It has come to light that the Lancastrian Transport Trust’s preserved Blackpool ‘Boat’ car 233 is shortly set to leave the UK for a new home in San Francisco, after being sold to a new owner overseas. The tram is currently based at Beamish Museum, where it has been operating since April 2012, with sponsorship from British Trams Online.
233 (or 605 as many still prefer to call it) was the only Boat car to be offered for sale by Blackpool Transport as part of their fleet cull, and was quickly snapped up by the LTT for a relatively modest sum. It is believed that the tram has now been re-sold for a considerably larger amount of money, and is expected to be prepared for departure within the next few weeks before it leaves British shores forever, to start a new life in America. There, the tram is expected to receive some modifications so that it can be made fully wheelchair accessible, similar to sister car 228, also preserved in the USA.
The news of 233‘s sale has come as a massive shock and a major disappointment to us here at British Trams Online, as we were not made aware of the plans to sell the tram by either its owners. This is in spite of both Gareth Prior and Andrew Waddington being made ‘shareholders’ in the car by the LTT as a gesture to show gratitude for our financial support towards the repainting of the tram in its original livery. Indeed, our sponsorship deal on 233 is still valid as the contract was for a two year period, commencing in April 2012 (although incidentally our promotional poster was not applied until several months later). The LTT has not yet made an official announcement regarding the sale of the tram, and it was instead left to the enthusiast press and third party organisations to break this very unwelcome news. Naturally, as well as ourselves, Beamish Museum are extremely disappointed to be losing a popular tram from their operating fleet, having invested their own funds in its upkeep, and this is also a blow to the many enthusiasts who would surely have preferred the tram to remain in its home country.
233‘s last day in service at Beamish is expected to occur during the forthcoming ‘Power from the Past’ event, probably on Sunday 1st September. The writer of this article has now spoken with Beamish Museum’s Keeper of Transport, Paul Jarman, and our relationship remains a positive one; however we are still waiting to hear from the LTT at the time of writing.
I think that it is wrong to include Beamish in this, My understanding is they are like everyone else waiting for answers from the LTT.
As the tram is that of LTT, Beamish are powerless to stop LTT doing as they please, and the fact is LTT are also letting Beamish down by pulling the loan agreement.
This article has now been updated following a conversation with Beamish Museum’s Keeper of Transport, Paul Jarman and I would like to thank him for talking to me. I am satisfied that Beamish Museum are just as disappointed as we are by this situation, and that they have done their best to keep to their side of the deal.
This is absolutely disgusting. There are 2 Boats already in the US, one of which is sat in a museum slowly decaying. Why didn’t Muni go for that one? It needs the attention more. The LTT was set up to preserve Blackpool’s tramway history, not export it half way across the world! What about all the shareholders, were they consulted? This is terrible, Beamish should weld it to the rails to stop those money-grabbing fools from the LTT exporting it. What does this hold for other LTT trams like 663 and 279? 605 must be saved!
Another mark of the breathtaking aloofness and arrogance of LTT, with even shareholders not consulted. How many people bought these shares (£500 a go was it?) to invest in a tram which they will probably now never see again. I thought of investing in 233 but am now very glad I didn’t. Will 703/101 be going next?
At least most of the LTT collection is (hopefully) now safe with BTS.
I think 703 is safe, it is too tall for the Muni network.
Some countries require export licenses for anything considered part of the national historical patrimony. This tram qualifies, but the UK seems not to care when heritage is sold off to a foreign country where it has no cultural relevance. This sale is an indicator that items in UK museums that need money may be up for grabs to the highest bidder, wherever they are.
Stealing from posterity.
There has been much comment about the sale of Boat 233 by the LTT to San Francisco on BTO and Trams Today, almost all of it negative.
Many commentators are understandably upset about 233 leaving these shores. However whatever the individual views about whether this will be good for the tram or not, one universal theme is the recognition of the unbelievable arrogance and lack of respect shown by the LTT trustees in concluding the deal without any sort of reference to shareholders and sponsors, let alone the wider enthusiast community. I really feel for BTO sponsoring 233, only to find out from other sources that the tram is imminently due to be shipped to the US. Nothing short of disgraceful, and the upbeat “spin” announcement appearing last night on the LTT website will only have angered people more. Despite the high profile resignation of a certain individual a few weeks ago from LTT board of trustees, no prizes for guessing who penned this particular missive!!
This latest action by the LTT does raise a number of questions. Standard 143 received £25k of lottery money, but we are told proceeds from the sale of 233 will go to completing its restoration. Has the lottery money been paid back because the project was not completed? Will the LTT go public in stating exactly what has been paid for 233, and how that money will be spent on 143 and the remaining LTT tram projects? Are there any plans to offer compensation to shareholders who contributed money in good faith? The same question applies of course to sponsors. Some commentators who are shareholders in 233 and/or 715 are talking about taking the matter up with the Charity Commission, given an asset of the charity has been disposed of to an overseas buyer. Has the normal procedure for charity disposal of an asset been followed ie has the artefact (in this case 233) been first offered to like charity in this country? Questions as yet without answers.
My main fear is that the LTT, in demonstrating untrustworthy behaviour, will damage the credibility of the the new trust being set up to manage the Blackpool heritage fleet. If the LTT have representatives on the board of the new trust, people cannot be blamed if they withdraw from any kind of financial support or sponsorship. Perhaps BT are already having second thoughts about any sort of partnership with LTT in the proposed new charitable trust? I for one hope BT are considering their position very carefully in the light of this latest development.
The next set of LTT accounts submitted to the Charity Commission may give some answers to these financial arrangements. I look forward to reading them when they appear, and would recommend other interested parties to do the same. Incidentally the LTT trustees listed with the Charity Commission as of yesterday were Mr Philip Higgs, Mr Paul Turner and Mr Eric Berry. David Umpleby, who has been signing himself “LTT trustee” for over a year at least is not listed as such. However Mr Higgs, despite his high profile and highly publicised resignation as trustee is still listed. Are the same people pulling the strings I wonder?
What is the legal position regarding the trams now taken back to BTS? Does BTS own them, are they jointly owned, or – heaven forbid – are they still owned by LTT? Can LTT still sell these trams without the agreement of BTS? If the answer is yes then I think the future of all these vehicles must be considered at risk, and I agree that sponsorship deals for them may end up as rare as hens teeth. BTS need to get things moving ASAP regarding setting up a charitable trust and ensure that their position as the physical custodians of the trams is well protected. The galling – but totally expected – thing about this event, of course, is the usual silence from LTT, who obviously think there is no reason for them to justify their actions to the large number of enthusiasts who have financially supported them over the years.