A major milestone has been reached in the restoration of Blackpool Standard 143 with its movement from the Brinwell Road workshops of the Lancastrian Transport Trust to Blackpool Transport’s Rigby Road depot. The move took place on Wednesday (18th August) with the tram unloaded the following morning.
The move was undertaken by Scott’s Heavy Haulage once again but this was not a straight forward move! 143’s trucks had been receiving overhaul at Rigby Road and they had to moved to Brinwell Road before the tram could be moved back to Rigby Road. The body of 143 also had to be manoeuvred from its corner in the LTT’s depot to a position in line with the main doorway of the building. It was then raised and the bogies were rolled into position before 143 could be winched onto the low loader and transported to Rigby Road.
The tram left Rigby Road around seven years ago but has now returned looking in a far better condition that that it left in (see here for a comparison)! The tram still requires a few jobs to be finished – including the completion of the upper deck balconies – but it should be ready to star at the 125th anniversary celebrations. 143 has cost around £80,000 to restore to its original 1924 unvestibuled condition with longitudinal bench seating on both sides of the lower deck, a condition not represented by any other preserved Blackpool Standard.
* Photos of the move are on the LTT Fotopic site.
Source: Standard 143 Blog