seen from Accrington, London, Huddersfield, Portsmouth, Manchester to name some of them. A feature of the cars was the use of the pantograph adopted as standard just before the war.
From a spectator’s point of view there was never a dull moment. Sadly the system closed in 1954. The route to Sealane via Roker closing the previous year.
Sunderland Car 86 had already been built in 1985 and as I had Car 100 (Ex Met. 331) half built it occurred to me something should be done about a layout to run the cars.
I had travelled on the trams to the seaside at Sunderland many times and have happy memories of the different cars to be seen there. To recreate the scene was an ambition I had for some years. Sealane seemed to be an ideal terminus to model with its turning circle and sidings.
In 2003 work began and an original test track became the basis of the layout. Another inspirational source came from Terry Russell who, as most tramway modellers will be aware, provides a wealth of plans, parts, kits and advice for ‘O’ gauge modellers.
The track layout therefore, is dumbbell shaped with prototypical layover sidings at the terminus. Trams often used a crossover at Roker for short working and this inclusion on the model gives variation if continuous automatic running is not required.
The layout was completed in 2004 and I was fortunate to receive a invitation from Sunderland Model Railway Society to exhibit Sealane at their annual exhibition. in September of that year. This was held at Seaburn the very place where the prototype ad ceased to run 50 years earlier. It was a nostalgic reminder of the trams for a lot of visitors.
