The first ever ‘heritage gold’ weekend event in Blackpool, held over the weekend of 30th & 31st January 2016, has now passed and seems to have been hailed as a resounding success. Despite some appalling weather conditions and a few tram issues, many enthusiasts graced the seaside town for this historic occasion to enjoy the novelty of a traditional tram ride in winter – with the appearance of the illuminated Frigate 736 being especially notable.
Saturday 30th January was ‘blessed’ with a very mixed bag of weather: some sun, hail, and gale force winds! Despite this, the planned six-tram output appeared as advertised, comprising Box 40, Brush car 631, Centenary car 648, Twin set 675+685, Balloon 717 and Frigate 736. The first tour to Fleetwood of the weekend was operated by car 40 representing what was probably its first use for ordinary fare-paying passengers in January for about eighty years! Next to visit the northern terminus was even more historic, as 736 ran to Fleetwood, departing from Pleasure Beach at 1045. This tram has never previously been to the Ferry in normal public service since the tramway upgrade, its only two recorded visits since 2009 being for private hires, one of which ran empty, so this was a very special working and one that was unsurprisingly supported by a healthy load of passengers. This was only the second time that this tram had been used on daytime heritage tours since 2012; that year it had been a regular performer but since it had returned to solely nocturnal duties, until now!
Unfortunately, 648 did not seem to appreciate being awoken early from its winter slumbers and the car was an early failure, being replaced by sister car 642, but the other trams all managed a run to Fleetwood over the course of the day. Box 40 also suffered a controller fault on its last southbound journey which led to a slow crawl back to the depot, but otherwise the day passed without much in the way of negative incidents despite the trams having the worst of the coastal weather thrown at them, at a time of year when they would normally be tucked up in the confines of Rigby Road depot!
Sunday 31st January was less windy but very wet and yet still plenty of people graced the promenade to enjoy even more different trams. Both Frigate 736 and Twin set 675+685 were out again, as was Centenary car 642. The rest of the day’s output was made up of Standard 147 (possibly its first appearance on the promenade route in January other than private hires and crew training?), Ex-Towing Railcoach 680 and B Fleet Balloon car 700. Sadly there was more disruption with a few of the trams suffering from minor ailments over the course of the day. First, problems were experienced with 680‘s transponders but this actually led to one of the highlights of the weekend. In an attempt to resolve the problem, the resourceful tram driver took 680 to Starr Gate to change ends, giving those on board an extra treat as this car is not thought to have ventured this far south since returning to Blackpool on loan last summer. However, the transponders continued to cause problems and so the tram was run in early, whilst at around the same time, 642 became the second Centenary car to fail in as many days, requiring a tow back to the depot. Brush 631 and Balloon 717 were subsequently called on to replace the two defective cars and they worked the last two Fleetwood tours of the weekend, whilst 700 managed a late afternoon trip to Thornton Gate, bringing a memorable weekend to a close.
Despite some unavoidable problems and the awful weather, the winter heritage service should be considered a success and the attendance certainly showed that there are plenty of people who are dedicated (or should that be crazy!?) enough to visit the seaside in winter if there are some interesting trams running. The exercise will be repeated on the final weekend in February, and hopefully this will be just as enjoyable.
History in the making with Frigate 736 on Pharos Street, Fleetwood on January 30th - its first appearance there, apart from a couple of private charters, since 2009.
Once a regular 'winter Railcoach' thanks to its extensive overhaul undertaken in the mid-1990s, Brush car 631 stands on the Pleasure Beach outer loop during a break between trips on January 30th.
675+685 pass through North Pier/Tower on Sunday 31st January. Never traditionally used to convey passengers in winter, this set has been kept quite busy since the end of the 2015 illuminations. (Photos x 3 by Rob Bray)
A brave and very much appreciated effort by the staff and volunteers to operate such an ambitious event despite all the the January weather threw at us. Hope it was regarded as a success.
Would be nice to see the red balloon out with its snow ploughs on next time.
Whilst I agree, it would have to be a static exhibit only as I was told they cannot carry passengers when in ‘snow mode’ though I’d love to see it pottering up and down for a couple of hours!
Didn’t 736 run at 130 on daytime tours? Therefore making this the second time!
Ooops – so it was! The heritage team achieve so much its hard to keep up!
Yes but not to Fleetwood that weekend, so that part is still a ‘first’!