There are stories you expect and then there are stories you don’t! We think this one falls firmly in the latter category! Blackpool Centenary 645 has been donated to the National Tramway Museum at Crich where it is to be assessed with a view to becoming the second Access Tram at the museum, as well as having the benefit of being one person operated at times when there may be crew shortages.
645 originally entered service in Blackpool in September 1987 and was one of eight Centenary Cars built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in Blackburn – the last standard gauge traditional trams built new in the UK. It remained operational almost to the very end of the traditional tramway in Blackpool, but had the honour (ignominy?) of being the last tram to have to be towed back to depot having failed on the final day of service on 6th November 2011.
The tram has since enjoyed a bit of a nomadic life with its first port of call after withdrawal being the Windy Bay Harbour Caravan Park. It was moved there in January 2012 where it was intended that it would be used as a café and gift shop. Whilst at the caravan park it received a graffiti livery on top of its red and white livery (the remnants of an old all advert livery, complete with white chevrons on the ends inspired by the Sunderland repaint of Balloon 703) – a livery that it retains to this day.
645 would remain at the Caravan Park until July 2017 when, with it being deemed surplus to requirements, it was purchased privately and then donated back to the Blackpool Heritage Trust and made the move back to Rigby Road. Although it became one of the trams to change ownership to the Fylde Transport Trust when the two collections merged, 645 remained stored at Rigby Road, as it did when ownership returned to Blackpool Transport in 2022 after the FTT reviewed the trams it had in its care. Until now that is!
When 645 returned to Blackpool Transport’s ownership it was not planned to return it to operational condition with it due to provide spare parts to the two other Centenary Cars in the Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours fleet (642 and 648), so this latest development is both a surprise and a pleasing one at that!
Blackpool Transport Services have agreed to donate the tram to the National Tramway Museum and an assessment will now be made for its suitability to become a second Access Tram at the museum to take some of the pressure off Berlin 223 006-4.
Crich volunteers, Peter and Susan Whiteley, have made a significant donation to not only fund the transportation of the tram from Blackpool to Derbyshire, but also to help cover some of the money needed to restore it to operational condition. Without their genrosity and foresight this project would probably not have even been considered.
Peter commented: “I realised that the tram would possibly make a good “Access 2” tramcar as it has a flat saloon floor, is 8ft wide and has offset centre doors, which makes the body very strong and maximises space in the saloon. It is a large single decker so would retain a significant number of seats allowing it to be used as an Access tram at the same time as a service tram. It is One-Person operated, so will enable a 3- car service when we have crew shortages. It also represents the last 1st Gen UK built/operated tramcar. It ticks a lot of boxes.”
Work is due to start shortly on the full assessment of the tram and a detailed assessment/costing to see what is required. That would then be followed by a full refurbishment and reinstatement of the traction electronics.
Dr Mike Galer, General Manager at Crich, said: “We are looking into the possibility of having a second tram which is accessible to wheelchair users, and we are very grateful to Blackpool Transport Services and Peter and Sue Whiteley to give us the opportunity of exploring this option with this tram.”
With the deal concluded for the tram to move, it departed Blackpool on Tuesday 18th July, arriving at Crich later the same day. Allely’s provided the haulage.
645 shortly after arrival at Crich on the back of the low loader. (Photograph courtesy of Crich Tramway Village)
A side view of 645 as it waits outside the depot. (Photograph courtesy of Ian Rigg/Crich Tramway Village)
Unloading commences in the depot yard. (Photograph courtesy of Crich Tramway Village)
I remember emailing crich when Blackpool updated and being annoyed they turned down the twin car and centuary car…if you wait long enough?
Centenary…dam autocorrect
Great news!
It was a missed opportunity when they turned down a Centenary Car from Blackpool over 10 years ago.
Where will it go? Space is at a premium at Crich
BTS wanted to keep the operational motors from this tram for others in their fleet but kindly provided 2 motors requiring overhaul with the tram. These will be kept as spares for future projects.
Thanks to a deal with FHLT we have also aquired the motors and wheelsets from 678 (identical to 645) and also the traction electronics from 641 to replace the items removed when it was a cafe. Every one wins!
Thank you both for doing this!
Just a precision in the fact that the traction electronics had been removed from 645 during the last day of traditional tram operation in 2011 to keep one of the other Centenary trams running until the end. This was discovered after I had bought the tram from Windy Harbour thinking that the equipment was on board, only to trace the removal back to 2011!
I remember emailing Crich back in 2011/2012 saying they should think twice about saying no to a Centaury car and Twin Set…looks like I played the waiting game well ?
Halle 902 was acquired by the museum in 2005 for possible use as an access tram. Presumably this plan has now been abandoned so what will be the fate of this tram, which has been stored at Blackpool for the last few years ?
Peter – 902 has been at Clay Cross some time now.
Halle 902 moved to Clay Cross store a couple of years ago. The plan to adapt it for wheelchair access was abandoned long ago, but it continues to take up space.
