Sticking with the illuminated tram theme for this week as we take a look at another of the 1960s feature cars. This time around it is the Hovertram, one of thosenow back at Rigby Road but stored.
The tram was built on the underframe of English Electric Railcoach 222 and was to be the only double deck feature car built in the 1960s. It was decided to base the design of the tram on a Hovercraft which saw “engines” included on the roof necessitating an offset side gangway from being built on the upper deck so that the tram could remain low enough to operate. Work on converting the tram took a little over six months – you can’t imagine a major rebuild like this taking that length of time today – with it entering service during the 1963 illumination season and it would remain part of the operational fleet until withdrawal at the end of the 2001 illuminations with attention required before it could run again.
At the time there was no funding for this so the tram was sold and ended up in Beith, Scotland in 2007 where it was displayed until 2014. At this time it was on the move again down to Sunderland having been acquired by the North East Electrical Traction Trust. Just two years later the Hovertram was once again to be found on the road as it was initially loaned to Blackpool before fundraising saw it purchased by Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours for future restoration. At the time of writing it remains stored at Rigby Roads waiting for both funding and workshop space to return it to the rails.
This photo shows the Hovertram sitting in Rigby Road Depot in the 1970s waiting for its evening illumination tour duty.
Photograph by Bob Price
* More photos from Bob Price’s trip to Blackpool on this day can be found on Flickr.