The May Day Bank Holiday weekend has proven to be an incredible success for Blackpool’s heritage trams, with many enthusiasts flocking to the seaside town to sample a taste of the past, no doubt encouraged to do so by the great sunny weather. Following on from the return to service of Brush car 631 on Saturday 4th May, a further nine trams recorded their first passenger use of 2013 over the course of the three-day weekend, one of which had not carried passengers since November 2010.
As previously announced, there was a strong Balloon car theme evident across all three days with the eight available members of the modified ‘B Fleet’ all running for the first time this year. These were joined on Saturday 4th May by unmodified Balloon 717, whilst car 700 performed a very unusual working from Starr Gate, following a guided tour of the new depot for a small number of Fylde Tramway Society members. This tram also operated as a special to Fleetwood during the afternoon, making it the only traditional tram to operate across the entire system during the weekend. It was joined in service by sister car 711, also now painted in the new white and purple fleet livery, although this car ran in early to allow its crew to bring out the illuminated Western Train 733+734 which had been booked for a private hire, again for the Fylde Tramway Society. Remarkably, this included an incredible four trips to Fleetwood! Although the Western Train has been used on a few private charters recently, this was the first chance for most people to be able to ride on the trams to Fleetwood since 2009.
Despite a damp and dull start to the day, Sunday 5th May kicked off with Boat 230 operating to Fleetwood, whilst plain yellow Balloon car 701 stole the show on its first day in public service since 2010. The weather quickly improved, leading to heavy loadings on all of the heritage trams, with a run to Fleetwood with 701 at the end of the day being almost full to capacity, emphasising how well appreciated the decision to recommission this particular tram has been. During the course of the afternoon, 230 ran in with a minor defect and was replaced by sister car 600. Unfortunately this car is currently restricted to the Pleasure Beach to North Pier section only due to ongoing problems with its trolley, although it was still a popular addition to the heritage service. ‘B Fleet’ cars 707, 713 and 718 also appeared during this day with 707 proving very popular when it operated through to Fleetwood in the afternoon, reportedly with a full load of passengers on board!
Cars 631 and 701 were back out on Bank Holiday Monday, 6th May, along with ‘B Fleet’ cars 709, 719 and 724 on specials, the former being put in charge of the afternoon Fleetwood run. However, due to the incredible popularity of the runs to Fleetwood involving heritage trams, Boat cars 230 and 600 was also added to the day’s line-up, replacing 701 and 719 respectively for the latter part of the day. Even better, 230 was used to duplicate the final Fleetwood journey of the weekend with Brush car 631. The fantastic sight of the two immaculate green and cream trams posed side by side on the passing loop at Fleetwood Ferry in the early evening sunshine was the perfect finale of a superb weekend. To provide a duplicate tram on the last run to cope with demand sums up what was surely the most succesful weekend of heritage tram operation to date, confirming that Blackpool Transport’s decision to offer a more exciting package of events less frequently has paid off. Using these trams on ‘run-at-will’ specials rather than running to a set timetable also seems to have been welcomed, as was the effort made to swap cars during the days to provide additional interest and offer great value for money on an all-day ticket.
The next spell of heritage operation in Blackpool is of course less than three weeks away, coinciding with the next Bank Holiday weekend from 24th to 26th May inclusive. This should see the rebuilt Balloon cars all in use again, as well as the welcome return of Centenary cars 642 and 648. Hopefully this will prove to be every bit as succesful as the past three days have been, and show the huge level of interest in the classic Blackpool tram fleet which is still very much alive.
Whilst not wishing to temp over-kill, I hope that consideration will be given to a limited number of enthusiasts’ events on non-Bank Holiday weekends for those of us who are unable or prefer not to visit the resort on one of its peak days. Something for 2014, perhaps?