Blackpool Centenary car 644 has become the first of its class to ever leave the Blackpool tramway, after being sold to Farmer Parr’s Animal World, a local tourist attraction. The tram was loaded up on the afternoon of Tuesday 10th January, ahead of an expected early departure the following morning.
Compared to many of the trams that are leaving Blackpool, 644‘s operating life on the tramway has been relatively short. It was constructed by East Lancashire Coachbuilders and was delivered to Rigby Road in 1986, meaning that it ran at its home town for about 25 years. 644 may well be the first British tram to survive after withdrawal thanks to its advert livery – the tram has been sponsored by Farmer Parr’s Animal World since 2002
and has earned a place in the history books as the last car in regular service retaining a hand-painted all-over advertisement. This was originally a split design, with the farm park featured on one side and end only, and Fleetwood Market on the other. However the Fleetwood Market slogans were overpainted in May 2010 leaving half of the tram in plain yellow.
Although never officially confirmed, it has widely been known amongst tram enthusiasts for some time that Farmer Parr’s had intended to purchase 644, although they had originally planned to take Balloon 716 instead, which has since gone to a new home in Scotland. 644 is expected to be transformed into a cafe by its new owners, but as interest in preserving Centenary cars has been fairly minimal this should probably be seen as a
positive result for this particular tram. Sister cars 641 and 646 should also have a bright future with the Friends of Fleetwood Trams but the future of the other five cars is less certain. Rumours have recently surfaced suggesting that 648 may be retained by Blackpool Transport following rejection by the Tramway Museum Society, but whatever the future holds, 644 will always be remembered as the first Centenary car to escape from Blackpool.