After a two year absence from the Blackpool tramway, Standard car 147 is set to make a very welcome return to the heritage service over the forthcoming Easter Bank Holiday weekend. As it stands, the freshly repainted tram is expected to make its debut on Saturday 31st March – the first of three ‘Gold’ running days over the long weekend.
147 spent 12 months operating at Beamish Museum on loan from March 2016, and following its return home it was decided to carry out some extensive work on the popular Standard car – including the fitting of new leather straps and standee hangers in the lower deck saloon, replacement of all ruby quarter glasses, and of course, a complete repaint in traditional green and cream. As yet, no photos have been published of the finished paint job, but judging by recent projects the end result should be stunning!
Perhaps surprisingly, it doesn’t appear that any sort of launch tour for 147 will be taking place, and instead it will simply be put to service over the weekend, but hopefully its reappearance after a noticeable gap will be enough to encourage more people to visit the Fylde coast and enjoy three days of intensive heritage tram operation this Easter.
Incidentally, ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend itself, the two car promenade service will be operating daily and a provisional list of which trams are due to run on each day has already been published. This is as follows:
Saturday 24th: Brush car 630 and Balloon 717
Sunday 25th: Brush car 623 and Balloon 701
Monday 26th: Brush car 621 and Balloon 718.
Tuesday 27th: Brush car 631 and Balloon 713
Wednesday 28th: Brush car 630 and Balloon 715
Thursday 29th: Brush car 623 and Balloon 717
Good Friday, 30th: Brush car 621 and Balloon 713
In addition this, a ‘Ghost Tram’ tour will operate on the evening of Monday 26th March with Balloon 717 booked for this working, whilst on Good Friday the illuminated Trawler 737 is scheduled to see use on ‘A Great British Night Out’, with a fish and chip meal served on board. Note that these events require advance booking – and that all listed trams are subject to change.