The road to a return to service for Blackpool Standard 143 has been far from smooth. With it failing on its maiden voyage back in 2019 and then seeing delays in repair works needed following this failure it has made the project to return it to the rails a rather protracted affair. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel (all be it a fairly distant one!) as it was seen on test on the Promenade once more on Wednesday 14th September.
The fault experienced back in 2019 was traced back to one of its motors which needed replacing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to replace this in other way than taking one of the motors from its sister Standard Car, 147. This was done over the winter and it appeared that it may return to service earlier this year but during testing and mileage accumulation further issues were discovered, delaying its hoped for Easter 2022 relaunch.
The tram has been in the Fitting Shop at Rigby Road for some time and has probably been photographed hundreds of times in the corner of this building by visitors to Tramtown. It has not been the case that nothing has been happening though as there has been attention undertaken which enabled it to be sent back out on test.
143 ran Depot-Cabin-Pleasure Beach-Foxhall-Depot in its first moves outside the depot for several months. The Fylde Transport Trust have confirmed that this was part of the final test runs after the final major items had been removed from the snag list. The test was declared a success and as a result the ram will now be passed over to the Operation team at Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours for mileage accumulation and driver training.
There do still remain some items on the snag list which need to be attended to but these will be completed alongside the mileage accumulation as they are not considered to be major issues.
As part of the agreement between the Fylde Transport Trust (who own the tram) and Blackpool Transport (as operators of the tramway) 143 will now undergo mileage accumulation and it is only after the succesful completion of this that it will be cleared for an entry into service. When this is completed a relaunch date will be announced by the FTT, initially on their Facebook page.
- A video of the testing and a look at the Standard Cars in Blackpool is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgPNz-GY7iM
This is a joke surely? Anyone can hear from the video the gears are still not right!
I find it very difficult to understand how “the test was declared a success”, as 143 is making extremely loud grinding noises from the motor gearing, and has been making this terrible racket each time that it’s been seen on test. It sounds like there is still something seriously wrong with the motor/gearbox, and after all the hard work that the FTT did in restoring the bodywork it would be a real shame to put the tram into service in this dire mechanical condition, as it will give the impression to the general public that the tram is ‘clapped out’.
The noise from this tram compared with the quietness of 147 is striking. The old adage of “leave well alone” would have kept 147 in working order and 143’s duff motor rebuilt or replaced . Now 147, formerly serviceable, is out of action, and 143 clearly not in proper working order either. A big mistake, it seems.
Seems a bit silly to have robbed parts from 147 to fix 143. 147 is a much more usable vehicle with it’s enclosed top deck, driver’s windscreens and air brakes. If a motor was the issue why was this not taken out and sent away for specialist refurbishing work?
I agree that the noise seems a bit extreme. It’s not an uncommon sound with certain vintage trams (some of those at Crich make a similar noice) but I don’t recall either 40, 49, 159 or 147 (all of which I have first hand experience of) being so noisy. It could be down to eitehr new pinions in the gearing that need to wear in a bit, or possibly the exact opposite being extremely worn gearing.
Is it running on the same bogies it last ran on as a works car? And if it is, were they refurbished and restored or just painted to make them look pretty?
I’m afraid that since to so-called ‘upgrade’ of the Blackpool tramway, the brilliant heritage skills previously employed to keep the fleet running seem to have been lost. These days they seem good at painting things, but a bit lacking when it comes to heavy engineering, which could well be why all the twin cars and Princess Alice have been out of service and forgotten about for so long.
“If a motor was the issue why was this not taken out and sent away for specialist refurbishing work?” – I think the simple, and very obvious, answer to that is – no money! Motor repairs/overhauls are very expensive and there are no spare funds to do such a job. I actually did think that putting 147’s one good motor in 143 was a good idea, as being a ‘new’ tram 143 would be a bigger draw for passengers and there would be no point in both Standard cars sitting idle. However, the very loud noise is a real concern and I’ve seen some quite knowledgeable people express that elsewhere. I sincerely hope that the saga of 143 can be resolved before too long and the tram can finally carry passengers next year – here’s hoping!
Andy, youi are forgetting the constant issues with 147s low voltage electrics which meant it often failed or part failed and had to be revived.
Unfortunately Nigel, that wasn’t the case. 147 suffered a Motor fault of its own back in August last year, which is why it hasn’t run since. That left 2 trams unserviceable with one good motor each, so a sensible decision to put both good motors in one and get one back in service.
The noise is typical of slightly mismatched gears – what you would expect of say gears with different amounts of wear until they bed in which will only come with running in. I would guess they have used 147s motor gear with 143s axle gear, when ideally with time and the right equipment you would swap over the full gear set.
That does make more sense if 147 had issues with one of it’s bogies. Of the two vwhiclws I think i would have been more inclined to get 147 back on the road though given that it’s fully enclosed and the Blackpool climate. Having said that though, I remember seeing both boats and Princess Alice running full in pouring rain, so maybe the soaking is part of the tram tour experience 🙂
I agree about the gears. Hopefully they will bed in. However I’ve never heard that much noise from any other Standard before. Have none of the others ever had motor swaps? I also wonder if the noise sounds worse in the video becaise of a directional mic on the camera?
The grinding noise sounds just as awful in real life Andy, as I can attest having heard it several times while out on test.
What happened to the motor which was sent away for repair a couple of years ago?
Are standard 49’s motors servicable? If so, could a loan be negotiated with Crich, where it sits out of service at the moment.