Less than twenty-four hours after it left the seaside behind, Blackpool Balloon car 711 touched down on Crich rails to begin its operating loan period at the National Tramway Museum on the morning of Wednesday 9th April. Having travelled via Preston, Broughton and Macclesfield (locations where the tram was sighted by various interested onlookers), 711 was stabled in the car park at the museum before moving into the site itself to be off-loaded with assistance from the workshop team.
As is usual practice for double-deck trams due to the lower overhead wires in the depot yard, 711 was unloaded from the Scotts Heavy Haulage lorry which had transported it from Blackpool in the period street. The Blackpool electric locomotive – a tram which 711 wouldn’t have met since the 1960s, if at all – was then summoned and coupled up to the Balloon car, which was moved to the depot area to be checked over. There, the protective sheeting will be removed and the tram will presumably receive a heavy clean in readiness for service. Once the usual process of commissioning, crew training and risk assessments has been completed the tram should be released to traffic and although no definite date has been given, the car is expected to be one of the star attractions at the upcoming ‘Beside the Seaside’ event in late May alongside Jubilee car 762, showcasing more recent developments on the Blackpool tramway alongside the other more traditional cars in the collection.
Whether or not the heavily modernised purple Balloon car is to your taste, it will certainly be a head turner when it operates at Crich, and could well be the unique attraction needed to encourage more people to visit during 2014. It is also intended to make 711 available for use on the museum’s ‘Ultimate Driving Experience’ day courses, providing an even more novel experience to anyone who isn’t content to simply ride on the tram.
A very unusual sight in Macclesfield on the evening of April 8th, as Blackpool 711 makes its way through the town on the back of a Scotts low loader.
I don't think we're in Blackpool anymore! An amazing view of 711 travelling through the countryside on its way to Crich. (Photos x 2 by Peter Whiteley)
Journey's end for 711 as the massive tram is coaxed off the transporter down a gentle ramp and onto Crich tracks for the very first time. (Photo courtesy of Crich Tramway Village)
711 with protective cover removed is shunted into the Workshop.
711 continues its journey into the Workshop.
The Blackpool Electric Loco pushes fellow Blackpool car 711 into the Workshop.
711 sits in the Workshop awaiting work to commence on commissioning. (Photos x4: Hazel Quarmby)
Who was/is Ray Roberts?
Ray Roberts was a very well liked member of staff at Rigby Road workshops who sadly died in a tragic accident a while ago, as a mark of respect BTS decided to name a tram after him last year and 711 was chosen.
Thank You.