Blackpool Brush car 621 returns home

In an unexpected development, Blackpool Brush Railcoach 621 has been gifted to the Blackpool Heritage Trust, and returned ‘home’ to Rigby Road after a five year absence on Thursday 8th December. The tram had previously been in the care of Beamish Museum, and prior to that it was owned by the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust.

As reported recently on this website, 621 had recently been placed outside the tram sheds at Beamish due to a lack of undercover storage space, as a result of the recent acquisition of coal tram Oporto C65 which had been donated to the museum by the National Tramway Museum. 621 itself had been a fairly recent addition to the fleet, having arrived just two years ago after being sold by the FHLT to a small group of enthusiasts who were keen to see the pioneer Brush Railcoach rehomed at an operating tramway. However, plans for its restoration to working condition at Beamish have not been forthcoming and the museum recently indicated that the tram could be made available to the Blackpool Heritage Trust. Due to the tram’s great historic value this was gladly accepted, and after a brief period of outside storage, arrangements were quickly made for 621 to be transported back to Blackpool, which happened on December 8th. The tram arrived back home safely in the early evening and was soon unloaded onto Blundell Street, as is the norm for tram moves.

Bryan Lindop, Blackpool’s Head of Heritage, said: “We are so pleased to welcome 621 back in to the fold, and can’t thank the team at Beamish enough for keeping her safe for the past couple of years. It’s wonderful that we have been able to bring this tram home in time for its significant birthday next year. With the 80th anniversary of the Brush cars almost upon us we have taken the opportunity to ensure that we have a representative selection to display. We can’t allow this milestone anniversary to pass without marking the event in style.” So, it sounds like fans of the Brush cars will have something to look forward to in 2017! With a total of six of these trams now based at Rigby Road – or eight if you count the illuminated Trawler and the rail crane – there is plenty of potential and hopefully some, or all, of these vehicles will feature in next year’s heritage tram events.

Thanks must go to PW Consultancy who generously provided sponsorship funding for 621‘s road journey back to Blackpool. Thanks also go to Beamish Museum for keeping this historic tram safe for the last two years and making it available at no charge to give it a brighter future, and also to the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust for ensuring that 621 survived into preservation in the first place.

Somewhat surprisingly, and despite having to buy the tram from its past owners the Lancastrian Transport Trust a few years ago, Beamish have also offered to release Balloon 703 which has been operating in a fictitious red and cream livery as Sunderland 101 since arriving at the museum in 2010. The tram has now been placed in store due to a fractured tyre, but is believed to be in a generally poor condition, and has been offered to the BHT for permanent preservation on its home tramway. However, at present there is no money available to pay for it to be returned home and this will need to be covered by the Trust. Any donations towards the cost of bringing home 703 would be most gratefully received, and to find out how to help, you can visit www.blackpoolheritage.com/htrust/donate

Bye bye Beamish for Brush car 621, as the tram is seen on the depot track fan being loaded onto a lorry provided by Scott's Haulage. (Photo by Martin Bryan)

The splendid sight of Brush car 621 - albeit in a slightly shabby condition following over a decade of inactivity - back where it belongs! The tram is seen on Blundell Street about to be unloaded. (Photo courtesy of the Blackpool Heritage Trust)