Following a considerable amount of speculation, the Heaton Park Tramway has now confirmed that negotiations are well underway to bring Blackpool Balloon 721 to Manchester, for an operating loan at Heaton Park. The car is owned by the North East Electrical Traction Trust, and as part of the agreement between the two organisations, the Manchester Transport Museum Society will transfer one of its own Balloon cars, 708, to NEETT’s care on a long-term loan basis.
The benefits of this deal will be considerable: 721 is probably in the best condition of any of the Balloon cars recently sold off by Blackpool Transport, and following some remedial attention at Sunderland, should be fit for many more years of service. The tram is also set to be repainted into red & white Routemaster bus livery (as previously worn by Balloon 701) before it heads to Manchester, which will give it some local relevance as most Manchester trams were of course painted red. If the loan deal goes ahead, 721 will stay at Heaton Park for at least two years, and is likely to become the first enclosed double deck tram to operate on the preserved Manchester line.
It is also anticipated that car 708 will move from its current home at Bury, to the North East Sea, Land & Air Museum near Sunderland. There, it will initially be placed on static display, but long-term plans exist for it to restored to near-original condition, as open top streamliner 245. This would be a very valuable addition to the selection of Blackpool trams now in preservation around the country, as no museum collection currently holds an open top Balloon car.
Whilst the final details of this arrangement are still being finalised, the deal looks almost certain to go ahead with both parties having now announced their intentions publicly. The exchange of 708 and 721 on a loan basis should benefit both trams and their owners, and is a great example of the level of co-operation that exists between many of the UK’s tram preservation groups.
Fantatic news!
Can’t wait to ride on it! I’ll have this down on my calender!
Nice that not all preserved Blackpool trams will receive a green and cream livery. When preserving Blackpool’s heritage, I think it is a shame that not one tram is preserved in an all-over advert livery. After all, all-over advert cars are as much part of Blackpool Tramway heritage as red & white or cream & cream. I would love to see 721 again in it’s Michelin livery!
Don’t forget that 762 is keeping its Nickelodeon livery, at least for the time being. I doubt many people will agree with you about the Michelin advert on 721, although I actually rather liked it! If 719 ever ends up being preserved, I would personally love to see it restored as the Walls Ice Cream tram… maybe one day!?