I am intrigued as to how 645 will be fitted into the depots at Crich – a lot of the more recent acquisitions are rather big and depot space is very tight as it is! Nonetheless, an interesting addition to the collection and another very unexpected development in tramway world! Its a pity that 641 got into such a bad state that it was only fit for scrap, being the pioneer Centenary car, but at least one of the type is now in the national collection.
Thank you both for the updated information!
I’m no great fan of the Centenary cars, but I do like the update Blackpool did on them, so I’m pleased to see this example survive. But what I’ve never quite understood is whey Blackpool didn’t retain them post 2011? Being 8ft wide (are they actually 8’6″ like modern buses?) they match up nicely to the new platforms in Blackpool without the need for that ugly door alteration they did on the B-fleet Balloons. And now it turns out they could probably have been made wheelchair accessible too!
But did you know there was a story of an offer of a new Centenary car for Crich way before any of the Blackpool fleet were withdrawn? The story that was told to me (I can’t vouch for how true it was) was that someone involved with the AC motor trials on what was then 651 (now 648) was willing to have a slighly shorter body built especially for Crich so the experimental bogies etc from 651 could be fitted to it once 651 had been refitted with the same electrical gear as the rest of the class. This ‘Baby Centenary’ would truely have been the last traditional British tram to be built. However for whatever reason, Crich turned down the offer (sound familiar 602 fans?) so it never happened. I wonder what changes have gone on in the Derbyshire hills to make it now 3rd time lucy for this particular class of vehicle.
The scheme to provide a cut down, replica Centenary car for Crich making use of 651’s trucks and motors was the brainchild of John Markham who was involved in the development work undertaken by GEC. The last I heard, 651’s trucks were at Clay Cross.
Andy Centenary cars are step access and therefore cannot be used on the new system. Also they could not have wider platforms fitted as per the balloons to allow easier access.
Would they still be step access if loading from the platforms though? The simple accessibility solution for Blackpool would have been to build the platforms closer to the track and board over platform well on Balloons and Brush cars etc to give them a level floor A wheelchair (or maybe even two) could be carried either in the platorm area (which is what we used to do with kids push chairs) or I dare say one side of the internal bulkhead could have been partly removed to allow access into the saloon.
Yes, because there are steps inside the tram, and quite large ones at that. You need a lift to replace the steps at one of the doors with a wheelchair lift, or possibly have a ramp that goes over the steps and into the actual saloon of the vehicle. Just having a platform level with the initial boarding step doesn’t really solve anything when passengers are faced with more steps once they are on the tram!
The Centenary cars are exactly 8ft if you include the gutters over the doors. They also have relatively thin body sides giving about 7ft 8 inches inside.
By comparison Oporto 273 is 8ft 3 inches the Blackpool stremliners are 7ft 6 inches and 902 only 7ft 3″ (all outside dimensions)
A very surprising move! I didn’t think 645 had much of a future in Blackpool, so this is a very positive development. Well done to volunteers who put up the money to purchase the tram and bring it to Crich.
The only problem I can see is the practicality of converting it into an Access tram. The Centenary cars are certainly wide enough, but there is quite a pronounced step up into the saloon. It will need fairly major surgery and Crich has a lengthy overhaul queue…
Berlin 3006 also has very high steps so I suspect it will be a similar conversion with a lift, so a wheelchair will presumably be raised to saloon floor level bypassing any steps. Ironically, someone I used to visit Crich with regularly who was not a wheelchair user found 3006 to be one of the hardest trams to get on because of how high the steps are!
As for the lengthy overhaul queue, I suspect that providing its given the green light for conversion to an access tram, 645 will jump the queue. Whilst I would personally much prefer to see resources used on the growing list of more traditional British trams requiring workshop attention, the need for an access tram is pretty great – note that 3006 was unavailable for the first few months of the 2023 season, leaving some visitors unable to enjoy a tram ride.
No different to the lift fitted to the Western train which lifts directly into the saloon. i would imagine one doorway would be rebuilt to accommodate this – a centre doorway I would imagine.
I hope the doors are wide enough! I suppose the Western Train example is a good one to illustrate how it’s done.
I wonder how well Crich will cope with the electrical foibles of the Centenary class. 642 and 648 seem to be a persistent source of trouble in Blackpool so it will interesting to see if Crich will be able to run 645 reliably.
As for livery, I think it would be nice to keep it how it was on the last day in Blackpool. It was an important moment in the tramway story.
762 represents the last day, a plain red tram with a cream smile is hardly inspiring to the punters.
This has happened more than once, especially in the pre-‘Eric’ days…
Wheelchair user gets pushed in their chair through the entrance for a reduced admission and wheeled down the street, before being touched by the hand of God at Town End, miraculously finding they can walk and climbing onto the top deck of Southampton 45!
Never let it be said the team at Crich can’t perform miracles!