Over the past few months the restoration of the Fylde Transport Trust’s Railcoach 279 has been making excellent progress with recent concentration being on the full rewire of the tram to ensure it meets modern safety standards and can join the heritage fleet in Blackpool on long-term loan. With the need for this rewire, along with many other complex jobs, the FTT are now looking for donations to help fund the completion of the project with a target of £20,000 set for various ongoing jobs.
Whilst the rewire is a significant part of the work to return the tram to the rails in a condition which hasn’t been seen for approaching 60 years there are many other jobs to be completed after this including auxiliary wiring, new windscreens, repanelling, painting and reupholstery of the seats.
To enable these jobs to be completed the FTT are seeking donations – however large or small – from interested parties who are looking forward to the return of an originally shaped English Electric Railway.
With an initial target of £20,000 set they have set up a Just Giving page to make donations easy. This page can be found at http://www.justgiving.com/campaign/blackpoolrailcoach279appeal. The £20,000 will help to cover the following:
* £6,000 for seating upholstery
* £6,000 for completion of rewiring
* £2,000 for recreation of original design of windscreens
* £2,000 for repanelling the sides of the tram
* £4,000 for repainting both the interior and exterior of the tram
If the target of £20,000 is exceeded the balance of donations will be spent exclusively on other ongoing aspects of the restoration of 279.
* Work on the tram is continuing at Brinwell Road with the latest update showing that the roof dome template is now 99% complete. With no pattern to work off to create this the job has been described as one of the most complex recreations they have tackled!