Despite the Blackpool tramway being closed to public services over the winter period,
there has been a surprisingly large amount of work for some of the operational trams, particularly the iconic ‘Balloon’ class, with several examples performing a variety of duties recently. As well as testing the infrastructure, car 701 has recently travelled along the promenade after spending the last few months inside the new depot at Starr Gate.
It has never been confirmed why 701 was moved to Starr Gate last November, as the car had not run all year and is only being kept as a ‘reserve’ car, so it may not even run again in passenger service. However, following an extended stay at Starr Gate, the car was driven back home to Rigby Road early in the morning on 8th February. It remains to be seen what happens next for this tram as suggestions that it could be rebuilt with widened centre doors now seem extremely unlikely to materialise.
One other Balloon car is also being held in reserve by Blackpool Transport, and it too has had an outing on the main line recently. 723 was out on a test run to Little Bispham recently, and then on 6th February it was used to push Brush car 637 onto a low loader ahead of its departure to a new home in Merseyside. Even more unusual was the use of flat-fronted car 709 to shunt Trailer 687 for loading the following day, as this was the first
time that one of the ‘fat door’ Balloons had been used for this role. Initially the first choice for shunting jobs at the Rigby Road depot had been preserved car 715 which was used to assist with some of the first moves of the winter, but more recently has been spotted in the depot with its pantograph tied down and is unlikely to run anymore. Its job was then taken over by car 717, but now it seems that any tram can be used as a depot shunter. Perhaps now that 701 has returned it could be next to join the ranks of shunting cars?
Meanwhile of course, there is one Blackpool Balloon car that has been in regular service
over the winter months: car 703, now disguised as Sunderland 101 and on loan to Beamish Museum where it has been one of the first choice trams for use in poor weather.