We take another trip to the Blackpool Tramway for this latest edition of “Picture in Time” today.
We are featuring one of the popular Progress Twin Cars in this image, which was again taken on an unrecorded date in August 1977. Opposite the Tower stop the photo has been captured from the now removed bridge which led across both the tramway and Promenade road towards the Blackpool Tower until it was removed during Prom redevelopment work. In this shot we see two of the Rail 150 illuminations – and they practically show 150 years of railway progress with the 1972 HST prototype closest to us and The Rocket on the far side.
But it’s the tram that we’ve come for and that is Twin Car 673+683 which comes to a halt at Tower with a service which will head up to Little Bispham loop. The Motor Car is leading but it does appear rather hopeful for more passengers as the summer weather seems to have led people to want to relax on the Prom and beach instead of taking a tram ride north. The Twin is in green and cream fleet livery, complete with Corporation crests. As with one of the trams we saw last week, 673+683 currently has a very uncertain future with it remaining at Wyre Dock as the last remnants of the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust collection and their plans for an attraction wait for their future to be decided.
Photograph by Donald Brooks, August 1977
Those were the high capacity trams of the day together with 94 seater Balloons, but unlike the Balloons, as a group the twin cars have a lower heritage appeal when taking into account the general public. In short, you can’t go upstairs on a twin car and therefore they are not so far removed from the Flexity Trams, to a casual traveller, to allow them to stand out a great deal. I hope that given the apparent lack of interest in this twin car at Fleetwood Dock that at least some useful parts could be made available to Blackpool Heritage Trams given they have a few twin cars in want of restoration. Realistically, this is probably the best outcome that can be expected under current circumstances.