The presence of two tram depots in Blackpool has added some added intrigue to an already fascinating tramway, with various trams being moved between the two sites for a number of reasons. Most of the operational heritage cars have now visited the new Starr Gate depot complex despite normally being stabled at Rigby Road, and two such moves have occurred recently.
At the end of January, Brush car 631 was transferred to Starr Gate depot – a location this tram is already very familiar with, having spent much of last winter there for phase 1 of its restoration to a more traditional appearance. Despite some speculation that further work would be carried out on 631 to complete this project, the tram was returned to Rigby Road a few days later, with ‘Princess Alice’ 706 taking its place. This popular car appears to have had its truck frames and lifeguards repainted, presumably during a visit to the Fitting Shop before Christmas 2013, but otherwise looks the same as it did when it was last employed in traffic, even displaying the destination ‘Illuminations Tour’ from last season! Seeing an open top tram on the promenade so early in the year was certainly a rare treat for those who witnessed it, although incidentally no Boat car has yet visited the system’s newest depot. 706 was accompanied for its trip along New South Promenade by the recently repainted Engineering car 754 which has spent a considerable amount of the winter period at this location, but had moved back to Rigby Road just one week earlier.
The most likely explanation for the presence of these heritage trams at Starr Gate, is that they are receiving routine commissioning work there ahead of a return to use, hopefully to come at Easter. With the Rigby Road workshop staff occupied with the overhaul of Blackpool & Fleetwood Box 40 and the contract work on Sunderland 16‘s wheelsets for Beamish Museum, it is likely that the vastly reduced workforce may be unable to deal with the additional jobs involved in preparing the heritage cars for service. Crew training at Starr Gate is another possibility, as this has sometimes been done within the confines of the £20 million building. The latest moves also suggest that full access to and from the Rigby Road site has been restored after road works over winter have restricted tramcar movements.