This is another edition of “Old and New” as we feature two photos – one of a heritage tram before the tramway upgrade in Blackpool and one of the modern light rail vehicles which now operate the core service on the line. This time we feature two images taken at Bispham.
3rd September 2007 must have been a nice and warm day as it was a day for Boat Cars to be out on specials and that included 602 which, at the time, carried this yellow and black livery inspired by the Handybus livery seen on some Blackpool Transport buses. The tram had a trolley and the two piece windscreens along with the Blackpool Transport wave and tower logo. The tram is on a break when seen sitting on the Bispham centre track.
The residential properties and hotels in the background help us to determine that we’re in roughly the same spot for this photo which shows Flexity2 007 just approaching Bispham. The three track layout remains here and although previously when we saw Boat 602 it was taking a break on the centre track, this time 007 is on the usual southbound track as it operates a service to Starr Gate. This was 28th September 2024. (Both Photographs by Gareth Prior)