Blackpool Transport have now revealed all of the provisional details of the planned heritage tram running days over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. As expected, the first three days of heritage operation in 2014 will heavily feature the English Electric streamlined fleet, to celebrate their 80th anniversary year. A full round-up of what’s in store for the weekend is provided below, although please note that all events are subject to change without notice, and that the advertised trams will appear subject to availability, weather and other factors.
On each day a four car service will be provided, although a few change-overs during the day will hopefully enable up to six trams to run daily! These will be drawn from the pool of: Balloon cars 700, 706 & 717, Open Boats 230 & 600, Standard 147, Bolton 66, Brush car 631 and Twin set 272+T2. Unfortunately Boat car 227 is currently unavailable and will therefore not be used.
The three days will commence with two trams operating a tour to Fleetwood and back, departing from North Pier at 1036. This pair will then remain in service throughout the day. Two other trams will also operate the early shift before running in at lunchtime and being replaced by two different cars, which will then run in tandem on the 1725 departure from Pleasure Beach to Fleetwood, bringing that day’s service to a close. In addition, there will be a line-up of trams on Blundell Street each day between 1300 and 1500 to provide extra interest for photographers, and these will feature the various Balloon cars not currently in the operational fleet. There will also be a tram naming ceremony on Saturday afternoon; this is due to be held on the Pleasure Beach loop at 1430, when one of the heritage fleet will be named ‘Walter Luff’.
The full provisional schedule for the weekend is as follows:
Good Friday, 18th April
AM Fleetwood tour: 66 & 700
PM Fleetwood tour: 147 & 600
Also in service: 230 & 706 (early shift only)
Blundell Street photo op: 707, 709, 718 & 724
Easter Saturday, 19th April
AM Fleetwood tour: 272+T2 & 706
PM Fleetwood tour: 230 & 717
Also in service: 66 & 600 (early shift only)
Blundell Street photo op: 700*, 713, 719 & 720
Extra event: Tram naming ceremony at Pleasure Beach – 1430 (tram to be revealed on the day)
Easter Sunday, 20th April
AM Fleetwood tour: 631 & 717
PM Fleetwood tour: 147 & either 66 or 700 (to be confirmed)
Also in service: 230 & 600 (early shift only)
Blundell Street photo op: 701, 706*, 715 & 723
Please note that the trams marked with an asterisk may not be included in the planned photo opportunities due to restricted vehicle access to Rigby Road depot. All in all, an interesting programme of events is planned as always, and those who attend can be sure of a most enjoyable visit! The British Trams Online webmaster will be present on the Saturday, so look out for live coverage of the day’s events on our Facebook page if you can’t be there in person.