For the next few weeks we will be running a series of photos showing trams old and new in more or less the same location on the Blackpool Tramway. We start off at Bispham.
The Old is represented in this image by Ex-Towing Railcoach 679 which is taking a break on the centre track at Bispham. This was during its farewell tour on 29th November 2008 – a foggy and misty day which saw the tram (recently acquired by the then Lancastrian Transport Trust) run along with fellow LTT tram Coronation 304 along the length of the tramway. The luminous writing on the destination blind helps to brighten up the scene with the tram’s 1980s green and cream fleet livery seen through the gloom. The tram remains at Rigby Road Depot with it part-way through a restoration back to its original English Electric Railcoach condition.
The revised layout at Bispham still retains a centre track, although its not used nearly as much as it once was. Indeed the standard timetable doesn’t see any trams due to turn there, with most of its use being when trams are on driver training. But on 26th May 2024 it was being used by Flexity2 014 which was in passenger service when taking a break. (Both Photographs by Gareth Prior)