Blackpool Brush car 259 goes under wraps

One of the Lancastrian Transport Trust’s preserved Blackpool trams currently in open air storage has been covered with large green sheets to protect it from the elements this week. The former Permanent Way Brush car 259 has been the lucky recipient of the sheets – a good decision as, having been stripped of many external panels, the wooden body frame of 259 was exposed to the harsh coastal climate.

Having so many trams stored outdoors is obviously a far from ideal situation for the LTT, as highlighted by the recent vandalism of the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust’s Centenary car 646. However, some form of protection is obviously better than nothing and with some particularly bad weather in the short time since 259 left Rigby Road, hopefully the tram will now not be able to deteriorate further.

There has been no further development in terms of rescuing the recently moved LTT trams undercover, as the current storage site was intended as a very short-term measure, and the decision to cover 259 could be seen as a suggestion that this tram could be set for a longer spell in the open than was hoped. However, one tram that should escape in the near future is Coronation 304, which will hopefully move to Beamish Museum next week. The tram had been due to move earlier but due to the inability to source a suitable vehicle to transport it at short notice, its departure was postponed. Hopefully this will allow this tram to operate in passenger service again before the year is out, before it heads back to Blackpool for continued storage in a more suitable environment.

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1 Response to Blackpool Brush car 259 goes under wraps

  1. Greg Mason says:

    Although I will like many be delighted to see and hopefully ride on 304 at Beamish, I wonder whether this is the best use of LTT finances and resources at this time. I also wonder which organisation it is, Beamish or LTT, that will be paying the costs of 304’s short visit. The costs for a return journey will be measured in multiples of a thousand, and if it is LTT that’s paying, would it not be better to use this money to get all six trams under cover? After all it is the end of the season, and by the time 304 is commissioned and crews trained, the cost hardly seems justified when finances are needed for all the tram collection stored outside. Surely its better to concentrate on the urgent priority of getting all the trams under cover before the winter?
    I did wonder when the LTT trams went into “short term outside storage” just how short term this would be. I’m still wondering, and I hope my fear that they will still be there next spring is not justified!

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