Thanks to an incredible act of generosity by an enthusiast, efforts are now being made to further improve the authenticity of the appearance of Blackpool’s heritage tram fleet. Twin set 272+T2 have recently received new destination blinds, with further trams expected to follow in the near future.
Last November, tram enthusiast Peter Watts from France visited Rigby Road to donate an old tram destination blind from his own personal collection. However, not only has Peter had an interest in collecting tram destination blinds, but he also has the means to produce copies of blinds himself, and has very kindly offered to produce some blinds in a traditional style for the heritage fleet, at no cost to the Blackpool Heritage Trust! Naturally, this offer was accepted and a further visit to Blackpool occured in December when Peter spent two days tracing various letters and numbers from some of the old destination blinds still held in stock. These have already been used to create some convincing replicas, and the first two to be completed have been fitted to 272+T2. The result is that one of the most attractive members of the fleet now looks even better – and its external appearance is now almost exactly as it looked in the early 1960s when the Twin cars were newly introduced.
Although the old-style blinds feature a selection of typical Blackpool destinations, one unfamiliar setting has also appeared; ‘Heritage Tour’. This will no doubt be useful for the future event days when the Twin car operates on public tours and may help to further differentiate the heritage tour cars from the core service. The blinds feature white lettering on a black background and a traditional font has been carefully re-created, giving the tram a real flavour of the past whilst also acknowledging its new role on the upgraded tramway. The results of the recent attention were showcased unusually early in the year as 272+T2 enjoyed a rare winter airing on Sunday 4th January when the duo were employed on a private charter which took it to Fleetwood twice.
Grateful thanks must go to the donor who provided these new blinds, and we look forward to seeing even more trams benefit from his efforts in the future!