Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours have announced an unexpected but very welcome late addition to this year’s events celebrating 80 years of the Brush Railcoach class – a parade featuring all of the serviceable members of the type! This will start the day on Sunday 26th November, as part of the final enhanced ‘Gold’ weekend of operation for 2017.
The ‘Brush 80’ celebrations saw four of this class running together in September, with visiting cars 623 (from Heaton Park) and 630 (from Crich) joining resident 631 and the newly restored 621 in service for the main weekend of celebration. Whilst this created numerous excellent photographic opportunities, the November Gold event looks set to beat them all with a Brush car procession running from Pleasure Beach on the Sunday morning.
At 0952 on Sunday 26th November, the operational Brush car fleet will set off in convoy from Pleasure Beach and head north, pausing outside the Lifeboat Station near Central Pier at approximately 1000 for photographers’ benefit. The parade will feature – in numerical order – cars 621, 623, 630, 631 and Trawler 737 (ex-Brush car 633). After the procession the trams will then take up their normal duties and operate heritage tours for the remainder of the day, including trips to Fleetwood – a location not yet visited by either 621 or 630 since their return to use in Blackpool this year!
It isn’t all about the Brush cars though, as the weekend ahead will feature a good mix of trams running as the perfect finale to this year’s heritage ‘Gold’ events. The proposed weekend output is as follows:
Saturday 25th November – Brush cars 623 & 630, Centenary car 648, Balloons 701, 711, 718 & 723
Sunday 26th November – Brush cars 621, 623, 630 & 631, Balloons 715 & 717, Trawler 737
Whilst a bit more notice would have been nice and may well have boosted visitor numbers, hopefully this imaginative addition to the events programme will encourage more people to travel to Blackpool to enjoy a late-season heritage tram ride and see a line-up of Brush Railcoaches unlikely to be repeated for many years.
Incidentally, for anyone who can’t make the weekend, a few other events will be taking place in Blackpool before the year is out – Santa Specials will be running on Saturdays 9th, 16th & 23rd December, with Father Christmas himself meeting childern and their families aboard the Western Train 733+734 on all three dates, whilst other trams provide a shuttle service between Pleasure Beach and Bispham. Then on 30th December, its the annual Fylde Tramway Society Christmas Tour, featuring the two visiting Brush cars 623 and 630, which will start the tour running in tandem before splitting to work a timetabled service, and then finishing with a return journey to Fleetwood together. For details on how to attend this event, please visit http://www.freewebs.com/fyldetramwaysociety-blackpool/christmastramtour2017.htm
We’ve said it before and will probably say it many more times, but… who said winter was quiet in Blackpool!?!?