Fleetwood trams on the move again

The Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust have been exceptionally busy of late, making plans for the future of its collection of Blackpool trams. Whilst many of these plans involve the Trust’s ultimate aim of creating a new transport museum in Fleetwood, short-term plans are also being drawn up which will see many of the vehicles in their care moving to a temporary new home in the near future.

Currently, five of the Trust’s trams are stored outside at an industrial estate on the outskirts of Fleetwood: these being Ex-Towing car 678, Trailer 683, Balloons 710 and 726 and Jubilee car 761. Earlier in 2013, these trams were joined by the Lancastrian Transport Trust’s Coronation car 304. Unfortunately, all of the trams will shortly be required to vacate this site and alternative storage has now been found. The cars will soon be heading to the ABP premises on Dock Street in Fleetwood, and this company is to be thanked for offering a new home to these valuable trams.

Of course, the present storage site is close to the former Copse Road tram depot which was originally intended to become the FHLT headquarters, but with this plan now abandoned in favour of proposals for a new museum near Fleetwood Ferry this no longer matters. It is expected that this will only be a temprorary measure though, as the Trust is hopeful that its museum will be ready to house the trams in 2014, and they can move into a much more suitable home. The trams stored at Kirkham Prison are expected to stay there until this time comes, whilst Brush car 290 is to stay at Pleasure Beach for the remainder of the year.

Although the Copse Road museum plan has now been abandoned, the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust remains interested in the electrical control equipment within the substation at the building. Control panels are to be removed for storage, before eventually going on display within the proposed Fleetwood tram museum, and the transfer of this equipment is being carried out with assistance from Builders’ Supplies West Coast and Blackpool Borough Council. This equipment dates from the 1920s and will allow the museum to represent another aspect of local transport history which is often overlooked.

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