A busy week for NELSAM

The first week of July has been a monumental one for the North East Electrical Traction Trust, who have taken great strides forward in their mission to develop a collection of historic trams for display at the North East Land Sea & Air Museum near Sunderland. Following the arrival of Blackpool trams Centenary car 647 and Twin set 674+684 earlier in the week, volunteers could have been forgiven for having a quiet weekend but in fact they have done anything but!

On Sunday 7th July, preparations were made for the next arrival at the museum site. This will be Blackpool Balloon 708, which will be moving from Bury on long-term loan from the Manchester Transport Museum Society. In readiness for its move, the Bradford trolleybus which is also part of NEETT’s vehicle collection was moved, and then a section of sleepers and rail was laid so that 708 will have somewhere to stand when it reaches the North East later this month. This is next to fellow Blackpool Balloon 721, so it will soon be possible to see both first and second series Balloon cars side by side at Sunderland!

Other visible progress has seen the latest additions moved slightly so that they can be better displayed to visitors in their current position. Work has also begun on improving the external appearance of two former Blackpool trams now on site, with the first traces of undercoat beginning to appear on car 721‘s lower side panels. Meanwhile, a large amount of the advertising vinyls for national discount store B & M Bargains worn by Centenary car 647 have now been peeled off, revealing much of the plain yellow base coat beneath. This has caused some damage to the paintwork, with some traces of pink from the previous all-over advert for Tiffany’s Hotel now clearly visible! However, as the tram is set to be repainted before too long this doesn’t really matter.

An unusual line-up of various vehicles at the NELSAM site, with Blackpool 647 and a Bradford trolleybus sandwiched between two resident aircraft. (Photo courtesy of NEETT)

 

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1 Response to A busy week for NELSAM

  1. Barry says:

    Your update was forwarded to me by a friend who is interested in the Blackpool trams, about which you have much news. But what are your plans for the Bradford trolleybus?

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