Its another look a tram in 2007 and 2022 as “15 Years Apart” continues.
2007 saw Ex-Towing Railcoach 680 in the second year of carrying an advert for Joey Blower’s show at the Merrie England Bar on North Pier. Featuring a plain blue base coat – including the ends being left untouched giving it a bit of an unfinished look – the advert had first been seen in 2006 but by 2008 had gone but with the base colour remaining and chevrons added to the ends to give a little bit of visibility. We see the tram at Manchester Square on 8th September 2007.
Now owned by the Manchester Transport Museum Society, 680 has been on loan back in Blackpool since 2015 having briefly operated at both Beamish and the Heaton Park Tramway having originally departed the coast in late 2013. In a brief outing during the Anniversary Weekend on 25th September 2022 we see the tram in the 1990s fleet livery as it approaches Cabin. (Both Photographs by Gareth Prior)
Thank goodness, an improvement over time in the appearance of a Blackpool tram!