Visits by Blackpool’s open Boat cars to the tramway’s southern terminus at Starr Gate have been quite rare for many years, but in the past week two of the three cars which remain at Blackpool have graced this location with their presence. Unfortunately one of these appearances ended in disaster but thankfully, the second was far less eventful!
On Sunday 29th May, with six heritage trams already in use on the ‘Gold’ heritage service, Boat 600 made a surprise appearance on the promenade with a private hire working. This meant that for the first time this year, all three Boat cars were in use simultaneously for a while; indeed, 600 had only made its debut for 2016 seven days earlier. The highlight of its jaunt should have been a run to Starr Gate but unfortunately, the tram dewired causing some damage to both its trolley pole and the overhead wires. 600 was soon recovered and moved into Starr Gate depot, being towed back to Rigby Road by Unimog 939 the next day.
Then on Wednesday 1st June, it was sister car 227‘s turn for a run to the southern extremity of the tramway. The tram was observed heading past Pleasure Beach to Starr Gate with engineering staff on board; presumably this was a test run, possibly to try out a trolley-fitted car after the overhead had been repaired. 227 has been a very rare visitor to Starr Gate since the tramway upgrade, and as far as we know it has never ventured further south than Pleasure Beach with passengers on board. However, with a special weekend of ‘Heritage Trams to Starr Gate’ planned for 18th and 19th June, there will be a potential opportunity to rectify this – so let’s hope for some more nice weather on at least one of the days!
Boat 227 heads through Pleasure Beach on its way to Starr Gate on a test run on 1st June. (Photo by Rob Bray)